Earthquake Science Center
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The Earthquake Science Center in Menlo Park, California is the largest USGS research center in the West and houses extensive research laboratories, scientific infrastructure, and library facilities.
Our priority is to continue the important work of the Department of the Interior and the USGS, while also maintaining the health and safety of our employees and the community. Based on guidance from the White House, the CDC, and state and local authorities, we are shifting our operations to a virtual mode and have minimal staffing within our offices.
Earthquake Science Center Seminars
Seminars typically take place at 10:30 AM Wednesdays in the Rambo Auditorium (main USGS Conference Room). The USGS Campus is located at 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, CA.
Browse SeminarsEarthquake Science Center Campus Video
This short, 7-minute video gives an overview of the USGS Earthquake Science Center in Menlo Park, California. It briefly introduces you to the San Francisco Bay Area, shows the campus and facilities, and includes interviews with scientists.
View videoHandbooks to Help You Prepare for an Earthquake
USGS handbooks that describe the threat posed by earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay region and explain how you can prepare for, survive, and recover from these inevitable events.
View HandbooksNews
M6.5 Monte Cristo Range Earthquake
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck near Tonopah, Nevada, near the California-Nevada border and about 120 miles southeast of Carson City, early this morning on May 15, 2020, at 4:03 am local time (11:03:27 UTC).
Magnitude 6.5 Earthquake Felt in Central Idaho
On March 31, 2020, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck near Boise, ID, in the Challis National Forest. Seismic instruments indicate the earthquake originated at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers).
M5.0 Earthquake Hits West Texas, New Mexico Border
On March 26, 2020, a magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck West Texas near the New Mexico border. Seismic instruments indicate the earthquake originated at a depth of 5.3 miles (8.5 kilometers).
Publications
Ground failure triggered by shaking during the November 30, 2018, magnitude 7.1 Anchorage, Alaska, earthquake
We developed an initial inventory of ground failure features from the November 30, 2018, magnitude 7.1 Anchorage earthquake. This inventory of 153 features is from ground-based observations soon after the earthquake (December 5–10) that include the presence or absence of liquefaction, landslides, and individual crack traces of lateral spreads and...
Grant, Alex R. R. ; Jibson, Randall W.; Witter, Robert C.; Allstadt, Kate E.; Thompson, Eric M.; Bender, Adrian M.
2018 U.S. Geological Survey–California Geological Survey fault-imaging surveys across the Hollywood and Santa Monica Faults, Los Angeles County, California
We acquired multiple types of seismic data across the Hollywood Fault in Hollywood, Calif., and the Santa Monica Fault in Beverly Hills, Calif., in May and June 2018. On the basis of our data, we infer near-surface locations of various traces of these faults.From two separate profiles across the Hollywood Fault, we evaluated multiple seismic...
Catchings, Rufus D.; Hernandez, Janis; Goldman, Mark R.; Chan, Joanne H.; Sickler, Robert R.; Olson, Brian; Criley, Coyn J.
Airborne lidar and electro-optical imagery along surface ruptures of the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence, Southern California
Surface rupture from the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence, initially associated with the M 6.4 foreshock, occurred on July 4 on a ~17 km long, northeast-southwest oriented, left-lateral zone of faulting. Following the M 7.1 mainshock on July 5 (local time), extensive northwest-southeast-oriented, right-lateral faulting was then also mapped...
Brooks, Benjamin A.; Scharer, Katherine; Hernandez, Janis; Dawson, Timothy E.; Oskin, Mike; Arrowsmith, Ramon; Goulet, Christine A.; Blake, Kelly; Boggs, Matt; Bork, Stephan; Glennie, Craig; Fernandez-Diaz, J.C.; Singhania, Abhinav; Hauser, Darren L.; Sorhus, Sven; Hudnut, Kenneth W.; Brooks, Benjamin A.; Scharer, Katherine M.; Hernandez, Janis L.; Dawson, Timothy E.; Oskin, Michael E.; Arrowsmith, J. Ramon; Goulet, Christine A.; Blake, Kelly; Boggie, Matthew A.; Bork, Stephan; Craig L. Glennie; Fernandez-Diaz, J.C.; Singhania, Abhinav; Hauser, Darren; Sorhus, Sven