Gavin P Hayes
I am a seismologist and program coordinator with the USGS, based in in Golden, CO. I oversee the activities of the Earthquake Hazards, Geomagnetism, and Global Seismographic Network (GSN) Programs within the Natural Hazards Mission Area.
Gavin Hayes is the Senior Science Advisor for Earthquake and Geologic Hazards at USGS. In this position, he oversees the Earthquake Hazards, Geomagnetism, and Global Seismographic Network (GSN) Programs. Hayes joined the USGS in 2007, after receiving a doctoral degree in geosciences from Pennsylvania State University, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Leeds in England. He was a post-doctoral scholar with the USGS National Earthquake Information Center before being hired permanently in 2012, and was a Research Geophysicist with that group from 2012-2020.
As part of the NEIC, Hayes helped to lead the USGS real time response to domestic and global earthquakes, rapidly characterizing the source properties of earthquakes, and interpreting events within their regional tectonic context. Hayes has over 80 publications in the areas of seismology, tectonics, geodesy and natural hazards, and in the applications of these subjects to earthquake safety, hazard and risk mitigation.
Education and Certifications
Gavin Hayes (Ph.D., Penn State, 2007)
Science and Products
RMT focal plane sensitivity to seismic network geometry and faulting style
Rapid characterization of the 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake sequence and its seismotectonic context
Reactivated faulting near Cushing, Oklahoma: Increased potential for a triggered earthquake in an area of United States strategic infrastructure
Development of the Global Earthquake Model’s neotectonic fault database
Seismicity of the Earth 1900‒2013 Mediterranean Sea and vicinity
On- and off-fault deformation associated with the September 2013 Mw7.7 Balochistan earthquake: Implications for geologic slip rate measurements
A rapid estimation of near field tsunami run-up
Earthquake forewarning in the Cascadia region
Efforts to monitor and characterize the recent increasing seismicity in central Oklahoma
Seismicity of the Earth 1900-2013, seismotectonics of South America (Nazca Plate Region)
Double point source W-phase inversion: Real-time implementation and automated model selection
Evidence for slip partitioning and bimodal slip behavior on a single fault: Surface slip characteristics of the 2013 Mw7.7 Balochistan, Pakistan earthquake
Science and Products
- Science
- Data
- Maps
- Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 68
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 (strike and dip)AuthorsKendra L. Johnson, Gavin P. Hayes, Robert B. Herrmann, Harley M. Benz, Daniel E. McNamara, Eric A. BergmanRapid characterization of the 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake sequence and its seismotectonic context
Earthquake response and related information products are important for placing recent seismic events into context and particularly for understanding the impact earthquakes can have on the regional community and its infrastructure. These tools are even more useful if they are available quickly, ahead of detailed information from the areas affected by such earthquakes. Here we provide an overview ofAuthorsGavin P. Hayes, Richard W. Briggs, William D. Barnhart, William L. Yeck, Daniel E. McNamara, David J. Wald, Jennifer Nealy, Harley M. Benz, Ryan D. Gold, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Kristin Marano, Paul S. Earle, Mike Hearne, Gregory M. Smoczyk, Lisa A. Wald, Sergey SamsonovReactivated faulting near Cushing, Oklahoma: Increased potential for a triggered earthquake in an area of United States strategic infrastructure
In October 2014 two moderate-sized earthquakes (Mw 4.0 and 4.3) struck south of Cushing, Oklahoma, below the largest crude oil storage facility in the world. Combined analysis of the spatial distribution of earthquakes and regional moment tensor focal mechanisms indicate reactivation of a subsurface unnamed and unmapped left-lateral strike-slip fault. Coulomb failure stress change calculations usiAuthorsDaniel E. McNamara, Gavin P. Hayes, Harley M. Benz, Robert Williams, Nicole D McMahon, R.C. Aster, Austin F. Holland, T Sickbert, Robert B. Herrmann, Richard W. Briggs, Gregory M. Smoczyk, Eric Bergman, Paul S. EarleDevelopment of the Global Earthquake Model’s neotectonic fault database
The Global Earthquake Model (GEM) aims to develop uniform, openly available, standards, datasets and tools for worldwide seismic risk assessment through global collaboration, transparent communication and adapting state-of-the-art science. GEM Faulted Earth (GFE) is one of GEM’s global hazard module projects. This paper describes GFE’s development of a modern neotectonic fault database and a uniquAuthorsAnnemarie Christophersen, Nicola Litchfield, Kelvin Berryman, Richard Thomas, Roberto Basili, Laura Wallace, William Ries, Gavin P. Hayes, Kathleen M. Haller, Toshikazu Yoshioka, Richard D. Koehler, Dan Clark, Monica Wolfson-Schwehr, Margaret S. Boettcher, Pilar Villamor, Nick Horspool, Teraphan Ornthammarath, Ramon Zuñiga, Robert M. Langridge, Mark W. Stirling, Tatiana Goded, Carlos Costa, Robert YeatsSeismicity of the Earth 1900‒2013 Mediterranean Sea and vicinity
The Mediterranean region is seismically active due to the convergence of the Africa Plate with the Eurasia plate. Present day Africa-Eurasia motion ranges from ~4 millimeters per year (mm/yr) in a northwest-southeast direction in the western Mediterranean to ~10 mm/yr (north-south) in the eastern Mediterranean. The Africa-Eurasia plate boundary is complex, and includes extensional and translationaAuthorsMatthew W. Herman, Gavin P. Hayes, Gregory M. Smoczyk, Rebecca Turner, Bethan Turner, Jennifer Jenkins, Sian Davies, Amy Parker, Allison Sinclair, Harley M. Benz, Kevin P. Furlong, Antonio VillaseñorOn- and off-fault deformation associated with the September 2013 Mw7.7 Balochistan earthquake: Implications for geologic slip rate measurements
The 24 September 2013 Mw7.7 Balochistan, Pakistan earthquake ruptured a ~ 200 km-long stretch of the Hoshab fault in southern Pakistan and produced the second-largest lateral surface displacement observed for a continental strike-slip earthquake. We remotely measured surface deformation associated with this event using high-resolution (0.5 m) pre- and post-event satellite optical imagery. We documAuthorsRyan D. Gold, Nadine G. Reitman, Richard W. Briggs, William D. Barnhart, Gavin P. Hayes, Earl M. WilsonA rapid estimation of near field tsunami run-up
Many efforts have been made to quickly estimate the maximum run-up height of tsunamis associated with large earthquakes. This is a difficult task, because of the time it takes to construct a tsunami model using real time data from the source. It is possible to construct a database of potential seismic sources and their corresponding tsunami a priori.However, such models are generally based on unifAuthorsSebastian Riqueime, Mauricio Fuentes, Gavin P. Hayes, Jamie CamposEarthquake forewarning in the Cascadia region
This report, prepared for the National Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council (NEPEC), is intended as a step toward improving communications about earthquake hazards between information providers and users who coordinate emergency-response activities in the Cascadia region of the Pacific Northwest. NEPEC charged a subcommittee of scientists with writing this report about forewarnings of increaseAuthorsJoan S. Gomberg, Brian F. Atwater, Nicholas M. Beeler, Paul Bodin, Earl Davis, Arthur Frankel, Gavin P. Hayes, Laura McConnell, Tim Melbourne, David H. Oppenheimer, John G. Parrish, Evelyn A. Roeloffs, Gary D. Rogers, Brian L. Sherrod, John Vidale, Timothy J. Walsh, Craig S. Weaver, Paul M. WhitmoreEfforts to monitor and characterize the recent increasing seismicity in central Oklahoma
The sharp increase in seismicity over a broad region of central Oklahoma has raised concerns regarding the source of the activity and its potential hazard to local communities and energy-industry infrastructure. Efforts to monitor and characterize the earthquake sequences in central Oklahoma are reviewed. Since early 2010, numerous organizations have deployed temporary portable seismic stations inAuthorsDaniel E. McNamara, Justin L. Rubinstein, Emma Myers, Gregory M. Smoczyk, Harley M. Benz, Robert Williams, Gavin P. Hayes, David C. Wilson, Robert B. Herrmann, Nicole D McMahon, R.C. Aster, E. Bergman, Austin Holland, Paul S. EarleSeismicity of the Earth 1900-2013, seismotectonics of South America (Nazca Plate Region)
The South American arc extends over 7,000 kilometers (km), from the Chilean margin triple junction offshore of southern Chile, to its intersection with the Panama fracture zone, offshore of the southern coast of Panama in Central America. It marks the plate boundary between the subducting Nazca plate and the South America plate, where the oceanic crust and lithosphere of the Nazca plate begin theiAuthorsGavin P. Hayes, Gregory M. Smoczyk, Harley M. Benz, Kevin P. Furlong, Antonio VillaseñorDouble point source W-phase inversion: Real-time implementation and automated model selection
Rapid and accurate characterization of an earthquake source is an extremely important and ever evolving field of research. Within this field, source inversion of the W-phase has recently been shown to be an effective technique, which can be efficiently implemented in real-time. An extension to the W-phase source inversion is presented in which two point sources are derived to better characterize cAuthorsJennifer Nealy, Gavin P. HayesEvidence for slip partitioning and bimodal slip behavior on a single fault: Surface slip characteristics of the 2013 Mw7.7 Balochistan, Pakistan earthquake
Deformation is commonly accommodated by strain partitioning on multiple, independent strike-slip and dip-slip faults in continental settings of oblique plate convergence. As a corollary, individual faults tend to exhibit one sense of slip – normal, reverse, or strike-slip – until whole-scale changes in boundary conditions reactivate preexisting faults in a new deformation regime. In this study, weAuthorsWilliam D. Barnhart, Richard W. Briggs, Nadine G. Reitman, Ryan D. Gold, Gavin P. Hayes - Software
- News