Publications
Educational Publications
Educational Publications
Selected publications about earthquakes In plain language.
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Characterizing and imaging sedimentary strata using depth-converted spectral ratios: An example from the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the Eastern U.S. Characterizing and imaging sedimentary strata using depth-converted spectral ratios: An example from the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the Eastern U.S.
Unconsolidated, near-surface sediments can have a profound influence on the amplitudes and frequencies of ground shaking during earthquakes, and these effects should be accounted for when using amplitude observations for seismic hazard assessments. This study explores methods to use teleseismic arrivals recorded on linear receiver arrays to characterize widespread, shallow sedimentary...
Authors
Thomas L. Pratt
Santa Rosa's past and future earthquakes Santa Rosa's past and future earthquakes
Santa Rosa is no stranger to earthquakes. This northern California city was damaged several times in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by shaking from earthquakes, culminating in the devastating earthquake of 1906, whose rupture passed 20 miles to the west of the city on the San Andreas Fault. Then in 1969, Santa Rosa was again strongly shaken and buildings were damaged by a pair of...
Authors
Suzanne Hecker, Darcy K. McPhee, Victoria E. Langenheim, Janet T. Watt
Tsunamis: Stochastic models of generation, propagation, and occurrence Tsunamis: Stochastic models of generation, propagation, and occurrence
The devastating consequences of the 2004 Indian Ocean and 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunamis have led to increased research into many different aspects of the tsunami phenomenon. In this paper, we review research related to the observed complexity and uncertainty associated with tsunami generation, propagation, and occurrence described and analyzed using a variety of stochastic models. In each...
Authors
Eric L. Geist, David Oglesby, Kenny Ryan
Paleoliquefaction field reconnaissance in eastern North Carolina—Is there evidence for large magnitude earthquakes between the central Virginia seismic zone and Charleston seismic zone? Paleoliquefaction field reconnaissance in eastern North Carolina—Is there evidence for large magnitude earthquakes between the central Virginia seismic zone and Charleston seismic zone?
In June 2016, approximately 64 kilometers (km) of riverbank were examined along the Tar and Neuse Rivers near Tarboro and Kinston, North Carolina, for evidence of liquefaction-forming earthquakes. The study area is in the vicinity of the Grainger’s fault zone in eastern North Carolina. The Grainger’s fault zone is a fault zone in the inner Coastal Plain Province that has well-documented...
Authors
Mark W. Carter, Brett T. McLaurin
High-frequency ground motion and source characteristics of the 2008 Wenchuan and 2013 Lushan, China, earthquakes High-frequency ground motion and source characteristics of the 2008 Wenchuan and 2013 Lushan, China, earthquakes
The 2008 MW7.9 Wenchuan and the 2013 MW6.6 Lushan earthquakes, which both occurred on the Longmen Shan thrust belt, show some interesting similarities and differences. Whereas the Wenchuan earthquake entailed a rupture zone that extended about 300 km northeastward, with fault slip extending to the surface, the Lushan earthquake was the result of a buried and much more compact zone of...
Authors
Lingyuan Meng, Yang Zang, Longquan Zhou
SKS splitting beneath Mount St. Helens: Constraints on subslab mantle entrainment SKS splitting beneath Mount St. Helens: Constraints on subslab mantle entrainment
Observations of seismic anisotropy can provide direct constraints on the character of mantle flow in subduction zones, critical for our broader understanding of subduction dynamics. Here we present over 750 new SKS splitting measurements in the vicinity of Mount St. Helens in the Cascadia subduction zone using a combination of stations from the iMUSH broadband array and Cascades Volcano
Authors
Caroline M Eakin, Erin A. Wirth, Abraham Wallace, Carl W Ulberg, Kenneth C Creager, Geoffrey A Abers
Rupture branching structure of the 2014 Mw 6.0 South Napa, California earthquake inferred from explosion-generated fault-zone trapped waves Rupture branching structure of the 2014 Mw 6.0 South Napa, California earthquake inferred from explosion-generated fault-zone trapped waves
We present evidence for multiple fault branches of the West Napa fault zone (WNFZ) based on fault‐zone trapped waves (FZTWs) generated by two explosions that were detonated within the main surface rupture zone produced by the 24 August 2014 Mw 6.0 South Napa earthquake. The FZTWs were recorded by a 15‐kilometer‐long dense (100 m spacing) linear seismic array consisting of 155 4.5‐hertz...
Authors
Yong-Gang Li, Rufus D. Catchings, Mark Goldman
Natural hazards and mineral commodity supply: Quantifying risk of earthquake disruption to South American copper supply Natural hazards and mineral commodity supply: Quantifying risk of earthquake disruption to South American copper supply
Mineral resources, and their mining and enrichment operations, are not equally distributed across Earth. The concentration of mineral supply in certain regions, owing to the geology or geography of the mineral resource, raises the level of risk related to supply disruption. Where mineral production coincides with areas prone to natural hazards, supply may be especially at risk. However...
Authors
Emily K. Schnebele, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Nico Luco, Nedal T. Nassar
Preliminary report on engineering and geological effects of the July 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence Preliminary report on engineering and geological effects of the July 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence
The Ridgecrest Earthquake sequence included a foreshock event on July 4 2019 (M6.4) and a M7.1 mainshock event on July 5 2019. These events occurred in the Eastern California Shear Zone, near Indian Wells Valley, south of China Lake and west of Searles Valley. GEER has partnered with several organizations to collect perishable data and document the important impacts of these events...
Authors
Scott J Brandenberg, Pengfei Wang, Chukwuebuka C Nweke, Kenneth Hudson, Silvia Mazzoni, Yousef Bozorgnia, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Craig A. Davis, Sean K Ahdi, Farzin Zareian, Jawad Fayaz, Richard D Koehler, Colin Chupik, Ian Pierce, Alana Williams, Sinan Akciz, Martin B Hudson, Tadahiro Kishida, Benjamin A. Brooks, Ryan D. Gold, Daniel J. Ponti, Katherine M. Scharer, Devin McPhillips, Christopher DuRoss, Todd Ericksen, Janis Hernandez, Jay Patton, Brian Olson, Timothy E. Dawson, Jerome Treiman, Kelly Blake, Jeffrey Buchhuber, Chris L M Madugo, Joseph Sun, Andrea Donnellan, Greg Lyzenga, Erik Conway
Improved implementation of rupture location uncertainty in fault displacement hazard assessment Improved implementation of rupture location uncertainty in fault displacement hazard assessment
This short note proposes an improvement to the implementation of uncertainty associated with rupture location from future earthquakes in probabilistic fault displacement hazard analysis. Location uncertainty leads to nonzero primary fault displacement near a mapped fault. With the improved implementation of location uncertainty, estimated fault displacement hazard at a given site is...
Authors
Rui Chen, Mark D. Petersen
Depth determination of the 2010 El Mayor‐Cucapah earthquake sequence (M ≥ 4.0) Depth determination of the 2010 El Mayor‐Cucapah earthquake sequence (M ≥ 4.0)
The 2010 MW 7.2 El Mayor‐Cucapah earthquake ruptured a zone of ~120 km in length in northern Baja California. The geographic distribution of this earthquake sequence was well constrained by waveform relocation. The depth distribution, however, was poorly determined as it is near the edge of, or outside, the Southern California Seismic Network. Here we use two complementary methods to...
Authors
C. Yu, E. Hauksson, Z. Zhan, Elizabeth S. Cochran, D. Helmberger
Lithosphere and shallow asthenosphere rheology from observations of post-earthquake relaxation Lithosphere and shallow asthenosphere rheology from observations of post-earthquake relaxation
In tectonically active regions, post-earthquake motions are generally shaped by a combination of continued fault slippage (afterslip) on a timescale of days to months and viscoelastic relaxation of the lower crust and upper mantle on a timescale of days to years. Transient crustal motions have been observed following numerous magnitude >~7 earthquakes in various tectonic settings...
Authors
Frederick Pollitz