Alex Grant
Alex is a Research Engineer specializing in regional-scale landslide and liquefaction hazards and risk.
Alex got his Ph.D. in 2017 from the University of Washington where he studied coseismic landslide hazard and risk in Lebanon, New Zealand, Japan, and the Pacific Northwest of N. America. Alex received his BSCE from Tufts University in 2013 and a MSE in 2014 from the University of Washington in Geotechnical Engineering. Alex joined the USGS in 2018 to research earthquake-induced ground failures, and is actively working on projects in the Pacific Northwest and California.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 15
Compiled onshore and offshore paleoseismic data along the Cascadia Subduction zone Compiled onshore and offshore paleoseismic data along the Cascadia Subduction zone
The USGS Powell Center Cascadia earthquake hazards working group compiled published onshore and offshore paleoseismic data along the Cascadia subduction zone, spanning sites from Vancouver Island to the Mendocino triple junction. Evidence for megathrust rupture includes coastal land-level change, tsunami inundation, onshore shaking proxies such as landslides or liquefaction, and offshore...
Field reconnaissance of ground failure triggered by shaking during the 2018 M7.1 Anchorage, Alaska, earthquake Field reconnaissance of ground failure triggered by shaking during the 2018 M7.1 Anchorage, Alaska, earthquake
These data present geolocated photographs, GPS tracks, and field-mapped ground failures collected during the USGS reconnaissance of ground failures following the 2018 M7.1 Anchorage Earthquake.
Field observations of ground failure triggered by the 2020 Puerto Rico earthquake sequence Field observations of ground failure triggered by the 2020 Puerto Rico earthquake sequence
This dataset consists of over 800 field observations of ground failure (landslides, lateral spreading, and liquefaction) and other damage triggered by the 2019-2020 Puerto Rico earthquake sequence. The sequence started with a M4.7 earthquake on 28 December 2019, followed by many more earthquakes, including 15 larger than M5 (as of 7 July 2020). The M6.4 mainshock, which is thought to...
Filter Total Items: 26
Regional-scale liquefaction analyses Regional-scale liquefaction analyses
Regional-scale liquefaction hazard analyses are necessary for resilience planning and prioritization of seismic upgrades for critical distributed infrastructure such as levees, pipelines, roadways, and electrical transmission facilities. Two approaches are often considered for liquefaction hazard analysis of distributed infrastructure: (1) conventional, site-specific probe or borehole...
Authors
Michael W. Greenfield, Alex R. Grant
Changes in liquefaction severity in the San Francisco Bay Area with sea-level rise Changes in liquefaction severity in the San Francisco Bay Area with sea-level rise
This paper studies the impacts of sea-level rise on liquefaction triggering and severity around the San Francisco Bay Area, California, for the M 7.0 “HayWired” earthquake scenario along the Hayward fault. This work emerged from stakeholder engagement for the US Geological Survey releases of the HayWired earthquake scenario and the Coastal Storm Modeling System projects, in which local...
Authors
Alex R. Grant, Anne Wein, Kevin M. Befus, Juliette Finzi-Hart, Mike Frame, Rachel Volentine, Patrick L. Barnard, Keith L. Knudsen
The normal faulting 2020 Mw5.8 Lone Pine, Eastern California earthquake sequence The normal faulting 2020 Mw5.8 Lone Pine, Eastern California earthquake sequence
The 2020 Mw 5.8 Lone Pine earthquake, the largest earthquake on the Owens Valley fault zone, eastern California, since the nineteenth century, ruptured an extensional stepover in that fault. Owens Valley separates two normal‐faulting regimes, the western margin of the Great basin and the eastern margin of the Sierra Nevada, forming a complex seismotectonic zone, and a possible nascent...
Authors
Egill Hauksson, Brian J. Olsen, Alex R. Grant, Jennifer R Andrews, Angela I. Chung, Susan E. Hough, Hiroo Kanamori, Sara K. McBride, Andrew J. Michael, Morgan T. Page, Zachary E. Ross, Deborah Smith, Sotiris Valkaniotis
Site response, basin amplification, and earthquake stress drops in the Portland, Oregon area Site response, basin amplification, and earthquake stress drops in the Portland, Oregon area
Site response, sedimentary basin amplification, and earthquake stress drops for the Portland, Oregon area were determined using accelerometer recordings at 16 sites of 10 local earthquakes with MDMD 2.6–4.0. A nonlinear inversion was applied to calculate site response (0.5–10 Hz), corner frequencies, and seismic moments from the Fourier spectra of the earthquakes. Site amplifications at...
Authors
Arthur D. Frankel, Alex R. Grant
Ensemble ShakeMaps for magnitude 9 earthquakes on the Cascadia Subduction Zone Ensemble ShakeMaps for magnitude 9 earthquakes on the Cascadia Subduction Zone
We develop ensemble ShakeMaps for various magnitude 9 (MM 9) earthquakes on the Cascadia megathrust. Ground‐shaking estimates are based on 30 MM 9 Cascadia earthquake scenarios, which were selected using a logic‐tree approach that varied the hypocenter location, down‐dip rupture limit, slip distribution, and location of strong‐motion‐generating subevents. In a previous work, Frankel et...
Authors
Erin A. Wirth, Alex R. Grant, Nasser A. Marafi, Arthur D. Frankel
A generic soil velocity model that accounts for near-surface conditions and deeper geologic structure A generic soil velocity model that accounts for near-surface conditions and deeper geologic structure
Near-surface soil conditions can significantly alter the amplitude and frequency content of incoming ground motions – often with profound consequences for the built environment – and are thus important inputs to any ground-motion prediction. Previous soil-velocity models (SVM) have predicted shear-wave velocity profiles based on the time-averaged shear-wave velocity in the upper 30 m...
Authors
Nasser A. Marafi, Alex R. Grant, Brett W. Maurer, Gunjan Rateria, Marc O Eberhard, Jeff W Berman
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 15
Compiled onshore and offshore paleoseismic data along the Cascadia Subduction zone Compiled onshore and offshore paleoseismic data along the Cascadia Subduction zone
The USGS Powell Center Cascadia earthquake hazards working group compiled published onshore and offshore paleoseismic data along the Cascadia subduction zone, spanning sites from Vancouver Island to the Mendocino triple junction. Evidence for megathrust rupture includes coastal land-level change, tsunami inundation, onshore shaking proxies such as landslides or liquefaction, and offshore...
Field reconnaissance of ground failure triggered by shaking during the 2018 M7.1 Anchorage, Alaska, earthquake Field reconnaissance of ground failure triggered by shaking during the 2018 M7.1 Anchorage, Alaska, earthquake
These data present geolocated photographs, GPS tracks, and field-mapped ground failures collected during the USGS reconnaissance of ground failures following the 2018 M7.1 Anchorage Earthquake.
Field observations of ground failure triggered by the 2020 Puerto Rico earthquake sequence Field observations of ground failure triggered by the 2020 Puerto Rico earthquake sequence
This dataset consists of over 800 field observations of ground failure (landslides, lateral spreading, and liquefaction) and other damage triggered by the 2019-2020 Puerto Rico earthquake sequence. The sequence started with a M4.7 earthquake on 28 December 2019, followed by many more earthquakes, including 15 larger than M5 (as of 7 July 2020). The M6.4 mainshock, which is thought to...
Filter Total Items: 26
Regional-scale liquefaction analyses Regional-scale liquefaction analyses
Regional-scale liquefaction hazard analyses are necessary for resilience planning and prioritization of seismic upgrades for critical distributed infrastructure such as levees, pipelines, roadways, and electrical transmission facilities. Two approaches are often considered for liquefaction hazard analysis of distributed infrastructure: (1) conventional, site-specific probe or borehole...
Authors
Michael W. Greenfield, Alex R. Grant
Changes in liquefaction severity in the San Francisco Bay Area with sea-level rise Changes in liquefaction severity in the San Francisco Bay Area with sea-level rise
This paper studies the impacts of sea-level rise on liquefaction triggering and severity around the San Francisco Bay Area, California, for the M 7.0 “HayWired” earthquake scenario along the Hayward fault. This work emerged from stakeholder engagement for the US Geological Survey releases of the HayWired earthquake scenario and the Coastal Storm Modeling System projects, in which local...
Authors
Alex R. Grant, Anne Wein, Kevin M. Befus, Juliette Finzi-Hart, Mike Frame, Rachel Volentine, Patrick L. Barnard, Keith L. Knudsen
The normal faulting 2020 Mw5.8 Lone Pine, Eastern California earthquake sequence The normal faulting 2020 Mw5.8 Lone Pine, Eastern California earthquake sequence
The 2020 Mw 5.8 Lone Pine earthquake, the largest earthquake on the Owens Valley fault zone, eastern California, since the nineteenth century, ruptured an extensional stepover in that fault. Owens Valley separates two normal‐faulting regimes, the western margin of the Great basin and the eastern margin of the Sierra Nevada, forming a complex seismotectonic zone, and a possible nascent...
Authors
Egill Hauksson, Brian J. Olsen, Alex R. Grant, Jennifer R Andrews, Angela I. Chung, Susan E. Hough, Hiroo Kanamori, Sara K. McBride, Andrew J. Michael, Morgan T. Page, Zachary E. Ross, Deborah Smith, Sotiris Valkaniotis
Site response, basin amplification, and earthquake stress drops in the Portland, Oregon area Site response, basin amplification, and earthquake stress drops in the Portland, Oregon area
Site response, sedimentary basin amplification, and earthquake stress drops for the Portland, Oregon area were determined using accelerometer recordings at 16 sites of 10 local earthquakes with MDMD 2.6–4.0. A nonlinear inversion was applied to calculate site response (0.5–10 Hz), corner frequencies, and seismic moments from the Fourier spectra of the earthquakes. Site amplifications at...
Authors
Arthur D. Frankel, Alex R. Grant
Ensemble ShakeMaps for magnitude 9 earthquakes on the Cascadia Subduction Zone Ensemble ShakeMaps for magnitude 9 earthquakes on the Cascadia Subduction Zone
We develop ensemble ShakeMaps for various magnitude 9 (MM 9) earthquakes on the Cascadia megathrust. Ground‐shaking estimates are based on 30 MM 9 Cascadia earthquake scenarios, which were selected using a logic‐tree approach that varied the hypocenter location, down‐dip rupture limit, slip distribution, and location of strong‐motion‐generating subevents. In a previous work, Frankel et...
Authors
Erin A. Wirth, Alex R. Grant, Nasser A. Marafi, Arthur D. Frankel
A generic soil velocity model that accounts for near-surface conditions and deeper geologic structure A generic soil velocity model that accounts for near-surface conditions and deeper geologic structure
Near-surface soil conditions can significantly alter the amplitude and frequency content of incoming ground motions – often with profound consequences for the built environment – and are thus important inputs to any ground-motion prediction. Previous soil-velocity models (SVM) have predicted shear-wave velocity profiles based on the time-averaged shear-wave velocity in the upper 30 m...
Authors
Nasser A. Marafi, Alex R. Grant, Brett W. Maurer, Gunjan Rateria, Marc O Eberhard, Jeff W Berman