Publications
Educational Publications
Educational Publications
Selected publications about earthquakes In plain language.
Filter Total Items: 2819
Crustal velocity structure of the northern Yukon-Tanana upland, central Alaska: Results from TACT refraction/wide-angle reflection data Crustal velocity structure of the northern Yukon-Tanana upland, central Alaska: Results from TACT refraction/wide-angle reflection data
The Fairbanks North seismic refraction/ wide-angle reflection profile, collected by the U.S. Geological Survey Trans-Alaska Crustal Transect (TACT) project in 1987, crosses the complex region between the Yukon-Tanana and Ruby terranes in interior Alaska. This region is occupied by numerous small terranes elongated in a northeast-southwest direction. These seismic data reveal a crustal...
Authors
Bruce C. Beaudoin, Gary S. Fuis, William J. Lutter, Walter D. Mooney, Thomas E. Moore
Measurements of P and S wave fronts from the dense three-dimensional array at Garni, Armenia Measurements of P and S wave fronts from the dense three-dimensional array at Garni, Armenia
The P- and S-wave arrivals from local earthquakes were studied using an array of 10 three-component instruments in and around a tunnel at Garni Observatory, Armenia. The array has a three-dimensional configuration with lateral dimensions of 300 to 500 m and a depth extent of 100 m. Estimates of the horizontal and vertical components of slowness for P and S wave fronts were used to...
Authors
Jim Mori, John R. Filson, Edward Cranswick, Roger D. Borcherdt, Ruben Amirbekian, Vigen Aharonian, Leon Hachverdian
Crustal structure and composition of the southern Foothills Metamorphic Belt, Sierra Nevada, California, from seismic data Crustal structure and composition of the southern Foothills Metamorphic Belt, Sierra Nevada, California, from seismic data
The Foothills Metamorphic Belt is an accreted terrane consisting of Paleozoic and Mesozoic metamorphic rocks that separates the Great Valley from the Sierra Nevada batholith in northern and central California. Until recently, the only available geophysical data for this area were reconnaissance refraction surveys, and gravity and magnetic data. New insights into the structure of the deep...
Authors
Kate Miller, Walter D. Mooney
Early warning system for aftershocks Early warning system for aftershocks
A prototype early warning system to provide San Francisco and Oakland, California a few tens-of-seconds warning of incoming strong ground shaking from already-occurred M ≧ 3.7 aftershocks of the magnitude 7.1 17 October 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was operational on 28 October 1989. The prototype system consisted of four components: ground motion sensors in the epicentral area, a central...
Authors
W. H. Bakun, F.G. Fischer, E.G. Jensen, J. VanSchaack
New developments in estimating site response effects on ground motion New developments in estimating site response effects on ground motion
No abstract available.
Authors
Roger D. Borcherdt
The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989: Strong ground motion The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989: Strong ground motion
Strong ground motion generated by the Loma Prieta, Calif., earthquake (MS~7.1) of October 17, 1989, resulted in at least 63 deaths, more than 3,757 injuries, and damage estimated to exceed $5.9 billion. Strong ground motion severely damaged critical lifelines (freeway overpasses, bridges, and pipelines), caused severe damage to poorly constructed buildings, and induced a significant...
Authors
Roger D. Borcherdt, A. Gerald Brady, A.F. Shakal, V.F. Cormier, Wei-Jou Su, Jeffry L. Stevens, Steven M. Day, John E. Vidale, Ornella Bonamassa, Paul G. Somerville, Nancy F. Smith, Robert Graves, Gary Glassmoyer, Kyle Rollins, Michael D. Mchood, Roman D. Hryciw, Matthew Homolka, Scott E. Shewbridge, Harvey Carlisle, Nicholas Sitar, Rodrigo Salgado, Pedro de Alba, J. Benoit, Daniel G. Pass, John Carter, T. Leslie Youd, E. H. Field, Susan E. Hough, K.H. Jacob, Paul A. Friberg, Arthur D. Frankel, R. Busby, Robert A. Williams, Edward Cranswick, Kenneth W. King, Grant T. Lindley, Ralph J. Archuleta, Janice M. Murphy, Steven G. Wesnousky
Chapter C. The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989 - Fire, police, transportation and hazardous materials Chapter C. The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989 - Fire, police, transportation and hazardous materials
The papers in this chapter discuss some of the failures and successes that resulted from the societal response by a multitude of agencies to the Loma Prieta earthquake. Some of the lessons learned were old ones relearned. Other lessons were obvious ones which had gone unnoticed. Still, knowledge gained from past earthquakes spawned planning and mitigation efforts which proved to be...
Authors
Charles R. Scawthorn
Crustal structure beneath the Kenya Rift from axial profile data Crustal structure beneath the Kenya Rift from axial profile data
Modelling of the KRISP 90 axial line data shows that major crustal thinning occurs along the axis of the Kenya Rift from Moho depths of 35 km in the south beneath the Kenya Dome in the vicinity of Lake Naivasha to 20 km in the north beneath Lake Turkana. Low Pn velocities of 7.5–7.7 km/s are found beneath the whole of the axial line. The results indicate that crustal extension increases...
Authors
J. Mechie, Gordon R. Keller, C. Prodehl, S. Gaciri, L.W. Braile, Walter D. Mooney, D. Gajewski, K.-J. Sandmeier
The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989: Tectonic processes and models The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989: Tectonic processes and models
If there is a single theme that unifies the diverse papers in this chapter, it is the attempt to understand the role of the Loma Prieta earthquake in the context of the earthquake 'machine' in northern California: as the latest event in a long history of shocks in the San Francisco Bay region, as an incremental contributor to the regional deformation pattern, and as a possible harbinger...
Authors
Robert W. Simpson, John H. Shaw, Richard E. Bischke, J. Suppe, Gianluca Valensise, Susan Y. Schwartz, Daniel L. Orange, Robert S. Anderson, Paul A. Reasenberg, Paul Bodin, Roger G. Bilham, Kevin P. Furlong, David Verdonck
The KRISP 90 seismic experiment-a technical review The KRISP 90 seismic experiment-a technical review
On the basis of a preliminary experiment in 1985 (KRISP 85), a seismic refraction/wide-angle reflection survey and a teleseismic tomography experiment were jointly undertaken to study the lithospheric structure of the Kenya rift down to depths of greater than 200 km. This report serves as an introduction to a series of subsequent papers and will focus on the technical description of the...
Authors
C. Prodehl, J. Mechie, U. Achauer, Gordon R. Keller, M.A. Khan, Walter D. Mooney, S.J. Gaciri, J.D. Obel
The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989 — Hydrologic disturbances The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989 — Hydrologic disturbances
Seismic events have long been known to cause changes in the level of oceans, streams, lakes, and the water table. The great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 induced significant hydrologic changes that were qualitatively similar to those changes observed for the Loma Prieta earthquake. What is different is that the hydrologic data sets collected from the Loma Prieta event have enough...
Crustal architecture of the Cascadia Forearc Crustal architecture of the Cascadia Forearc
Seismic profiling data indicate that the thickness of an accreted oceanic terrane of Paleocene and early Eocene age, which forms the basement of much of the forearc beneath western Oregon and Washington, varies by approximately a factor of 4 along the strike of the Cascadia subduction zone. Beneath the Oregon Coast Range, the accreted terrane is 25 to 35 kilometers thick, whereas...
Authors
A.M. Trehu, I. Asudeh, Thomas M. Brocher, James H. Luetgert, Walter D. Mooney, J.L. Nabelek, Y. Nakamura