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Deep Learning as a tool to forecast hydrologic response for landslide-prone hillslopes Deep Learning as a tool to forecast hydrologic response for landslide-prone hillslopes

Empirical thresholds for landslide warning systems have benefitted from the incorporation of soil‐hydrologic monitoring data, but the mechanistic basis for their predictive capabilities is limited. Although physically based hydrologic models can accurately simulate changes in soil moisture and pore pressure that promote landslides, their utility is restricted by high computational costs...
Authors
Elijah Orland, Joshua J. Roering, Matthew Thomas, Benjamin Mirus

Human behavioral response in the Ridgecrest earthquakes: Assessing immediate actions based on data from “Did You Feel It?” Human behavioral response in the Ridgecrest earthquakes: Assessing immediate actions based on data from “Did You Feel It?”

Human behavioral response to earthquake ground motion has long been a subject of multidisciplinary interest and research. In most versions of seismic intensity scales, human perceptions and behavior are one component of the assignment of intensity. Public health research has shown that actions taken during earthquakes have a significant impact on the incidence of injury or the...
Authors
James Goltz, Hyejeong Park, Vince Quitoriano, David Wald

Mobility characteristics of landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico Mobility characteristics of landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

Mobility is an important element of landslide hazard and risk assessments yet has been seldom studied for shallow landslides and debris flows in tropical environments. In September 2017, Hurricane Maria triggered > 70,000 landslides across Puerto Rico. Using aerial imagery and a lidar digital elevation model (DEM), we mapped and characterized the mobility of debris slides and flows in...
Authors
Erin K. Bessette-Kirton, Jeffrey Coe, William Schulz, Corina Cerovski-Darriau, Mason Einbund

Magnetic field variations in Alaska: Recording space weather events on seismic stations in Alaska Magnetic field variations in Alaska: Recording space weather events on seismic stations in Alaska

Seismometers are highly sensitive instruments to not only ground motion but also many other nonseismic noise sources (e.g., temperature, pressure, and magnetic field variations). We show that the Alaska component of the Transportable Array is particularly susceptible to recording magnetic storms and other space weather events because the sensors used in this network are unshielded and...
Authors
Adam Ringler, Robert Anthony, David Wilson, Abram Claycomb, John Spritzer

Surface displacement distributions for the July 2019 Ridgecrest, California earthquake ruptures Surface displacement distributions for the July 2019 Ridgecrest, California earthquake ruptures

Surface rupture in the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence occurred along two orthogonal cross faults and includes dominantly left‐lateral and northeast‐striking rupture in the Mw 6.4 foreshock and dominantly right‐lateral and northwest‐striking rupture in the Mw 7.1 mainshock. We present >650 field‐based, surface‐displacement observations for these ruptures and synthesize...
Authors
Christopher DuRoss, Ryan Gold, Timothy Dawson, Katherine M. Scharer, Katherine Kendrick, Sinan Akciz, Stephen Angster, Jeffery Bachhuber, Steven Bacon, Scott Bennett, Luke Blair, Benjamin Brooks, Thomas Bullard, W. Burgess, Colin Chupik, Michael DeFrisco, Jaime Delano, James Dolan, Erik Frost, Nick Graehl, Elizabeth Haddon, Alexandra Hatem, Janis Hernandez, Christopher Hitchcock, Kennth Hudnut, Jessica Thompson Jobe, Richard Koehler, Ozgur Kozaci, Tyler Ladinsky, Christopher Madugo, Devin McPhillips, Christopher Milliner, Alexander Morelan, Brian Olson, Jason Patton, Belle Philibosian, Alexandra Pickering, Ian Pierce, Daniel Ponti, Gordon Seitz, Eleanor Spangler, Brian Swanson, Kate Thomas, Jerome Treiman, Francesca Valencia, Alana Williams, Robert Zinke

Assessing the value of removing earthquake-hazard-related epistemic uncertainties, exemplified using average annual loss in California Assessing the value of removing earthquake-hazard-related epistemic uncertainties, exemplified using average annual loss in California

To aid in setting scientific research priorities, we assess the potential value of removing each of the epistemic uncertainties currently represented in the US Geological Survey California seismic-hazard model, using average annual loss (AAL) as the risk metric of interest. Given all the uncertainties, represented with logic-tree branches, we find a mean AAL of $3.94 billion. The modal...
Authors
Edward H. Field, Kevin Milner, Keith Porter

Modified GIC estimation using 3-D Earth conductivity Modified GIC estimation using 3-D Earth conductivity

Geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) are quasi-direct current (DC) electric currents that flow in technological conductors during geomagnetic storms. Extreme GICs are hazardous to man-made infrastructure. GICs enter and exit the technological systems, such as the electric power grid, at grounding points, and their magnitudes depend on the currents that flow underground. They are...
Authors
Anna Kelbert, Greg Lucas

A global hybrid VS30 map with a topographic slope–based default and regional map insets A global hybrid VS30 map with a topographic slope–based default and regional map insets

Time-averaged shear wave velocity over the upper 30 m of the earth’s surface (VS30) is a key parameter for estimating ground motion amplification as both a predictive and a diagnostic tool for earthquake hazards. The first-order approximation of VS30 is commonly obtained through a topographic slope–based or terrain proxy due to the widely available nature of digital elevation models...
Authors
David Heath, David Wald, C. Bruce Worden, Eric Thompson, Gregory Smoczyk

The impact of sediment supply on the initiation and magnitude of runoff-generated debris flows The impact of sediment supply on the initiation and magnitude of runoff-generated debris flows

Rainfall intensity‐duration (ID) thresholds are commonly used to assess the potential for runoff‐generated debris flows, but the sensitivity of these thresholds to sediment supply, which can change rapidly with time, is relatively unexplored. Furthermore, debris flows often self‐organize into distinct surges, but the factors controlling the magnitude and frequency of these surges...
Authors
Hui Tang, Luke McGuire, Jason Kean, Joel Smith

Repeatable source, path, and site effects from the 2019 Ridgecrest M7.1 earthquake sequence Repeatable source, path, and site effects from the 2019 Ridgecrest M7.1 earthquake sequence

We use a large instrumental dataset from the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence (Rekoske et al., 2019, 2020) to examine repeatable source‐, path‐, and site‐specific ground motions. A mixed‐effects analysis is used to partition total residuals relative to the Boore et al. (2014; hereafter, BSSA14) ground‐motion model. We calculate the Arias intensity stress drop for the earthquakes and...
Authors
Grace Parker, Annemarie Baltay Sundstrom, John Rekoske, Eric Thompson

Geometric controls on megathrust earthquakes Geometric controls on megathrust earthquakes

The role of subduction zone geometry in the nucleation and propagation of great-sized earthquake ruptures is an important topic for earthquake hazard, since knowing how big an earthquake can be on a given fault is fundamentally important. Past studies have shown subducting bathymetric features (e.g. ridges, fracture zones, seamount chains) may arrest a propagating rupture. Other studies...
Authors
Steven Plescia, Gavin P. Hayes

Four-dimensional surface motions of the Slumgullion landslide and quantification of hydrometeorological forcing Four-dimensional surface motions of the Slumgullion landslide and quantification of hydrometeorological forcing

Landslides modify the natural landscape and cause fatalities and property damage worldwide. Quantifying landslide dynamics is challenging due to the stochastic nature of the environment. With its large area of ~1 km2 and perennial motions at ~10–20 mm per day, the Slumgullion landslide in Colorado, USA, represents an ideal natural laboratory to better understand landslide behavior. Here...
Authors
Xie Hu, Roland Bürgmann, William Schulz, Eric Fielding
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