Publications
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The 1886 Charleston, South Carolina, earthquake: Intensities and ground motions The 1886 Charleston, South Carolina, earthquake: Intensities and ground motions
The 1 September 1886 Charleston, South Carolina, earthquake was one of the largest preinstrumental earthquakes in eastern North America for which extensive contemporaneous observations were documented. The distribution of shaking was mapped shortly after the earthquake, and reconsidered by several authors in the late twentieth century, but has not been reconsidered with a modern...
Authors
Susan E. Hough, Roger Bilham
Complex landslide patterns explained by local intra-unit variability of stratigraphy and structure: Case study in the Tyee Formation, Oregon, USA Complex landslide patterns explained by local intra-unit variability of stratigraphy and structure: Case study in the Tyee Formation, Oregon, USA
Lithology and geologic structure are important controls on landslide susceptibility and are incorporated into many regional landslide hazard models. Typically, metrics for mapped geologic units are used as model input variables and a single set of values for material strength are assumed, regardless of spatial heterogeneities that may exist within a map unit. Here we describe how...
Authors
Sean Richard LaHusen, Alex R. Grant
K-12 trade books’ representation of earthquake safety and protective actions: A content analysis K-12 trade books’ representation of earthquake safety and protective actions: A content analysis
Meaningful learning resources for earthquake safety and survival have become an increasingly important topic among geoscientists, especially educators and researchers. Various members of the public, especially K-12 (ages 5–18) learners, continue to depend on scientific trade books available at their local public and school libraries for information about earthquake concepts. To our...
Authors
Samuel Nyarko, Danielle F. Sumy, Sara K. McBride
Recent applications of the USGS National Crustal Model for Seismic Hazard Studies Recent applications of the USGS National Crustal Model for Seismic Hazard Studies
The U.S. Geological Survey is developing the National Crustal Model (NCM) for seismic hazard studies to facilitate modeling site, path, and source components of seismic hazard across the conterminous United States. The NCM is composed of a 1km grid of geophysical profiles, extending from the Earth’s surface into the upper mantle. It is constructed from a threedimensional (3D) geologic...
Authors
Oliver S. Boyd, James Andrew Smith, Morgan P. Moschetti, Brad T. Aagaard, Robert Graves, Evan Tyler Hirakawa, Sean Kamran Ahdi
Probabilistic seismic-hazard analysis for the western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Probabilistic seismic-hazard analysis for the western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
We present a probabilistic seismic-hazard analysis (PSHA) for the west-central part of the Arabian Peninsula. Our study area includes the northern Harrat Rahat volcanic field and the nearby city of Al Madīnah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This young, active volcanic field experienced one historical eruption in 1256 C.E. (654 in the year of the Hijra) that vented 20 to 22 kilometers (km)...
Authors
Ryota Kiuchi, Walter D. Mooney, Hani M. Zahran
Seismic hazard assessment for areas of volcanic activity in western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Seismic hazard assessment for areas of volcanic activity in western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Earthquake swarms caused by volcanic activity, tectonic stresses, or industrial operations (oil and gas production) can pose considerable risk for nearby settlements. As a rule, a probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) that is based on time-independent earthquakes does not take into account earthquake swarms because of their statistically time-dependent nature. We describe the...
Authors
Hani M. Zahran, Vladimir Sokolov, Ian C. F. Stewart
Ground-motion prediction equations for the western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ground-motion prediction equations for the western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) for the western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are developed by employing a mixed-effects regression model to modify the Boore and others (2014) Next Generation Attenuation-West2 (NGA-West2) project GMPEs. NGA-West2 addressed several key issues concerning GMPEs for shallow crustal earthquakes in active tectonic regions. However, the NGA-West2 input...
Authors
Ryota Kiuchi, Walter D. Mooney, Hani M. Zahran
Ambient seismic noise tomography of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ambient seismic noise tomography of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Harrat Rahat is a Cenozoic volcanic field in the west-central part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 150 kilometers east of the Red Sea, and is the site of the most recent eruption in the country (1256 C.E.; 654 in the year of the Hijra). The city of Al Madīnah lies at the north end of Harrat Rahat, and its volcanic and seismic risks are frequently reassessed. In 2009 C.E. an earthquake...
Authors
Francesco Civilini, Walter D. Mooney, Martha K. Savage, John Townend
Thickness of the Saudi Arabian crust Thickness of the Saudi Arabian crust
As part of a joint Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) project, we analyzed P-wave receiver functions from seismic stations covering most of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to map the thickness of the crust across the Arabia Plate. We present an update of crustal-thickness estimates and fill in gaps for the western Arabian Shield and the rifted margin at the Red...
Authors
Alexander R. Blanchette, Simon L. Klemperer, Walter D. Mooney, Hani M. Zahran
The Saudi Geological Survey-U.S. Geological Survey northern Harrat Rahat project—Styles, rates, causes, and hazards of volcanism near Al Madīnah al Munawwarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The Saudi Geological Survey-U.S. Geological Survey northern Harrat Rahat project—Styles, rates, causes, and hazards of volcanism near Al Madīnah al Munawwarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Active volcanic systems pose serious hazards to people and property including inundation and incineration by lava, blanketing by tephra (volcanic ash), exposure to noxious volcanic gases, and damage from shallow earthquakes triggered by ascending molten material (magma). To improve understanding of volcanism and associated seismicity on the western Arabia Plate, the Saudi Geological...
Authors
Thomas W. Sisson, Andrew T. Calvert, Walter D. Mooney
The USGS 2023 Conterminous U.S. time‐independent earthquake rupture forecast The USGS 2023 Conterminous U.S. time‐independent earthquake rupture forecast
We present the 2023 U.S. Geological Survey time‐independent earthquake rupture forecast for the conterminous United States, which gives authoritative estimates of the magnitude, location, and time‐averaged frequency of potentially damaging earthquakes throughout the region. In addition to updating virtually all model components, a major focus has been to provide a better representation...
Authors
Edward H. Field, Kevin R. Milner, Alexandra Elise Hatem, Peter M. Powers, Frederick Pollitz, Andrea L. Llenos, Yuehua Zeng, Kaj M. Johnson, Bruce E. Shaw, Devin McPhillips, Jessica Ann Thompson Jobe, Allison Shumway, Andrew J. Michael, Zheng-Kang Shen, Eileen L. Evans, Elizabeth H. Hearn, Charles Mueller, Arthur D. Frankel, Mark D. Petersen, Christopher DuRoss, Richard W. Briggs, Morgan T. Page, Justin Rubinstein, Julie A. Herrick
Total shortening estimates across the western Greater Caucasus Mountains from balanced cross sections and area balancing Total shortening estimates across the western Greater Caucasus Mountains from balanced cross sections and area balancing
The Greater Caucasus orogen forms the northern edge of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone. Although the orogen has long been assumed to exhibit dominantly thick-skinned style deformation via reactivation of high-angle extensional faults, recent work suggests the range may have accommodated several hundred kilometers or more of shortening since its ~30 Ma initiation, and this shortening...
Authors
Charles Cashman Trexler, Eric S. Cowgill, Dylan A Vasey, Nathan A. Niemi