Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Filter Total Items: 2062

Viscoelastic lower crust and mantle relaxation following the 14–16 April 2016 Kumamoto, Japan, earthquake sequence Viscoelastic lower crust and mantle relaxation following the 14–16 April 2016 Kumamoto, Japan, earthquake sequence

The 2016 Kumamoto, Japan, earthquake sequence, culminating in the Mw=7.0 16 April 2016 main shock, occurred within an active tectonic belt of central Kyushu. GPS data from GEONET reveal transient crustal motions from several millimeters per year up to ∼3 cm/yr during the first 8.5 months following the sequence. The spatial pattern of horizontal postseismic motions is shaped by both...
Authors
Frederick Pollitz, Tomokazu Kobayashi, Hiroshi Yarai, Bunichiro Shibazaki, Takumi Matsumoto

Aftershocks driven by afterslip and fluid pressure sweeping through a fault-fracture mesh Aftershocks driven by afterslip and fluid pressure sweeping through a fault-fracture mesh

A variety of physical mechanisms are thought to be responsible for the triggering and spatiotemporal evolution of aftershocks. Here we analyze a vigorous aftershock sequence and postseismic geodetic strain that occurred in the Yuha Desert following the 2010 Mw 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake. About 155,000 detected aftershocks occurred in a network of orthogonal faults and exhibit...
Authors
Zachary E. Ross, Christopher Rollins, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Egill Hauksson, Jean-Philippe Avouac, Yehuda Ben-Zion

Modified mercalli intensities for nine earthquakes in central and western Washington between 1989 and 1999 Modified mercalli intensities for nine earthquakes in central and western Washington between 1989 and 1999

We determine Modified Mercalli (Seismic) Intensities (MMI) for nine onshore earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 and larger that occurred in central and western Washington between 1989 and 1999, on the basis of effects reported in postal questionnaires, the press, and professional collaborators. The earthquakes studied include four earthquakes of M5 and larger: the M5.0 Deming earthquake of...
Authors
Thomas M. Brocher, James W. Dewey, John F. Cassidy

Combining multiple earthquake models in real time for earthquake early warning Combining multiple earthquake models in real time for earthquake early warning

The ultimate goal of earthquake early warning (EEW) is to provide local shaking information to users before the strong shaking from an earthquake reaches their location. This is accomplished by operating one or more real‐time analyses that attempt to predict shaking intensity, often by estimating the earthquake’s location and magnitude and then predicting the ground motion from that...
Authors
Sarah E. Minson, Stephen Wu, James L Beck, Thomas H. Heaton

Study of responses of 64-story Rincon Building to Napa, Fremont, Piedmont, San Ramon earthquakes and ambient motions Study of responses of 64-story Rincon Building to Napa, Fremont, Piedmont, San Ramon earthquakes and ambient motions

We analyze the recorded responses of a 64-story, instrumented, concrete core shear wall building in San Francisco, California, equipped with tuned sloshing liquid dampers (TSDs) and buckling restraining braces (BRBs). Previously, only ambient data from the 72-channel array in the building were studied (Çelebi et al. 2013). Recently, the 24 August 2014 Mw 6.0 Napa and three other...
Authors
Mehmet Çelebi, John Hooper, Ron Klemencic

Uncertainty, variability, and earthquake physics in ground‐motion prediction equations Uncertainty, variability, and earthquake physics in ground‐motion prediction equations

Residuals between ground‐motion data and ground‐motion prediction equations (GMPEs) can be decomposed into terms representing earthquake source, path, and site effects. These terms can be cast in terms of repeatable (epistemic) residuals and the random (aleatory) components. Identifying the repeatable residuals leads to a GMPE with reduced uncertainty for a specific source, site, or path...
Authors
Annemarie S. Baltay Sundstrom, Thomas C. Hanks, Norm A. Abrahamson

Effects of deep basins on structural collapse during large subduction earthquakes Effects of deep basins on structural collapse during large subduction earthquakes

Deep sedimentary basins are known to increase the intensity of ground motions, but this effect is implicitly considered in seismic hazard maps used in U.S. building codes. The basin amplification of ground motions from subduction earthquakes is particularly important in the Pacific Northwest, where the hazard at long periods is dominated by such earthquakes. This paper evaluates the...
Authors
Nasser A. Marafi, Marc O. Eberhard, Jeffrey W. Berman, Erin A. Wirth, Arthur D. Frankel

Connecting crustal seismicity and earthquake-driven stress evolution in Southern California Connecting crustal seismicity and earthquake-driven stress evolution in Southern California

Tectonic stress in the crust evolves during a seismic cycle, with slow stress accumulation over interseismic periods, episodic stress steps at the time of earthquakes, and transient stress readjustment during a postseismic period that may last months to years. Static stress transfer to surrounding faults has been well documented to alter regional seismicity rates over both short and long...
Authors
Frederick Pollitz, Camilla Cattania

Adjusting central and eastern North America ground-motion intensity measures between sites with different reference-rock site conditions Adjusting central and eastern North America ground-motion intensity measures between sites with different reference-rock site conditions

Adjustment factors are provided for converting ground‐motion intensity measures between central and eastern North America (CENA) sites with different reference‐rock site conditions (VS30=760, 2000, and 3000  m/s) for moment magnitudes ranging from 2 to 8, rupture distances ranging from 2 to 1200 km, Fourier amplitude spectra (FAS) for frequencies ranging from 0.01 to 100 Hz, response...
Authors
David Boore, Kenneth W. Campbell

Improved efficiency of maximum likelihood analysis of time series with temporally correlated errors Improved efficiency of maximum likelihood analysis of time series with temporally correlated errors

Most time series of geophysical phenomena have temporally correlated errors. From these measurements, various parameters are estimated. For instance, from geodetic measurements of positions, the rates and changes in rates are often estimated and are used to model tectonic processes. Along with the estimates of the size of the parameters, the error in these parameters needs to be assessed...
Authors
John O. Langbein

The effects of varying injection rates in Osage County, Oklahoma, on the 2016 Mw5.8 Pawnee earthquake The effects of varying injection rates in Osage County, Oklahoma, on the 2016 Mw5.8 Pawnee earthquake

The 2016 Mw 5.8 Pawnee earthquake occurred in a region with active wastewater injection into a basal formation group. Prior to the earthquake, fluid injection rates at most wells were relatively steady, but newly collected data show significant increases in injection rate in the years leading up to earthquake. For the same time period, the total volumes of injected wastewater were...
Authors
Andrew J. Barbour, Jack H. Norbeck, Justin L. Rubinstein
Was this page helpful?