Publications

Strong motion data from western North America for earthquakes of magnitude greater than 5 are examined to provide the basis for estimating peak acceleration, velocity, displacement, and duration as a function of distance for three magnitude classes. Data from the San Fernando earthquake are examined to assess the effects of associated structures and of geologic site conditions on peak...

A major source of earthquake-related damage and casualties in northern California has been ground failures generated by the seismic shaking, including landslides, lateral spreads, ground settlement, and surface cracks. The historical record shows that, except for offshore shocks, the geographic area affected and the quantity and general severity of ground failures increase markedly with...

The northern section of the Imperial Valley region in Southern California is an area of known geothermal resources and an area of high seismicity. To study in detail the relationship between geothermal areas and earthquakes, the U.S. Geological Survey has been monitoring seismicity in the Imperial Valley with a sixteen station network since 1973. Six new stations were added to the...

There are tens of thousands of people in the United States who could play an important voluntary role in reducing earthquake hazards and are probably willing to do so. Under the Earthquake Hazard Reduction Act of 1977 the Federal government is significantly increasing its effort "to reduce the risk of life and property from future earthquakes in the United States through the...

Nine rectangular prisms of hydro‐thermally‐grown synthetic quartz crystals with 900 atomic ppm H+ were loaded in compression at 1400 bars stress and temperatures between 403 and 764°C. The a and c directions were at 45° to the compression direction, and the slip system appears to operate over the entire range of temperatures. The strain vs. time curves were sigmoidal in shape; an...

iopside twins mechanically on two planes, (100) and (001), and the associated macroscopic twinning strains are identical (Raleigh and Talbot, 1967). An analysis based on crystal structural arguments predicts that both twin mechanisms involve shearing of the (100) octahedral layers (containing Ca2+, Mg2+ and Fe2+ ions) by a magnitude of c/2. Small adjustments or shuffles occur in the...

The program described here was designed for calculating the nonlinear seismic response of a system of horizontal soil layers underlain by a semi-infinite elastic medium representing bedrock. Excitation is a vertically incident shear wave in the underlying medium. The nonlinear hysteretic behavior of the soil is represented by a model consisting of simple linear springs and Coulomb...

Sediments collected for bridge foundation studies at southern San Francisco Bay, Calif., record estuaries that formed during Sangamon (100,000 years ago) and post-Wisconsin (less than 10,000 years ago) high stands of sea level. The estuarine deposits of Sangamon and post-Wisconsin ages are separated by alluvial and eolian deposits and by erosional unconformities and surfaces of...

A total of 1,075 earthquakes occurred in the Pahute Mesa area with 2.5≤ML≤4.9 during the period October 28, 1975, to June 28, 1976. The majority of these earthquakes are aftershocks of the nuclear events, Kasseri, Inlet, Muenster, Fontina, Cheshire, Estuary, Colby, and Pool (5.8≤ML≤6.3). Smaller nuclear events (ML≤5.5) on Rainier Mesa and Yucca Flat detonated in the same time period did...

Correlation or linear regression estimates of earthquake magnitude from data on historical magnitude and length of surface rupture should be based upon the correct regression. For example, the regression of magnitude on the logarithm of the length of surface rupture L can be used to estimate magnitude, but the regression of log L on magnitude cannot. Regression estimates are most...

Seismic wave velocities (compressional and shear) are important parameters for estimating the seismic response characteristics of various geologic units when subjected to strong earthquake ground shaking. Seismic velocities of various units often show a strong correlation with the amounts of damage following large earthquakes and have been used as a basis for certain types of seismic...

The seismograph stations listed in this catalog were established over the period January 1964 through June 1976 in support of the Energy Research and Development Administration, Nevada (ERDA/NV) underground weapons testing program at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), central Nevada, and Amchitka, Alaska. For station listings before 1964 see Coast and Geodetic Survey publication, "Seismic Data...