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Clara Yoon

Clara is an earthquake seismologist at the United States Geological Survey in Pasadena, California.  She conducts research on earthquake activity using machine learning algorithms applied to large seismic data sets.  Previously, she led the IT and software operations on the USGS side of the Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN, https://www.scsn.org).

Education

2018                Ph.D. Geophysics, Stanford University

                        Thesis: A FAST Data Mining Approach for Similar Earthquake Detection

2015                M.S. Geophysics, Stanford University

2006                B.S. Physics, University of California Los Angeles

 

Professional Experience

2020 - present    Research Geophysicist, U.S. Geological Survey, Pasadena, CA

2018 - 2020       Supervisory Geophysicist, U.S. Geological Survey, Pasadena, CA

2012 - 2018       Graduate Student Researcher, Department of Geophysics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

2006 - 2012       Staff Scientist, Areté Associates, Northridge, CA

 

Current Interests

Understanding physical processes driving the 2020 Puerto Rico earthquake sequence

Southern California earthquake monitoring, seismicity analysis, and hazards

Testing machine learning algorithms in operational earthquake monitoring software, in collaboration with Caltech Seismo Lab

What new insights about earthquakes can be extracted from the application of data mining and machine learning techniques to large seismological and geophysical data sets?

How do earthquakes start, what can trigger earthquakes, how do earthquakes stop, and why do some earthquakes grow large when most do not?   How do earthquakes interact with each other?

How can software development best practices, open data repositories, cloud computing, and automated workflows improve transparency, reproducibility, collaboration, and dissemination of computational earthquake science research?

 

Past Projects (USGS)

USGS lead role in development, maintenance, and operation of real-time earthquake monitoring software in the Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN), in collaboration with Caltech Seismo Lab

Product planning and requirements development for the next-generation Earthquake Notification Service (ENS), which sends customized real-time email and text earthquake notifications to over 400,000 users

Planning and requirements development for the next-generation ANSS Quake Monitoring Software (AQMS) used in regional seismic networks

Software maintenance, testing, documentation, and user support for the AQMS Jiggle GUI, an application for human review of earthquake waveforms, locations, and magnitudes

Planning, coordination, and support for real-time ground shaking intensity (ShakeMap) products for southern California earthquakes

Promoting software development best practices: version control, git workflow, coding standards, unit tests, integration tests, issue tracking, code review, documentation

Management, supervision, and hi

Science and Products

Preliminary observations of the April 5th, 2024, Mw4.8 New Jersey earthquake

On 5 April 2024, 10:23 a.m. local time, a moment magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck Tewksbury Township, New Jersey, about 65 km west of New York City. Millions of people from Virginia to Maine and beyond felt the ground shaking, resulting in the largest number (>180,000) of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) “Did You Feel It?” reports of any earthquake. A team deployed by the Geotechnical Extreme Events R
Authors
Oliver S. Boyd, William D. Barnhart, James Bourke, Martin C. Chapman, Paul S. Earle, Guo-chin Dino Huang, Jessica Ann Thompson Jobe, Won-Young Kim, Frederick Link, Mairi Maclean Litherland, Andrew Lloyd, Maureen Long, Sara McBride, Andrew J. Michael, Walter D. Mooney, Gregory Moutain, Sissy Nikolaou, Alexandros Savvaidas, Felix Waldhauser, Cecily J. Wolfe, Clara Yoon
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Earthquake Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Distinct yet adjacent earthquake sequences near the Mendocino Triple Junction: 20 December 2021 Mw 6.1 and 6.0 Petrolia, and 20 December 2022 Mw 6.4 Ferndale

Two earthquake sequences occurred a year apart at the Mendocino Triple Junction in northern California: first the 20 December 2021 �w 6.1 and 6.0 Petrolia sequence, then the 20 December 2022 �w 6.4 Ferndale sequence. To delineate active faults and understand the relationship between these sequences, we applied an automated deep‐learning workflow to create enhanced and relocated earthquake catalogs
Authors
Clara Yoon, David R. Shelly
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Earthquake Hazards Program, Earthquake Science Center, Geologic Hazards Science Center

A detailed view of the 2020-2023 southwestern Puerto Rico seismic sequence with deep learning

The 2020–2023 southwestern Puerto Rico seismic sequence, still ongoing in 2023, is remarkable for its multiple‐fault rupture complexity and elevated aftershock productivity. We applied an automatic workflow to continuous data from 43 seismic stations in Puerto Rico to build an enhanced earthquake catalog with ∼180,000 events for the 3+ yr sequence from 28 December 2019 to 1 January 2023. This work
Authors
Clara Yoon, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Elizabeth A. Vanacore, Victor Huerfano, Gisela Báez-Sánchez, John D. Wilding, Jonathan D. Smith
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Earthquake Hazards Program, Earthquake Science Center

Caltech/USGS Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN) and Southern California Earthquake Data Center (SCEDC): Data availability for the 2019 Ridgecrest sequence

The 2019 M6.4 and M7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence occurred in the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ). The mainshock ruptured the Little Lake fault zone and aftershocks extended from the Garlock fault in the south, to the southern end of the 1872 M7.5 Owens Valley earthquake rupture in the north. We present data from the Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN) and partner seismic networks
Authors
Egill Hauksson, Clara Yoon, Ellen Yu, Jennifer Andrews, Mark Alvarez, Rayo Bhadha, Valerie Thomas
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Earthquake Hazards Program, Earthquake Science Center

Science and Products

Preliminary observations of the April 5th, 2024, Mw4.8 New Jersey earthquake

On 5 April 2024, 10:23 a.m. local time, a moment magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck Tewksbury Township, New Jersey, about 65 km west of New York City. Millions of people from Virginia to Maine and beyond felt the ground shaking, resulting in the largest number (>180,000) of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) “Did You Feel It?” reports of any earthquake. A team deployed by the Geotechnical Extreme Events R
Authors
Oliver S. Boyd, William D. Barnhart, James Bourke, Martin C. Chapman, Paul S. Earle, Guo-chin Dino Huang, Jessica Ann Thompson Jobe, Won-Young Kim, Frederick Link, Mairi Maclean Litherland, Andrew Lloyd, Maureen Long, Sara McBride, Andrew J. Michael, Walter D. Mooney, Gregory Moutain, Sissy Nikolaou, Alexandros Savvaidas, Felix Waldhauser, Cecily J. Wolfe, Clara Yoon
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Earthquake Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center

Distinct yet adjacent earthquake sequences near the Mendocino Triple Junction: 20 December 2021 Mw 6.1 and 6.0 Petrolia, and 20 December 2022 Mw 6.4 Ferndale

Two earthquake sequences occurred a year apart at the Mendocino Triple Junction in northern California: first the 20 December 2021 �w 6.1 and 6.0 Petrolia sequence, then the 20 December 2022 �w 6.4 Ferndale sequence. To delineate active faults and understand the relationship between these sequences, we applied an automated deep‐learning workflow to create enhanced and relocated earthquake catalogs
Authors
Clara Yoon, David R. Shelly
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Earthquake Hazards Program, Earthquake Science Center, Geologic Hazards Science Center

A detailed view of the 2020-2023 southwestern Puerto Rico seismic sequence with deep learning

The 2020–2023 southwestern Puerto Rico seismic sequence, still ongoing in 2023, is remarkable for its multiple‐fault rupture complexity and elevated aftershock productivity. We applied an automatic workflow to continuous data from 43 seismic stations in Puerto Rico to build an enhanced earthquake catalog with ∼180,000 events for the 3+ yr sequence from 28 December 2019 to 1 January 2023. This work
Authors
Clara Yoon, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Elizabeth A. Vanacore, Victor Huerfano, Gisela Báez-Sánchez, John D. Wilding, Jonathan D. Smith
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Earthquake Hazards Program, Earthquake Science Center

Caltech/USGS Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN) and Southern California Earthquake Data Center (SCEDC): Data availability for the 2019 Ridgecrest sequence

The 2019 M6.4 and M7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence occurred in the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ). The mainshock ruptured the Little Lake fault zone and aftershocks extended from the Garlock fault in the south, to the southern end of the 1872 M7.5 Owens Valley earthquake rupture in the north. We present data from the Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN) and partner seismic networks
Authors
Egill Hauksson, Clara Yoon, Ellen Yu, Jennifer Andrews, Mark Alvarez, Rayo Bhadha, Valerie Thomas
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Earthquake Hazards Program, Earthquake Science Center
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