Publications
Educational Publications
Educational Publications
Selected publications about earthquakes In plain language.
Filter Total Items: 2789
Tomographic Rayleigh-wave group velocities in the Central Valley, California centered on the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta Tomographic Rayleigh-wave group velocities in the Central Valley, California centered on the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta
If shaking from a local or regional earthquake in the San Francisco Bay region were to rupture levees in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta then brackish water from San Francisco Bay would contaminate the water in the Delta: the source of fresh water for about half of California. As a prelude to a full shear-wave velocity model that can be used in computer simulations and further seismic...
Authors
Jon Peter B. Fletcher, Jemile Erdem, Kevin Seats, Jesse Lawrence
RMT focal plane sensitivity to seismic network geometry and faulting style RMT focal plane sensitivity to seismic network geometry and faulting style
Modern tectonic studies often use regional moment tensors (RMTs) to interpret the seismotectonic framework of an earthquake or earthquake sequence; however, despite extensive use, little existing work addresses RMT parameter uncertainty. Here, we quantify how network geometry and faulting style affect RMT sensitivity. We examine how data-model fits change with fault plane geometry...
Authors
Kendra L. Johnson, Gavin P. Hayes, Robert B. Herrmann, Harley M. Benz, Daniel E. McNamara, Eric A. Bergman
Seismic site characterization of an urban dedimentary basin, Livermore Valley, California: Site tesponse, basin-edge-induced surface waves, and 3D simulations Seismic site characterization of an urban dedimentary basin, Livermore Valley, California: Site tesponse, basin-edge-induced surface waves, and 3D simulations
Thirty‐two accelerometers were deployed in the Livermore Valley, California, for approximately one year to study sedimentary basin effects. Many local and near‐regional earthquakes were recorded, including the 24 August 2014 Mw 6.0 Napa, California, earthquake. The resulting ground‐motion data set is used to quantify the seismic response of the Livermore basin, a major structural...
Authors
Stephen H. Hartzell, Alena L. Leeds, Leonardo Ramirez-Guzman, James P. Allen, Robert G. Schmitt
Detailed mapping and rupture implications of the 1 km releasing bend in the Rodgers Creek Fault at Santa Rosa, northern California Detailed mapping and rupture implications of the 1 km releasing bend in the Rodgers Creek Fault at Santa Rosa, northern California
Airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) topography reveals for the first time the trace of the Rodgers Creek fault (RCF) through the center of Santa Rosa, the largest city in the northern San Francisco Bay area. Vertical deformation of the Santa Rosa Creek floodplain expresses a composite pull‐apart basin beneath the urban cover that is part of a broader 1‐km‐wide right‐releasing...
Authors
Suzanne Hecker, Victoria E. Langenheim, Robert Williams, Christopher S. Hitchcock, Stephen B. DeLong
Evaluation of six NEHRP B/C crustal amplification models proposed for use in western North America Evaluation of six NEHRP B/C crustal amplification models proposed for use in western North America
We evaluate six crustal amplification models based on National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) B/C crustal profiles proposed for use in western North America (WNA) and often used in other active crustal regions where crustal properties are unknown. One of the models is based on an interpolation of generic rock velocity profiles previously proposed for WNA and central and...
Authors
David Boore, Kenneth W. Campbell
Relationships between diatoms and tidal environments in Oregon and Washington, USA Relationships between diatoms and tidal environments in Oregon and Washington, USA
A new regional dataset comprising 425 intertidal diatom taxa from 175 samples from 11 ecologically diverse Oregon and Washington estuaries illustrates the importance of compiling a large modern dataset from a range of sites. Cluster analyses and detrended correspondence analysis of the diatom assemblages identify distinct vertical zones within supratidal, intertidal and subtidal...
Authors
Yuki Sawai, Benjamin P. Horton, Andrew C. Kemp, Andrea D. Hawkes, Tamostsu Nagumo, Alan R. Nelson
USGS approach to real-time estimation of earthquake-triggered ground failure - Results of 2015 workshop USGS approach to real-time estimation of earthquake-triggered ground failure - Results of 2015 workshop
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards and Landslide Hazards Programs are developing plans to add quantitative hazard assessments of earthquake-triggered landsliding and liquefaction to existing real-time earthquake products (ShakeMap, ShakeCast, PAGER) using open and readily available methodologies and products. To date, prototype global statistical models have been...
Authors
Kate E. Allstadt, Eric M. Thompson, David J. Wald, Michael W. Hamburger, Jonathan W. Godt, Keith L. Knudsen, Randall W. Jibson, M. Anna Jessee, Jing Zhu, Michael Hearne, Laurie G. Baise, Hakan Tanyas, Kristin D. Marano
2016 one-year seismic hazard forecast for the Central and Eastern United States from induced and natural earthquakes 2016 one-year seismic hazard forecast for the Central and Eastern United States from induced and natural earthquakes
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has produced a 1-year seismic hazard forecast for 2016 for the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS) that includes contributions from both induced and natural earthquakes. The model assumes that earthquake rates calculated from several different time windows will remain relatively stationary and can be used to forecast earthquake hazard and damage...
Authors
Mark D. Petersen, Charles S. Mueller, Morgan P. Moschetti, Susan M. Hoover, Andrea L. Llenos, William L. Ellsworth, Andrew J. Michael, Justin L. Rubinstein, Arthur F. McGarr, Kenneth S. Rukstales
Geomorphic and geologic controls of geohazards induced by Nepal’s 2015 Gorkha earthquake Geomorphic and geologic controls of geohazards induced by Nepal’s 2015 Gorkha earthquake
The Gorkha earthquake (magnitude 7.8) on 25 April 2015 and later aftershocks struck South Asia, killing ~9000 people and damaging a large region. Supported by a large campaign of responsive satellite data acquisitions over the earthquake disaster zone, our team undertook a satellite image survey of the earthquakes’ induced geohazards in Nepal and China and an assessment of the geomorphic...
Authors
J.S. Kargel, G.J. Leonard, D. H. Shugar, U. K. Haritashya, A. Bevington, E.J. Fielding, K. Fujita, M. Geertsema, E. S. Miles, J. Steiner, E. Anderson, S. Bajracharya, G.W. Bawden, D. F. Breashears, A. Byers, B. Collins, M. R. Dhital, A. Donnellan, T. L. Evans, M. L. Geai, M. T. Glasscoe, D. Green, D. R. Gurung, R. Heijenk, A. Hilborn, K. Hudnut, C. Huyck, W. W. Immerzeel, Jiang Li, R. Jibson, A. Kaab, N. R. Khanal, D. Kirschbaum, P. D. A. Kraaijenbrink, D. Lamsal, Liu Shiyin, Lv Mingyang, D. McKinney, N. K. Nahirnick, Nan Zhuotong, S. Ojha, J. Olsenholler, T. H. Painter, M. Pleasants, K. C. Pratima, Q. I. Yuan, B.H. Raup, D. Regmi, D. R. Rounce, A. Sakai, Shangguan Donghui, J. M. Shea, A. B. Shrestha, A. Shukla, D. Stumm, M. van der Kooij, K. Voss, Wang Xin, B. Weihs, Wu Lizong, Yao Xiaojun, M. R. Yoder, N. Young
Uncertainty in Vs30-based site response Uncertainty in Vs30-based site response
Methods that account for site response range in complexity from simple linear categorical adjustment factors to sophisticated nonlinear constitutive models. Seismic‐hazard analysis usually relies on ground‐motion prediction equations (GMPEs); within this framework site response is modeled statistically with simplified site parameters that include the time‐averaged shear‐wave velocity to...
Authors
Eric M. Thompson, David J. Wald
“Ductile to brittle” transition in thermally stable antigorite gouge at mantle pressures “Ductile to brittle” transition in thermally stable antigorite gouge at mantle pressures
General shear experiments on antigorite-rich serpentinite show a transition from ductile (distributed) to brittle (localized) deformation with increasing temperature from 300°C to 500°C at confining pressures from 1 to 2 GPa. The coefficient of friction associated with slip along fractures decreases from 0.23 to 0.07 with an increase in temperature from 300°C to 500°C. Velocity stepping
Authors
Brooks P. Proctor, Greg Hirth
Afterslip behavior following the M6.0, 2014 South Napa earthquake with implications for afterslip forecasting on other seismogenic faults Afterslip behavior following the M6.0, 2014 South Napa earthquake with implications for afterslip forecasting on other seismogenic faults
The M6.0, 24 Aug. 2014 South Napa, California, earthquake exhibited unusually large slip for a California strike-slip event of its size with a maximum coseismic surface slip of 40-50 cm in the north section of the 15 km-long rupture. Although only minor (
Authors
James J. Lienkaemper, Stephen B. DeLong, Carolyn J Domrose, Carla M. Rosa