Dr. Elizabeth S. Cochran is an observational seismologist at the United States Geological Survey in Pasadena, California. She conducts research on human-induced earthquakes, earthquake early warning, earthquake triggering, rupture processes, and seismic wave propagation.
Elizabeth has led several large seismic deployments following significant earthquakes in the United States. She served as Acting Director of the Earthquake Science Center in 2021. Elizabeth was the Project Chief of the Induced Seismicity project in the Earthquake Science Center from 2018-2021 and Chief Scientist of the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning project from 2016-17. She was the co-founder of the Quake Catcher Network, a crowd-sourced seismic network that detected earthquakes using low-cost sensors connected to desktop or inside of laptops and phones. Elizabeth received a B.S. in geophysics from University of California, Santa Barbara and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in geophysics and space physics from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 2010, she was recognized with a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), which is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers.
Experience
2011 – Present Research Geophysicist, US Geological Survey
2011 – Present Visiting Associate in Geophysics, California Institute of Technology
2007 – 2011 Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside
2005 – 2007 Postdoctoral Scholar, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps
2000 – 2005 Research Assist./Assoc., Department of Earth and Space Science, University of California, Los Angeles
Education
University of California, Santa Barbara Geophysics B.S., 2000
University of California, Los Angeles Geophysics and Space Physics M.S., 2003
University of California, Los Angeles Geophysics and Space Physics Ph.D., 2005
Honors and Activities
· Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), 2010.
· NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, 2010.
· Geological Society of America, Subaru Outstanding Woman in Science Award, 2006.
· Young Fellow of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, 2004.
· Southern California Earthquake Center Seismology Discipline Co-Chair, 2009-2017.
· IRIS Standing Committee Member; Data Management (2008-2010), Education and Public Outreach (2012-2014).
Science and Products
Earthquake Early Warning – Fine-Tuning for Best Alerts
Very low frequency earthquakes in between the seismogenic and tremor zones in Cascadia?
A unified perspective of seismicity and fault coupling along the San Andreas Fault
Fast rupture of the 2009 Mw 6.9 Canal de Ballenas earthquake in the Gulf of California dynamically triggers seismicity in California
Alert optimization of the PLUM earthquake early warning algorithm for the western United States
Evidence for latent crustal fluid injection transients in southern California from long-duration earthquake swarms
Stress controls rupture extent and maximum magnitude of induced earthquakes
Characterizing stress orientations in southern Kansas
Fluid-earthquake and earthquake-earthquake interactions in southern Kansas, USA
Apparent earthquake rupture predictability
Characteristics of frequent dynamic triggering of microearthquakes in Southern California
The induced Mw 5.0 March 2020 west Texas seismic sequence
Using a large-n seismic array to explore the robustness of spectral estimations
Science and Products
- Science
Earthquake Early Warning – Fine-Tuning for Best Alerts
Release Date: OCTOBER 8, 2019The goal of an earthquake early warning (EEW) system is to provide an alert to people and automatic systems after an earthquake begins but before the shaking reaches their location. As the USGS and its partners are developing an EEW system, called ShakeAlert®, for the West Coast, the benefits, costs, capabilities, and limitations are being investigated. Two recent... - Publications
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Very low frequency earthquakes in between the seismogenic and tremor zones in Cascadia?
Megathrust earthquakes and their associated tsunamis cause some of the worst natural disasters. In addition to earthquakes, a wide range of slip behaviors are present at subduction zones, including slow earthquakes that span multiple orders of spatial and temporal scales. Understanding these events may shed light on the stress or strength conditions of the megathrust fault. Out of all types of sloA unified perspective of seismicity and fault coupling along the San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault (SAF) showcases the breadth of possible earthquake sizes and occurrence behavior; in particular, the central SAF is a microcosm of such diversity. This section also exhibits the spectrum of fault coupling from locked to creeping. Here, we show that the observations of aseismic slip, temporal clustering of seismicity, and spatial variations in earthquake size distributions areFast rupture of the 2009 Mw 6.9 Canal de Ballenas earthquake in the Gulf of California dynamically triggers seismicity in California
In the Gulf of California, Mexico, the relative motion across the North America-Pacific boundary is accommodated by a series of marine transform faults and spreading centers. About 40 M>6 earthquakes have occurred in the region since 1960. On 3 August 2009, an Mw 6.9 earthquake occurred near Canal de Ballenas in the region. The earthquake was a strike-slip event with a shallow hypocenter that is lAlert optimization of the PLUM earthquake early warning algorithm for the western United States
We determine an optimal alerting configuration for the propagation of local undamped motion (PLUM) earthquake early warning (EEW) algorithm for use by the U.S. ShakeAlert system covering California, Oregon, and Washington. All EEW systems should balance the primary goal of providing timely alerts for impactful or potentially damaging shaking while limiting alerts for shaking that is too low to beEvidence for latent crustal fluid injection transients in southern California from long-duration earthquake swarms
Earthquake swarms are manifestations of aseismic driving processes deep in the crust. We examine the spatiotemporal distribution of aseismic processes in Southern California using a 12-years catalog of swarms derived with deep learning algorithms. In a core portion of the plate boundary region, which is not associated with elevated heat flow, we identify 92 long-duration swarms ranging from 6 montStress controls rupture extent and maximum magnitude of induced earthquakes
Seismic hazard forecasts of induced seismicity often require estimates of the maximum possible magnitude (Mmax). Empirical models suggest that maximum magnitudes, or expected number of earthquakes, are related to the volume of injected fluid. We perform a suite of 3D physics-based earthquake simulations with rate- and state-dependent friction, systematically varying the area of the pressurized regCharacterizing stress orientations in southern Kansas
Induced seismicity predominantly occurs along faults that are optimally oriented to the local principal compressive stress direction, and the characterization of these stress orientations is an important component of understanding seismic hazards. The seismicity rate in southern Kansas rapidly increased in 2013 primarily due to the disposal of large volumes of wastewater into the Arbuckle Group. PFluid-earthquake and earthquake-earthquake interactions in southern Kansas, USA
An increase in injection activity associated with energy production in southern Kansas starting in 2013 has been linked to the occurrence of more than 130,000 earthquakes (M −1.5 to 4.9) between 2014 and 2017. Studies suggest that the dramatic increase in seismicity rate is related to wastewater injection into the highly permeable Arbuckle formation. Most of the seismicity is located in the underlApparent earthquake rupture predictability
To what extent can the future evolution of an ongoing earthquake rupture be predicted? This question of fundamental scientific and practical importance has recently been addressed by studies of teleseismic source time functions (STFs) but reaching contrasting conclusions. One study concludes that the initial portion of STFs is the same regardless of magnitude. Another study concludes that the rateCharacteristics of frequent dynamic triggering of microearthquakes in Southern California
Dynamic triggering of earthquakes has been reported at various fault systems. The triggered earthquakes are thought to be caused either directly by dynamic stress changes due to the passing seismic waves, or indirectly by other nonlinear processes that are initiated by the passing waves. Distinguishing these physical mechanisms is difficult because of the general lack of high‐resolution earthquakeThe induced Mw 5.0 March 2020 west Texas seismic sequence
On March 26, 2020, a M 5.0 earthquake occurred in the Delaware Basin, Texas, near the border between Reeves and Culberson Counties. This was the third largest earthquake recorded in Texas and the largest earthquake in the Central and Eastern United States since the three M 5.0–5.8 induced events in Oklahoma during 2016. Using multistation waveform template matching, we detect 3,940 earthquakes inUsing a large-n seismic array to explore the robustness of spectral estimations
Spectral analysis is widely used to estimate and refine earthquake source parameters such as source radius, seismic moment, and stress drop. This study aims to quantify the precision of the single spectra and empirical Green's function spectral ratio approach using the Large‐n Seismic Survey in Oklahoma (LASSO) array. The dense station coverage in an area of local saltwater disposal offers a uniqu - News