Earthquake Science Center
Publications
Characterizing fault roughness—Are faults rougher at long or short wavelengths?
Changes in fault roughness with scale, “scaling,” is the topic of this report; changes are considered using a general power law relation between some measure of surface height, H, and another of length, L, H=kLn, where k is a constant and n is an exponent that characterizes the scaling. Extensive profile measurements of natural fault surfaces show...
Beeler, Nicholas M.
Field response and surface rupture characteristics of the 2020 M6.5 Monte Cristo Range earthquake, central Walker Lane, Nevada
The M 6.5 Monte Cristo Range earthquake that occurred in the central Walker Lane on 15 May 2020 was the largest earthquake in Nevada in 66 yr and resulted in a multidisciplinary scientific field response. The earthquake was the result of left‐lateral slip along largely unmapped parts of the Candelaria fault, one of a series of east–...
Koehler, Richard D; Dee, Seth; Elliott, Austin John; Hatem, Alexandra Elise; Pickering, Alexandra; Pierce, Ian; Seitz, Gordon G. Apparent earthquake rupture predictability
To what extent can the future evolution of an ongoing earthquake rupture be predicted? This question of fundamental scientific and practical importance has recently been addressed by studies of teleseismic source time functions (STFs) but reaching contrasting conclusions. One study concludes that the initial portion of STFs is the same regardless...
Meier, M.-A.; Ampuero, P.; Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Page, Morgan T. The Alaska convergent margin backstop splay fault zone, a potential large tsunami generator between the frontal prism and continental framework
The giant tsunami that swept the Pacific from Alaska to Antarctica in 1946 was generated along one of three Alaska Trench instrumentally recorded aftershock areas following great and giant earthquakes. Aftershock areas were investigated during the past decade with multibeam bathymetry, ocean bottom seismograph wide‐angle seismic, reprocessed...
von Huene, Roland; Miller, John J.; Krabbenhoeft, Anne The induced Mw 5.0 March 2020 west Texas seismic sequence
On March 26, 2020, a M 5.0 earthquake occurred in the Delaware Basin, Texas, near the border between Reeves and Culberson Counties. This was the third largest earthquake recorded in Texas and the largest earthquake in the Central and Eastern United States since the three M 5.0–5.8 induced events in Oklahoma during 2016. Using...
Skoumal, Robert; Kaven, Joern; Barbour, Andrew; Wicks, Charles; Brudzinski, Michael R.; Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Rubinstein, Justin Evaluation of seismic hazard models with fragile geologic features
We provide an overview of a 2019 workshop on the use of fragile geologic features (FGFs) to evaluate seismic hazard models. FGFs have been scarcely utilized in the evaluation of seismic hazard models, despite nearly 30 yr having passed since the first recognition of their potential value. Recently, several studies have begun to focus on the...
Stirling, Mark W.; Oskin, Mike; Arrowsmith, J. Ramon; Rood, Anna H.; Goulet, Christine A.; Grant Ludwig, Lisa; King, Tamarah; Kottke, Albert; Lozos, Julian C.; Madugo, Chris L M; McPhillips, Devin; Rood, Dylan; Sleep, Norman; Wittich, Christine VS30 and Dominant Site Frequency (fd) as Provisional Station ML Corrections (dML) in California
New seismic stations added to a regional seismic network cannot be used to calculate local magnitude (ML">ML) until a revised regionwide amplitude decay function is developed. Each station must record a minimum number of local and regional earthquakes that meet specific amplitude requirements prior to recalibration of the amplitude decay...
Yong, Alan; Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Andrews, Jennifer; Hudson, Kenneth; Antony Martin; Yu, Ellen; Herrick, Julie A; Dozal, Jessica Characteristics of frequent dynamic triggering of microearthquakes in Southern California
Dynamic triggering of earthquakes has been reported at various fault systems. The triggered earthquakes are thought to be caused either directly by dynamic stress changes due to the passing seismic waves, or indirectly by other nonlinear processes that are initiated by the passing waves. Distinguishing these physical mechanisms is difficult...
Fan, Wenyuan; Barbour, Andrew; Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Lin, Guoqing Characterizing strain between rigid crustal blocks in the southern Cascadia forearc: Quaternary faults and folds of the northern Sacramento Valley, California
Topographic profiles across late Quaternary surfaces in the northern Sacramento Valley (California, USA) show offset and progressive folding on series of active east- and northeast—trending faults and folds. Optically stimulated luminescence ages on deposits draping a warped late Pleistocene river terrace yielded differential incision rates along...
Angster, Stephen J.; Wesnousky, Steven G.; Figueiredo, Paula; Owen, Lewis A.; Sawyer, Thomas Ensemble ShakeMaps for magnitude 9 earthquakes on the Cascadia Subduction Zone
We develop ensemble ShakeMaps for various magnitude 9 (M">MM 9) earthquakes on the Cascadia megathrust. Ground‐shaking estimates are based on 30 M">MM 9 Cascadia earthquake scenarios, which were selected using a logic‐tree approach that varied the hypocenter location, down‐dip rupture limit, slip distribution, and location of...
Wirth, Erin; Grant, Alex R. R. ; Marafi, Nasser A.; Frankel, Arthur Generalizing the inversion‐based PSHA source model for an interconnected fault system
This article represents a step toward generalizing and simplifying the procedure for constructing an inversion‐based seismic hazard source model for an interconnected fault system, including the specification of adjustable segmentation constraints. A very simple example is used to maximize understandability and to counter the notion that an...
Field, Edward H.; Milner, Kevin R.; Page, Morgan T. Earthquake early warning in Aotearoa New Zealand: A survey of public perspectives to guide warning system development
Earthquake early warning (EEW) can be used to detect earthquakes and provide advanced notification of strong shaking, allowing pre-emptive actions to be taken that not only benefit infrastructure but reduce injuries and fatalities. Currently Aotearoa New Zealand does not have a nationwide EEW system, so a survey of the public was undertaken to...
Becker, Julia S.; Potter, Sally H.; Vinnel, Lauren; Nakayachi, Kazuya; McBride, Sara; Johnston, David A.