Morgan Page is a geophysicist in the Earthquake Science Center.
Science and Products
Southern California Earthquake Hazards
Southern California has the highest level of earthquake risk in the United States, with half of the expected financial losses from earthquakes in the Nation expected to occur in southern California. Sitting astride the Pacific - North American plate boundary at the Big Bend of the San Andreas Fault, Southern California has over 300 faults capable of producing magnitude 6 and larger earthquakes...
Could the M7.1 Ridgecrest, CA Earthquake Sequence Trigger a Large Earthquake Nearby?
Release Date: SEPTEMBER 30, 2019 Two of the first questions that come to mind for anyone who just felt an earthquake are, “Will there be another one?” and “Will it be larger?”.
The Past Holds the Key to the Future of Aftershock Forecasting
Release Date: MAY 7, 2018 The outcomes of past aftershock sequences can be used to describe the range of possibilities for a current sequence.
Operational Earthquake Forecasting – Implementing a Real-Time System for California
It is well know that every earthquake can spawn others (e.g., as aftershocks), and that such triggered events can be large and damaging, as recently demonstrated by L’Aquila, Italy and Christchurch, New Zealand earthquakes. In spite of being an explicit USGS strategic-action priority (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1088; page 32), the USGS currently lacks an automated system with which to forecast s...
Joint USGS - GEM Group on Global Probabilistic Modeling of Earthquake Recurrence Rates and Maximum Magnitudes
Despite the best monitoring networks, the highest rate of earthquakes and the longest continuous recorded history in the world, this year’s M=9.0 Tohoku, Japan, earthquake was completely unforeseen. The Japanese had expected no larger than a M=8 quake in the Japan trench, 1/30 th the size of the Tohoku temblor. This year also saw the devastating M=6.3 Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake and the M...
Filter Total Items: 29
Fault roughness at seismogenic depths and links to earthquake behavior
Fault geometry affects the initiation, propagation, and cessation of earthquake rupture, as well as, potentially, the statistical behavior of earthquake sequences. We analyze 18,250 (−0.27 < M < 4.4) earthquakes of the 2016–2019 Cahuilla, California, swarm and, for the first time, use these high‐resolution earthquake locations to map, in detail, the roughness across an active fault surface at dept
Authors
Elizabeth S. Cochran, Morgan T. Page, Nicholas van der Elst, Zachary E. Ross, Daniel T. Trugman
Aftershocks preferentially occur in previously active areas
The clearest statistical signal in aftershock locations is that most aftershocks occur close to their mainshocks. More precisely, aftershocks are triggered at distances following a power‐law decay in distance (Felzer and Brodsky, 2006). This distance decay kernel is used in epidemic‐type aftershock sequence (ETAS) modeling and is typically assumed to be isotropic, even though individual sequences
Authors
Morgan T. Page, Nicholas van der Elst
Improvements to the Third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast ETAS Model (UCERF3‐ETAS)
We describe recent improvements to the Third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast ETAS Model (UCERF3‐ETAS), which continues to represent our most advanced and complete earthquake forecast in terms of relaxing segmentation assumptions and representing multifault ruptures, elastic‐rebound effects, and spatiotemporal clustering (the latter to represent aftershocks and otherwise triggered ev
Authors
Edward H. Field, Kevin R. Milner, Morgan T. Page, William H. Savran, Nicholas van der Elst
Apparent 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 rate
Authors
M.-A. Meier, P. Ampuero, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Morgan T. Page
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 plate bounda
Authors
Egill Hauksson, Brian J. Olsen, Alex R. R. Grant, Jennifer R Andrews, Angela I. Chung, Susan E. Hough, Hiroo Kanamori, Sara McBride, Andrew J. Michael, Morgan T. Page, Zachary E. Ross, Deborah Smith, Sotiris Valkaniotis
Revisiting California’s past great earthquakes and long-term earthquake rate
In this study, we revisit the three largest historical earthquakes in California—the 1857 Fort Tejon, 1872 Owens Valley, and 1906 San Francisco earthquakes—to review their published moment magnitudes, and compare their estimated shaking distributions with predictions using modern ground‐motion models (GMMs) and ground‐motion intensity conversion equations. Currently accepted moment magnitude estim
Authors
Susan E. Hough, Morgan T. Page, Leah Salditch, Molly M. Gallahue, Madeleine C. Lucas, James S. Neely, Seth Stein
Generalizing the inversion‐based PSHA source model for an interconnected fault system
This article represents a step toward generalizing and simplifying the procedure for constructing an inversion‐based seismic hazard source model for an interconnected fault system, including the specification of adjustable segmentation constraints. A very simple example is used to maximize understandability and to counter the notion that an inversion approach is only applicable when an abundance o
Authors
Edward H. Field, Kevin R. Milner, Morgan T. Page
More fault connectivity Is needed in seismic hazard analysis
Did the third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3) go overboard with multifault ruptures? Schwartz (2018) argues that there are too many long ruptures in the model. Here, I address his concern and show that the UCERF3 rupture‐length distribution matches empirical data. I also present evidence that, if anything, the UCERF3 model could be improved by adding more connectivity to th
Authors
Morgan T. Page
New opportunities to study earthquake precursors
No abstract available.
Authors
M. E. Pritchard, R. M. Allen, T. W. Becker, M. D. Behn, E. E. Brodsky, R. Burgmann, C. Ebinger, J. T. Freymueller, M. C. Gerstenberger, B. Haines, Y. Kaneko, S. D. Jacobsen, N. Lindsey, Jeffrey McGuire, Morgan T. Page, S. Ruiz, M. Tolstoy, L. Wallace, W. R. Walter, W. Wilcock, H. Vincent
Operational earthquake forecasting during the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence with the UCERF3-ETAS model
The first Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast, Version 3–epidemic‐type aftershock sequence (UCERF3‐ETAS) aftershock simulations were running on a high‐performance computing cluster within 33 min of the 4 July 2019 M 6.4 Searles Valley earthquake. UCERF3‐ETAS, an extension of the third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3), is the first comprehensive, fault‐based, epide
Authors
Kevin R. Milner, Edward H. Field, William H Savran, Morgan T. Page, Thomas H Jordan
#EarthquakeAdvisory: Exploring discourse between government officials, news media and social media during the Bombay Beach 2016 Swarm
Communicating probabilities of natural hazards to varied audiences is a notoriously difficult task. Many of these challenges were encountered during the 2016 Bombay Beach, California, swarm of ~100 2≤M≤4.3 earthquakes, which began on 26 September 2016 and lasted for several days. The swarm’s proximity to the southern end of the San Andreas fault caused concern that a larger earthquake could be tri
Authors
Sara McBride, Andrea L. Llenos, Morgan T. Page, Nicholas van der Elst
Peak ground displacement saturates exactly when expected: Implications for earthquake early warning
The scaling of rupture properties with magnitude is of critical importance to earthquake early warning (EEW) systems that rely on source characterization using limited snapshots of waveform data. ShakeAlert, a prototype EEW system that is being developed for the western United States, provides real-time estimates of earthquake magnitude based on P-wave peak ground displacements measured at station
Authors
Daniel T. Trugman, Morgan T. Page, Sarah E. Minson, Elizabeth S. Cochran
Science and Products
- Science
Southern California Earthquake Hazards
Southern California has the highest level of earthquake risk in the United States, with half of the expected financial losses from earthquakes in the Nation expected to occur in southern California. Sitting astride the Pacific - North American plate boundary at the Big Bend of the San Andreas Fault, Southern California has over 300 faults capable of producing magnitude 6 and larger earthquakes...Could the M7.1 Ridgecrest, CA Earthquake Sequence Trigger a Large Earthquake Nearby?
Release Date: SEPTEMBER 30, 2019 Two of the first questions that come to mind for anyone who just felt an earthquake are, “Will there be another one?” and “Will it be larger?”.The Past Holds the Key to the Future of Aftershock Forecasting
Release Date: MAY 7, 2018 The outcomes of past aftershock sequences can be used to describe the range of possibilities for a current sequence.Operational Earthquake Forecasting – Implementing a Real-Time System for California
It is well know that every earthquake can spawn others (e.g., as aftershocks), and that such triggered events can be large and damaging, as recently demonstrated by L’Aquila, Italy and Christchurch, New Zealand earthquakes. In spite of being an explicit USGS strategic-action priority (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1088; page 32), the USGS currently lacks an automated system with which to forecast s...Joint USGS - GEM Group on Global Probabilistic Modeling of Earthquake Recurrence Rates and Maximum Magnitudes
Despite the best monitoring networks, the highest rate of earthquakes and the longest continuous recorded history in the world, this year’s M=9.0 Tohoku, Japan, earthquake was completely unforeseen. The Japanese had expected no larger than a M=8 quake in the Japan trench, 1/30 th the size of the Tohoku temblor. This year also saw the devastating M=6.3 Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake and the M... - Publications
Filter Total Items: 29
Fault roughness at seismogenic depths and links to earthquake behavior
Fault geometry affects the initiation, propagation, and cessation of earthquake rupture, as well as, potentially, the statistical behavior of earthquake sequences. We analyze 18,250 (−0.27 < M < 4.4) earthquakes of the 2016–2019 Cahuilla, California, swarm and, for the first time, use these high‐resolution earthquake locations to map, in detail, the roughness across an active fault surface at deptAuthorsElizabeth S. Cochran, Morgan T. Page, Nicholas van der Elst, Zachary E. Ross, Daniel T. TrugmanAftershocks preferentially occur in previously active areas
The clearest statistical signal in aftershock locations is that most aftershocks occur close to their mainshocks. More precisely, aftershocks are triggered at distances following a power‐law decay in distance (Felzer and Brodsky, 2006). This distance decay kernel is used in epidemic‐type aftershock sequence (ETAS) modeling and is typically assumed to be isotropic, even though individual sequencesAuthorsMorgan T. Page, Nicholas van der ElstImprovements to the Third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast ETAS Model (UCERF3‐ETAS)
We describe recent improvements to the Third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast ETAS Model (UCERF3‐ETAS), which continues to represent our most advanced and complete earthquake forecast in terms of relaxing segmentation assumptions and representing multifault ruptures, elastic‐rebound effects, and spatiotemporal clustering (the latter to represent aftershocks and otherwise triggered evAuthorsEdward H. Field, Kevin R. Milner, Morgan T. Page, William H. Savran, Nicholas van der ElstApparent 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 rateAuthorsM.-A. Meier, P. Ampuero, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Morgan T. PageThe 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 plate boundaAuthorsEgill Hauksson, Brian J. Olsen, Alex R. R. Grant, Jennifer R Andrews, Angela I. Chung, Susan E. Hough, Hiroo Kanamori, Sara McBride, Andrew J. Michael, Morgan T. Page, Zachary E. Ross, Deborah Smith, Sotiris ValkaniotisRevisiting California’s past great earthquakes and long-term earthquake rate
In this study, we revisit the three largest historical earthquakes in California—the 1857 Fort Tejon, 1872 Owens Valley, and 1906 San Francisco earthquakes—to review their published moment magnitudes, and compare their estimated shaking distributions with predictions using modern ground‐motion models (GMMs) and ground‐motion intensity conversion equations. Currently accepted moment magnitude estimAuthorsSusan E. Hough, Morgan T. Page, Leah Salditch, Molly M. Gallahue, Madeleine C. Lucas, James S. Neely, Seth SteinGeneralizing the inversion‐based PSHA source model for an interconnected fault system
This article represents a step toward generalizing and simplifying the procedure for constructing an inversion‐based seismic hazard source model for an interconnected fault system, including the specification of adjustable segmentation constraints. A very simple example is used to maximize understandability and to counter the notion that an inversion approach is only applicable when an abundance oAuthorsEdward H. Field, Kevin R. Milner, Morgan T. PageMore fault connectivity Is needed in seismic hazard analysis
Did the third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3) go overboard with multifault ruptures? Schwartz (2018) argues that there are too many long ruptures in the model. Here, I address his concern and show that the UCERF3 rupture‐length distribution matches empirical data. I also present evidence that, if anything, the UCERF3 model could be improved by adding more connectivity to thAuthorsMorgan T. PageNew opportunities to study earthquake precursors
No abstract available.AuthorsM. E. Pritchard, R. M. Allen, T. W. Becker, M. D. Behn, E. E. Brodsky, R. Burgmann, C. Ebinger, J. T. Freymueller, M. C. Gerstenberger, B. Haines, Y. Kaneko, S. D. Jacobsen, N. Lindsey, Jeffrey McGuire, Morgan T. Page, S. Ruiz, M. Tolstoy, L. Wallace, W. R. Walter, W. Wilcock, H. VincentOperational earthquake forecasting during the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence with the UCERF3-ETAS model
The first Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast, Version 3–epidemic‐type aftershock sequence (UCERF3‐ETAS) aftershock simulations were running on a high‐performance computing cluster within 33 min of the 4 July 2019 M 6.4 Searles Valley earthquake. UCERF3‐ETAS, an extension of the third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3), is the first comprehensive, fault‐based, epideAuthorsKevin R. Milner, Edward H. Field, William H Savran, Morgan T. Page, Thomas H Jordan#EarthquakeAdvisory: Exploring discourse between government officials, news media and social media during the Bombay Beach 2016 Swarm
Communicating probabilities of natural hazards to varied audiences is a notoriously difficult task. Many of these challenges were encountered during the 2016 Bombay Beach, California, swarm of ~100 2≤M≤4.3 earthquakes, which began on 26 September 2016 and lasted for several days. The swarm’s proximity to the southern end of the San Andreas fault caused concern that a larger earthquake could be triAuthorsSara McBride, Andrea L. Llenos, Morgan T. Page, Nicholas van der ElstPeak ground displacement saturates exactly when expected: Implications for earthquake early warning
The scaling of rupture properties with magnitude is of critical importance to earthquake early warning (EEW) systems that rely on source characterization using limited snapshots of waveform data. ShakeAlert, a prototype EEW system that is being developed for the western United States, provides real-time estimates of earthquake magnitude based on P-wave peak ground displacements measured at stationAuthorsDaniel T. Trugman, Morgan T. Page, Sarah E. Minson, Elizabeth S. Cochran - News