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Holocene earthquakes of magnitude 7 during westward escape of the Olympic Mountains, Washington Holocene earthquakes of magnitude 7 during westward escape of the Olympic Mountains, Washington

The Lake Creek–Boundary Creek fault, previously mapped in Miocene bedrock as an oblique thrust on the north flank of the Olympic Mountains, poses a significant earthquake hazard. Mapping using 2015 light detection and ranging (lidar) confirms 2004 lidar mapping of postglacial (≥14  km along a splay fault, the Sadie Creek fault, west of Lake Crescent. Scarp morphology suggests repeated...
Authors
Alan R. Nelson, Stephen Personius, Ray E. Wells, Elizabeth R. Schermer, Lee-Ann Bradley, Jason Buck, Nadine G. Reitman

Refining fault slip rates using multiple displaced terrace risers-An example from the Honey Lake fault, NE California, USA Refining fault slip rates using multiple displaced terrace risers-An example from the Honey Lake fault, NE California, USA

Faulted terrace risers are semi-planar features commonly used to constrain Quaternary slip rates along strike-slip faults. These landforms are difficult to date directly and therefore their ages are commonly bracketed by age estimates of the adjacent upper and lower terrace surfaces. However, substantial differences in the ages of the upper and lower terrace surfaces (a factor of 2.4...
Authors
Ryan D. Gold, Richard W. Briggs, Anthony J. Crone, Christopher B. DuRoss

Rock friction under variable normal stress Rock friction under variable normal stress

This study is to determine the detailed response of shear strength and other fault properties to changes in normal stress at room temperature using dry initially bare rock surfaces of granite at normal stresses between 5 and 7 MPa. Rapid normal stress changes result in gradual, approximately exponential changes in shear resistance with fault slip. The characteristic length of the...
Authors
Brian D. Kilgore, Nicholas M. Beeler, Julian C. Lozos, David Oglesby

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

Integrated geophysical characteristics of the 2015 Illapel, Chile, earthquake Integrated geophysical characteristics of the 2015 Illapel, Chile, earthquake

On 16 September 2015, a Mw 8.3 earthquake ruptured the subduction zone offshore of Illapel, Chile, generating an aftershock sequence with 14 Mw 6.0–7.0 events. A double source W phase moment tensor inversion consists of a Mw 7.2 subevent and the main Mw 8.2 phase. We determine two slip models for the mainshock, one using teleseismic broadband waveforms and the other using static GPS and...
Authors
Matthew W. Herman, Jennifer Nealy, William L. Yeck, William D. Barnhart, Gavin P. Hayes, Kevin P. Furlong, Harley M. Benz

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

A synoptic view of the Third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3) A synoptic view of the Third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3)

Probabilistic forecasting of earthquake‐producing fault ruptures informs all major decisions aimed at reducing seismic risk and improving earthquake resilience. Earthquake forecasting models rely on two scales of hazard evolution: long‐term (decades to centuries) probabilities of fault rupture, constrained by stress renewal statistics, and short‐term (hours to years) probabilities of...
Authors
Edward H. Field, Thomas H. Jordan, Morgan T. Page, Kevin R. Milner, Bruce E. Shaw, Timothy E. Dawson, Glenn Biasi, Thomas E. Parsons, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, Andrew J. Michael, Ray J. Weldon, Peter M. Powers, Kaj M. Johnson, Yuehua Zeng, Peter Bird, Karen Felzer, Nicholas van der Elst, Christopher Madden, Ramon Arrowsmith, Maximillan J. Werner, Wayne R. Thatcher

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

NEHRP turns 40 NEHRP turns 40

This year, the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) turns 40, four decades since the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 was enacted establishing the Program, spurring numerous federal, state, and community actions to reduce earthquake losses in the U.S.A. and its territories and setting a standard for earthquake loss‐reduction projects internationally. Four...
Authors
William S. Leith
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