Publications
Educational Publications
Educational Publications
Selected publications about earthquakes In plain language.
Filter Total Items: 2785
Site response estimates in Salt Lake Valley, Utah, from borehole seismic velocities Site response estimates in Salt Lake Valley, Utah, from borehole seismic velocities
The general correlation of Salt Lake Valley sites located on soft, saturated unconsolidated silty and clayey deposits (that is, deposits with low S-wave velocity) with high seismic amplification at the ground surface motivated our investigation of the relationship between the P- and S-wave seismic velocity (Vp and Vs) of these units and their corresponding observed site response. We...
Authors
R. A. Williams, K. W. King, John Tinsley
The Parkfield prediction fallacy The Parkfield prediction fallacy
The Parkfield earthquake prediction is generally stated as a 95% probability that the next moderate earthquake there should occur before January 1993. That time limit is based on a two-sided 95% confidence interval. Because at the time of the prediction (1985) it was already clear that the earthquake had not occurred prior to 1985, a one-sided 95% confidence interval would have been more
Authors
James C. Savage
GIS mapping of earthquake ground shaking in San Francisco, California GIS mapping of earthquake ground shaking in San Francisco, California
Severe earthquakes of the last decade in Mexico, Armenia, and the United States have reemphasized the importance of local geologic site conditions in estimating damage and consequent losses. Recent advances in geographic information system (GIS) technology have created new opportunities for maintaining and integrating extensive spatial databases for applications in seismic hazard...
Authors
S.A. King, Anne S. Kiremidjian, Roger D. Borcherdt, Carl M. Wentworth
The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989: Societal response The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989: Societal response
Professional Paper 1553 describes how people and organizations responded to the earthquake and how the earthquake impacted people and society. The investigations evaluate the tools available to the research community to measure the nature, extent, and causes of damage and losses. They describe human behavior during and immediately after the earthquake and how citizens participated in...
Authors
Dennis S. Coordinated by Mileti
The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989: Earthquake occurrence The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989: Earthquake occurrence
Professional Paper 1550 seeks to understand the M6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake itself. It examines how the fault that generated the earthquake ruptured, searches for and evaluates precursors that may have indicated an earthquake was coming, reviews forecasts of the earthquake, and describes the geology of the earthquake area and the crustal forces that affect this geology. Some significant...
Authors
William H. Coordinated by Bakun, William H. Prescott
The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989: Preseismic observations The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989: Preseismic observations
The October 17, 1989, Loma Prieta, Calif., Ms=7.1 earthquake provided the first opportunity in the history of fault monitoring in the United States to gather multidisciplinary preearthquake data in the near field of an M=7 earthquake. The data obtained include observations on seismicity, continuous strain, long-term ground displacement, magnetic field, and hydrology. The papers in this...
Authors
Malcolm J. S. Johnston, Jean A. Olson, David P. Hill, Anthony C. Fraser-Smith, Arman Bernardi, Robert A. Helliwell, Paul R. McGill, O.G. Villard, Robert J. Mueller, Randall A. White, William L. Ellsworth, Evelyn A. Roeloffs, Alan T. Linde, M. T. Gladwin, R. L. Gwyther, R.H.G. Hart, Michael Lisowski, James C. Savage, William H. Prescott, Jerry L. Svarc, Mark Hunter Murray, P.G. Silver, N. J. Valette-Silver, Olga Kolbek
Earthquake locations determined by the Southern Alaska seismograph network for October 1971 through May 1989 Earthquake locations determined by the Southern Alaska seismograph network for October 1971 through May 1989
This report describes the instrumentation and evolution of the U.S. Geological Survey’s regional seismograph network in southern Alaska, provides phase and hypocenter data for seismic events from October 1971 through May 1989, reviews the location methods used, and discusses the completeness of the catalog and the accuracy of the computed hypocenters. Included are arrival time data for...
Authors
Kent A. Fogleman, John C. Lahr, Christopher D. Stephens, Robert A. Page
The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989 - Public response: Chapter B in The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989: Societal Response (Professional Paper 1553) The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989 - Public response: Chapter B in The Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989: Societal Response (Professional Paper 1553)
Major earthquakes provide seismologists and engineers an opportunity to examine the performance of the Earth and the man-made structures in response to the forces of the quake. So, too, do they provide social scientists an opportunity to delve into human responses evoked by the ground shaking and its physical consequences. The findings from such research can serve to guide the...
Observations and modeling of seismic background noise Observations and modeling of seismic background noise
The preparation of this report had two purposes. One was to present a catalog of seismic background noise spectra obtained from a worldwide network of seismograph stations. The other purpose was to refine and document models of seismic background noise that have been in use for several years. The second objective was, in fact, the principal reason that this study was initiated and...
Authors
Jon R. Peterson
Maps of major active faults, Western Hemisphere, International Lithosphere Program (ILP), Project II-2; guidelines for U.S. database and map, June 1993 Maps of major active faults, Western Hemisphere, International Lithosphere Program (ILP), Project II-2; guidelines for U.S. database and map, June 1993
No abstract available.
Authors
K. M. Haller, M. N. Machette, R. L. Dart
Seismic noise on Rarotonga: Surface versus downhole Seismic noise on Rarotonga: Surface versus downhole
Seismic noise data are presented from the new Global Seismographic Network station, RAR, on the Island of Rarotonga in the South Pacific. Data from the first new borehole site in the GSN are compared with a surface vault installation. Initial indications from the data show that borehole siting on a small island significantly reduces long-period (>20 s) horizontal seismic noise levels...
Authors
Rhett Butler, C. R. Hutt
Strain accumulation across the Wasatch Fault near Ogden, Utah Strain accumulation across the Wasatch Fault near Ogden, Utah
Deformation of a 70 by 40‐km trilateration network spanning the north trending Wasatch fault near Ogden, Utah, has been monitored from 1972 through 1990. All but nine of the 200 measurements are consistent with deformation that is linear in time. We presume that those nine observations are contaminated by some blunder in making the measurements and that deformation is linear in time. The...
Authors
James C. Savage, Michael Lisowski, W.H. Prescott