Jessica Murray
Research Geophysicist in the Earthquake Science Center and Project Chief for Crustal Deformation.
I am a Research Geophysicist in the Earthquake Science Center where I have served as the Task Leader for GPS data collection and analysis and as the Project Chief for Crustal Deformation. Currently I serve as the Geodesy topical coordinator for the Earthquake Hazards Program. I study deformation using a variety of geodetic data (measurements of the displacement of the Earth’s surface). This research concerns the spatio-temporal patterns of strain accumulation and release on faults and how such processes modulate the earthquake cycle. One area of interest is the use of geodetic data to infer the spatial distribution of interseismic and coseismic fault slip and the insight this provides into earthquake recurrence. Another area of focus is the detection and kinematic modeling of transient deformation using frequent geodetic measurements and techniques such as Kalman filtering. This work is geared toward an improved understanding of the stressing history on a fault, the conditions under which stable slip occurs, and the relation between transient slip, seismicity, and earthquake-induced stress changes. I am also involved in developing ways to use real-time GPS data for improved earthquake early warning and situational awareness following major earthquakes.
Professional Experience
2014 - present Research Geophysicist, Earthquake Hazards Program Geodesy Coordinator, USGS Earthquake Science Center , Menlo Park, CA
2011 – 2014 Research Geophysicist, Project Chief: Crustal Deformation, USGS Earthquake Science Center , Menlo Park, CA
2005 – 2011 Research Geophysicist, Leader: GPS Crustal Strain Task, USGS Earthquake Science Center, Menlo Park, CA
2003 – 2005 Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow, USGS Western Region Earthquake Hazards Team, Menlo Park, CA
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. (2003) Stanford University (Geophysics)
M.S. (2000) Stanford University (Geophysics)
A.B. (1996) Dartmouth College (Earth Sciences)
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 28
Buried shallow fault slip from the South Napa earthquake revealed by near-field geodesy
Earthquake-related fault slip in the upper hundreds of meters of Earth’s surface has remained largely unstudied because of challenges measuring deformation in the near field of a fault rupture. We analyze centimeter-scale accuracy mobile laser scanning (MLS) data of deformed vine rows within ±300 m of the principal surface expression of the M (magnitude) 6.0 2014 South Napa earthquake. Rather than
Authors
Benjamin A. Brooks, Sarah E. Minson, Craig L. Glennie, Johanna Nevitt, Timothy E. Dawson, Ron S. Rubin, Todd Ericksen, David A. Lockner, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Victoria E. Langenheim, Andrew Lutz, Jessica R. Murray, David P. Schwartz, Dana Zaccone
Global Positioning System data collection, processing, and analysis conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program
The U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Science Center collects and processes Global Positioning System (GPS) data throughout the western United States to measure crustal deformation related to earthquakes and tectonic processes as part of a long‐term program of research and monitoring. Here, we outline data collection procedures and present the GPS dataset built through repeated temporary deploymen
Authors
Jessica R. Murray, Jerry L. Svarc
Persistent slip rate discrepancies in the eastern California (USA) shear zone
Understanding fault slip rates in the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ) using GPS geodesy is complicated by potentially overlapping strain signals due to many sub-parallel strike-slip faults and by inconsistencies with geologic slip rates. The role of fault system geometry in describing ECSZ deformation may be investigated with total variation regularization, which algorithmically determines a
Authors
Eileen Evans, Wayne R. Thatcher, Fred Pollitz, Jessica R. Murray
Coseismic slip and early afterslip of the 2015 Illapel, Chile, earthquake: Implications for frictional heterogeneity and coastal uplift
Great subduction earthquakes are thought to rupture portions of the megathrust, where interseismic coupling is high and velocity-weakening frictional behavior is dominant, releasing elastic deformation accrued over a seismic cycle. Conversely, postseismic afterslip is assumed to occur primarily in regions of velocity-strengthening frictional characteristics that may correlate with lower interseism
Authors
William D. Barnhart, Jessica R. Murray, Richard W. Briggs, Francisco Gomez, Charles P. J. Miles, Jerry L. Svarc, Sebástian Riquelme, Bryan J. Stressler
Spatial variations in fault friction related to lithology from rupture and afterslip of the 2014 South Napa, California, earthquake
Following earthquakes, faults are often observed to continue slipping aseismically. It has been proposed that this afterslip occurs on parts of the fault with rate-strengthening friction that are stressed by the mainshock, but our understanding has been limited by a lack of immediate, high-resolution observations. Here we show that the behavior of afterslip following the 2014 South Napa earthquake
Authors
Michael Floyd, Richard Walters, John Elliot, Gareth J. Funning, Jerry L. Svarc, Jessica R. Murray, Andy Hooper, Yngvar Larsen, Petar Marinkovic, Roland Bürgmann, Ingrid A. Johanson, Tim Wright
Dynamic rupture models of earthquakes on the Bartlett Springs Fault, Northern California
The Bartlett Springs Fault (BSF), the easternmost branch of the northern San Andreas Fault system, creeps along much of its length. Geodetic data for the BSF are sparse, and surface creep rates are generally poorly constrained. The two existing geodetic slip rate inversions resolve at least one locked patch within the creeping zones. We use the 3-D finite element code FaultMod to conduct dynamic r
Authors
Julian C. Lozos, Ruth A. Harris, Jessica R. Murray, James J. Lienkaemper
The Mw6.0 24 August 2014 South Napa earthquake
The Mw 6.0 South Napa earthquake, which occurred at 10:20 UTC 24 August 2014 was the largest earthquake to strike the greater San Francisco Bay area since the Mw 6.9 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The rupture from this right‐lateral earthquake propagated mostly unilaterally to the north and up‐dip, directing the strongest shaking toward the city of Napa, where peak ground accelerations (PGAs) betwee
Authors
Thomas M. Brocher, Annemarie S. Baltay, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, Fred F. Pollitz, Jessica R. Murray, Andrea L. Llenos, David P. Schwartz, J. Luke Blair, Daniel J. Ponti, James J. Lienkaemper, Victoria E. Langenheim, Timothy E. Dawson, Kenneth W. Hudnut, David R. Shelly, Douglas S. Dreger, John Boatwright, Brad T. Aagaard, David J. Wald, Richard M. Allen, William D. Barnhart, Keith L. Knudsen, Benjamin A. Brooks, Katherine M. Scharer
Crowdsourced earthquake early warning
Earthquake early warning (EEW) can reduce harm to people and infrastructure from earthquakes and tsunamis, but it has not been implemented in most high earthquake-risk regions because of prohibitive cost. Common consumer devices such as smartphones contain low-cost versions of the sensors used in EEW. Although less accurate than scientific-grade instruments, these sensors are globally ubiquitous.
Authors
Sarah E. Minson, Benjamin A. Brooks, Craig L. Glennie, Jessica R. Murray, John O. Langbein, Susan E. Owen, Thomas H. Heaton, Robert A. Iannucci, Darren L. Hauser
Slip rates and spatially variable creep on faults of the northern San Andreas system inferred through Bayesian inversion of Global Positioning System data
Fault creep, depending on its rate and spatial extent, is thought to reduce earthquake hazard by releasing tectonic strain aseismically. We use Bayesian inversion and a newly expanded GPS data set to infer the deep slip rates below assigned locking depths on the San Andreas, Maacama, and Bartlett Springs Faults of Northern California and, for the latter two, the spatially variable interseismic cre
Authors
Jessica R. Murray, Sarah E. Minson, Jerry L. Svarc
Real-time inversions for finite fault slip models and rupture geometry based on high-rate GPS data
We present an inversion strategy capable of using real-time high-rate GPS data to simultaneously solve for a distributed slip model and fault geometry in real time as a rupture unfolds. We employ Bayesian inference to find the optimal fault geometry and the distribution of possible slip models for that geometry using a simple analytical solution. By adopting an analytical Bayesian approach, we can
Authors
Sarah E. Minson, Jessica R. Murray, John O. Langbein, Joan S. Gomberg
Key recovery factors for the August 24, 2014, South Napa Earthquake
Through discussions between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) following the South Napa earthquake, it was determined that several key decision points would be faced by FEMA for which additional information should be sought and provided by USGS and its partners. This report addresses the four tasks that were agreed to. These tasks are (1) assessmen
Authors
Kenneth W. Hudnut, Thomas M. Brocher, Carol S. Prentice, John Boatwright, Benjamin A. Brooks, Brad T. Aagaard, J. Luke Blair, Jon Peter B. Fletcher, Jemile Erdem, Charles W. Wicks, Jessica R. Murray, Fred F. Pollitz, John O. Langbein, Jerry L. Svarc, David P. Schwartz, Daniel J. Ponti, Suzanne Hecker, Stephen B. DeLong, Carla M. Rosa, Brenda Jones, Rynn M. Lamb, Anne M. Rosinski, Timothy P. McCrink, Timothy E. Dawson, Gordon G. Seitz, Craig Glennie, Darren Hauser, Todd Ericksen, Dan Mardock, Don F. Hoirup, Jonathan D. Bray, Ron S. Rubin
Geodetic constraints on the 2014 M 6.0 South Napa earthquake
On 24 August 2014, the M 6.0 South Napa earthquake shook much of the San Francisco Bay area, leading to significant damage in the Napa Valley. The earthquake occurred in the vicinity of the West Napa fault (122.313° W, 38.22° N, 11.3 km), a mapped structure located between the Rodger’s Creek and Green Valley faults, with nearly pure right‐lateral strike‐slip motion (strike 157°, dip 77°, rake –169
Authors
William D. Barnhart, Jessica R. Murray, S H Yun, Jerry L. Svarc, SV Samsonov, EJ Fielding, Benjamin A. Brooks, Pietro Milillo
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 28
Buried shallow fault slip from the South Napa earthquake revealed by near-field geodesy
Earthquake-related fault slip in the upper hundreds of meters of Earth’s surface has remained largely unstudied because of challenges measuring deformation in the near field of a fault rupture. We analyze centimeter-scale accuracy mobile laser scanning (MLS) data of deformed vine rows within ±300 m of the principal surface expression of the M (magnitude) 6.0 2014 South Napa earthquake. Rather thanAuthorsBenjamin A. Brooks, Sarah E. Minson, Craig L. Glennie, Johanna Nevitt, Timothy E. Dawson, Ron S. Rubin, Todd Ericksen, David A. Lockner, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Victoria E. Langenheim, Andrew Lutz, Jessica R. Murray, David P. Schwartz, Dana ZacconeGlobal Positioning System data collection, processing, and analysis conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program
The U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Science Center collects and processes Global Positioning System (GPS) data throughout the western United States to measure crustal deformation related to earthquakes and tectonic processes as part of a long‐term program of research and monitoring. Here, we outline data collection procedures and present the GPS dataset built through repeated temporary deploymenAuthorsJessica R. Murray, Jerry L. SvarcPersistent slip rate discrepancies in the eastern California (USA) shear zone
Understanding fault slip rates in the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ) using GPS geodesy is complicated by potentially overlapping strain signals due to many sub-parallel strike-slip faults and by inconsistencies with geologic slip rates. The role of fault system geometry in describing ECSZ deformation may be investigated with total variation regularization, which algorithmically determines aAuthorsEileen Evans, Wayne R. Thatcher, Fred Pollitz, Jessica R. MurrayCoseismic slip and early afterslip of the 2015 Illapel, Chile, earthquake: Implications for frictional heterogeneity and coastal uplift
Great subduction earthquakes are thought to rupture portions of the megathrust, where interseismic coupling is high and velocity-weakening frictional behavior is dominant, releasing elastic deformation accrued over a seismic cycle. Conversely, postseismic afterslip is assumed to occur primarily in regions of velocity-strengthening frictional characteristics that may correlate with lower interseismAuthorsWilliam D. Barnhart, Jessica R. Murray, Richard W. Briggs, Francisco Gomez, Charles P. J. Miles, Jerry L. Svarc, Sebástian Riquelme, Bryan J. StresslerSpatial variations in fault friction related to lithology from rupture and afterslip of the 2014 South Napa, California, earthquake
Following earthquakes, faults are often observed to continue slipping aseismically. It has been proposed that this afterslip occurs on parts of the fault with rate-strengthening friction that are stressed by the mainshock, but our understanding has been limited by a lack of immediate, high-resolution observations. Here we show that the behavior of afterslip following the 2014 South Napa earthquakeAuthorsMichael Floyd, Richard Walters, John Elliot, Gareth J. Funning, Jerry L. Svarc, Jessica R. Murray, Andy Hooper, Yngvar Larsen, Petar Marinkovic, Roland Bürgmann, Ingrid A. Johanson, Tim WrightDynamic rupture models of earthquakes on the Bartlett Springs Fault, Northern California
The Bartlett Springs Fault (BSF), the easternmost branch of the northern San Andreas Fault system, creeps along much of its length. Geodetic data for the BSF are sparse, and surface creep rates are generally poorly constrained. The two existing geodetic slip rate inversions resolve at least one locked patch within the creeping zones. We use the 3-D finite element code FaultMod to conduct dynamic rAuthorsJulian C. Lozos, Ruth A. Harris, Jessica R. Murray, James J. LienkaemperThe Mw6.0 24 August 2014 South Napa earthquake
The Mw 6.0 South Napa earthquake, which occurred at 10:20 UTC 24 August 2014 was the largest earthquake to strike the greater San Francisco Bay area since the Mw 6.9 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The rupture from this right‐lateral earthquake propagated mostly unilaterally to the north and up‐dip, directing the strongest shaking toward the city of Napa, where peak ground accelerations (PGAs) betweeAuthorsThomas M. Brocher, Annemarie S. Baltay, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, Fred F. Pollitz, Jessica R. Murray, Andrea L. Llenos, David P. Schwartz, J. Luke Blair, Daniel J. Ponti, James J. Lienkaemper, Victoria E. Langenheim, Timothy E. Dawson, Kenneth W. Hudnut, David R. Shelly, Douglas S. Dreger, John Boatwright, Brad T. Aagaard, David J. Wald, Richard M. Allen, William D. Barnhart, Keith L. Knudsen, Benjamin A. Brooks, Katherine M. ScharerCrowdsourced earthquake early warning
Earthquake early warning (EEW) can reduce harm to people and infrastructure from earthquakes and tsunamis, but it has not been implemented in most high earthquake-risk regions because of prohibitive cost. Common consumer devices such as smartphones contain low-cost versions of the sensors used in EEW. Although less accurate than scientific-grade instruments, these sensors are globally ubiquitous.AuthorsSarah E. Minson, Benjamin A. Brooks, Craig L. Glennie, Jessica R. Murray, John O. Langbein, Susan E. Owen, Thomas H. Heaton, Robert A. Iannucci, Darren L. HauserSlip rates and spatially variable creep on faults of the northern San Andreas system inferred through Bayesian inversion of Global Positioning System data
Fault creep, depending on its rate and spatial extent, is thought to reduce earthquake hazard by releasing tectonic strain aseismically. We use Bayesian inversion and a newly expanded GPS data set to infer the deep slip rates below assigned locking depths on the San Andreas, Maacama, and Bartlett Springs Faults of Northern California and, for the latter two, the spatially variable interseismic creAuthorsJessica R. Murray, Sarah E. Minson, Jerry L. SvarcReal-time inversions for finite fault slip models and rupture geometry based on high-rate GPS data
We present an inversion strategy capable of using real-time high-rate GPS data to simultaneously solve for a distributed slip model and fault geometry in real time as a rupture unfolds. We employ Bayesian inference to find the optimal fault geometry and the distribution of possible slip models for that geometry using a simple analytical solution. By adopting an analytical Bayesian approach, we canAuthorsSarah E. Minson, Jessica R. Murray, John O. Langbein, Joan S. GombergKey recovery factors for the August 24, 2014, South Napa Earthquake
Through discussions between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) following the South Napa earthquake, it was determined that several key decision points would be faced by FEMA for which additional information should be sought and provided by USGS and its partners. This report addresses the four tasks that were agreed to. These tasks are (1) assessmenAuthorsKenneth W. Hudnut, Thomas M. Brocher, Carol S. Prentice, John Boatwright, Benjamin A. Brooks, Brad T. Aagaard, J. Luke Blair, Jon Peter B. Fletcher, Jemile Erdem, Charles W. Wicks, Jessica R. Murray, Fred F. Pollitz, John O. Langbein, Jerry L. Svarc, David P. Schwartz, Daniel J. Ponti, Suzanne Hecker, Stephen B. DeLong, Carla M. Rosa, Brenda Jones, Rynn M. Lamb, Anne M. Rosinski, Timothy P. McCrink, Timothy E. Dawson, Gordon G. Seitz, Craig Glennie, Darren Hauser, Todd Ericksen, Dan Mardock, Don F. Hoirup, Jonathan D. Bray, Ron S. RubinGeodetic constraints on the 2014 M 6.0 South Napa earthquake
On 24 August 2014, the M 6.0 South Napa earthquake shook much of the San Francisco Bay area, leading to significant damage in the Napa Valley. The earthquake occurred in the vicinity of the West Napa fault (122.313° W, 38.22° N, 11.3 km), a mapped structure located between the Rodger’s Creek and Green Valley faults, with nearly pure right‐lateral strike‐slip motion (strike 157°, dip 77°, rake –169AuthorsWilliam D. Barnhart, Jessica R. Murray, S H Yun, Jerry L. Svarc, SV Samsonov, EJ Fielding, Benjamin A. Brooks, Pietro Milillo