Boyd, O. S., R. Smalley, and Y. Zeng (2015), Crustal Deformation in the New Madrid Seismic Zone and the Role of Postseismic Processes, J. Geophys. Res., 120(8), 5782–5803, doi:10.1002/2015JB012049.
Oliver S Boyd, Ph.D.
Research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey studying various aspects of seismic hazard with a concentration on the central and eastern United States
Biography
I began with the National Seismic Hazards Mapping Project in Golden, CO in 2004 and now spend most of my activities within the Central and Eastern U.S. Seismic Hazards Project. I am an Adjunct Professor at the Center for Earthquake Research and Information at the University of Memphis where I help students to better understand seismic hazards. Much of my research focuses on several aspects of earthquake hazards including time-dependent earthquake probabilities, declustering of foreshocks and aftershocks, and parameters related to earthquake sources. I helped update the central and eastern United States source models for the 2008 and 2014 updates of the National Seismic Hazard Maps. Other recent projects include a time-dependent seismic hazard map of Alaska and a seismic hazard analysis of Afghanistan, the latter being done in conjunction with other U.S. Agency for International Development’s reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. Prior to joining the Survey, I obtained my Ph.D. in Geophysics from the University of Colorado at Boulder where I performed laboratory experiments on seismic wave attenuation and produced and interpreted tomographic images of seismic wave attenuation and velocity beneath the western United States.
Science and Products
Year Published: 2016
St. Louis area earthquake hazards mapping project; seismic and liquefaction hazard maps
We present probabilistic and deterministic seismic and liquefaction hazard maps for the densely populated St. Louis metropolitan area that account for the expected effects of surficial geology on earthquake ground shaking. Hazard calculations were based on a map grid of 0.005°, or about every 500 m, and are thus higher in resolution than any...
Cramer, Chris H.; Bauer, Robert A.; Chung, Jae-won; Rogers, David; Pierce, Larry; Voigt, Vicki; Mitchell, Brad; Gaunt, David; Williams, Robert; Hoffman, David; Hempen, Gregory L.; Steckel, Phyllis; Boyd, Oliver S.; Watkins, Connor M.; Tucker, Kathleen; McCallister, NatashaAttribution: Natural Hazards, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Earthquake Hazards Program, Rocky Mountain, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin, Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, United States of America
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Cramer C.H., Bauer R.A., Chung J.-W., Rogers J.D., Pierce L., Voigt V., Mitchell B., Gaunt D., Williams R.A., Hoffman D., Hempen G.L., Steckel P.J., Boyd O.S., Watkins C.M., Tucker K., McCallister N.S.
St. Louis area earthquake hazards mapping project; seismic and liquefaction hazard maps
Seismological Research Letters, January, 2017, Vol. 88, Issue 1, pp. 206-223
Year Published: 2016
Dense lower crust elevates long-term earthquake rates in the New Madrid seismic zone
Knowledge of the local state of stress is critical in appraising intraplate seismic hazard. Inverting earthquake moment tensors, we demonstrate that principal stress directions in the New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ) differ significantly from those in the surrounding region. Faults in the NMSZ that are incompatible with slip in the regional stress...
Levandowski, William Brower; Boyd, Oliver S.; Ramirez-Guzman, LeonardoAttribution: Natural Hazards, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Earthquake Hazards Program, Rocky Mountain, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, United States of America
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Levandowski, W., O. S. Boyd, and L. Ramirez-Guzmán (2016), Dense lower crust elevates long-term earthquake rates in the New Madrid seismic zone, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, doi:10.1002/2016GL070175.
Year Published: 2015
Seismic hazard in the eastern United States
The U.S. Geological Survey seismic hazard maps for the central and eastern United States were updated in 2014. We analyze results and changes for the eastern part of the region. Ratio maps are presented, along with tables of ground motions and deaggregations for selected cities. The Charleston fault model was revised, and a new fault source for...
Mueller, Charles; Boyd, Oliver S.; Petersen, Mark D.; Moschetti, Morgan P.; Rezaeian, Sanaz; Shumway, Allison
Year Published: 2015
Seismic hazard in the Nation's breadbasket
The USGS National Seismic Hazard Maps were updated in 2014 and included several important changes for the central United States (CUS). Background seismicity sources were improved using a new moment-magnitude-based catalog; a new adaptive, nearest-neighbor smoothing kernel was implemented; and maximum magnitudes for background sources were updated...
Boyd, Oliver S.; Haller, Kathleen; Luco, Nicolas; Moschetti, Morgan P.; Mueller, Charles; Petersen, Mark D.; Rezaeian, Sanaz; Rubinstein, Justin L.
Year Published: 2015
Seismic source characterization for the 2014 update of the U.S. National Seismic Hazard Model
We present the updated seismic source characterization (SSC) for the 2014 update of the National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) for the conterminous United States. Construction of the seismic source models employs the methodology that was developed for the 1996 NSHM but includes new and updated data, data types, source models, and source parameters...
Moschetti, Morgan P.; Powers, Peter M.; Petersen, Mark D.; Boyd, Oliver S.; Chen, Rui; Field, Edward H.; Frankel, Arthur; Haller, Kathleen; Harmsen, Stephen; Mueller, Charles S.; Wheeler, Russell; Zeng, Yuehua
Year Published: 2015
The 2014 United States National Seismic Hazard Model
New seismic hazard maps have been developed for the conterminous United States using the latest data, models, and methods available for assessing earthquake hazard. The hazard models incorporate new information on earthquake rupture behavior observed in recent earthquakes; fault studies that use both geologic and geodetic strain rate data;...
Petersen, Mark D.; Moschetti, Morgan P.; Powers, Peter M.; Mueller, Charles; Haller, Kathleen; Frankel, Arthur; Zeng, Yuehua; Rezaeian, Sanaz; Harmsen, Stephen; Boyd, Oliver S.; Field, Edward H.; Chen, Rui; Rukstales, Kenneth S.; Luco, Nicolas; Wheeler, Russell; Williams, Robert; Olsen, Anna H.
Year Published: 2015
A random-walk algorithm for modeling lithospheric density and the role of body forces in the evolution of the Midcontinent Rift
This paper develops a Monte Carlo algorithm for extracting three-dimensional lithospheric density models from geophysical data. Empirical scaling relationships between velocity and density create a 3D starting density model, which is then iteratively refined until it reproduces observed gravity and topography. This approach permits deviations from...
Levandowski, William Brower; Boyd, Oliver S.; Briggs, Richard W.; Gold, Ryan D.Attribution: Natural Hazards, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Earthquake Hazards Program, Rocky Mountain, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, United States of America
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Levandowski, W., Boyd, O., Briggs, R. and Gold, R. (2015), A random-walk algorithm for modeling lithospheric density and the role of body forces in the evolution of the Midcontinent Rift. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst.. Accepted Author Manuscript. doi:10.1002/2015GC005961
Year Published: 2015
Ground motion-simulations of 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes, central United States
We performed a suite of numerical simulations based on the 1811–1812 New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ) earthquakes, which demonstrate the importance of 3D geologic structure and rupture directivity on the ground‐motion response throughout a broad region of the central United States (CUS) for these events. Our simulation set consists of 20...
Ramirez-Guzman, L.; Graves, Robert; Olsen, Kim B.; Boyd, Oliver S.; Cramer, Chris H.; Hartzell, Stephen H.; Ni, Sidao; Somerville, Paul G.; Williams, Robert; Zhong, Jinquan
Year Published: 2015
Crustal deformation in the New Madrid seismic zone and the role of postseismic processes
Global Navigation Satellite System data across the New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ) in the central United States over the period from 2000 through 2014 are analyzed and modeled with several deformation mechanisms including the following: (1) creep on subsurface dislocations, (2) postseismic frictional afterslip and viscoelastic relaxation from the...
Boyd, Oliver S.; Robert Smalley, Jr; Zeng, YuehuaAttribution: Natural Hazards, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Earthquake Hazards Program, Rocky Mountain, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, United States of America
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Boyd, O. S., R. Smalley Jr., and Y. Zeng (2015), Crustal deformation in the New
Madrid seismic zone and the role of postseismic processes, J. Geophys. Res.
Solid Earth, 120, doi:10.1002/2015JB012049.
Year Published: 2014
Why the New Madrid earthquakes are M 7–8 and the Charleston earthquake is ∼M 7
Estimates of magnitudes of large historical earthquakes are an essential input to and can seriously affect seismic‐hazard estimates. The earthquake‐intensity observations, modified Mercalli intensities (MMI), and assigned magnitudes Mof the 1811–1812 New Madrid events have been reinterpreted several times in the last decade and have...
Cramer, Chris H.; Boyd, Oliver S.Attribution: Natural Hazards, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Earthquake Hazards Program, Rocky Mountain, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, United States of America
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Cramer, C. H., and O. S. Boyd (2014), Why the New Madrid Earthquakes are M7–8 and the Charleston Earthquake is ~M7, Bull. Seis. Soc. Am., 104, 2884–2903, doi:10.1785/0120120257.
Year Published: 2014
Estimating earthquake magnitudes from reported intensities in the central and eastern United States
A new macroseismic intensity prediction equation is derived for the central and eastern United States and is used to estimate the magnitudes of the 1811–1812 New Madrid, Missouri, and 1886 Charleston, South Carolina, earthquakes. This work improves upon previous derivations of intensity prediction equations by including additional intensity...
Boyd, Oliver S.; Cramer, Chris H.
Year Published: 2014
Documentation for the 2014 update of the United States national seismic hazard maps
The national seismic hazard maps for the conterminous United States have been updated to account for new methods, models, and data that have been obtained since the 2008 maps were released (Petersen and others, 2008). The input models are improved from those implemented in 2008 by using new ground motion models that have incorporated about twice...
Petersen, Mark D.; Moschetti, Morgan P.; Powers, Peter M.; Mueller, Charles S.; Haller, Kathleen M.; Frankel, Arthur D.; Zeng, Yuehua; Rezaeian, Sanaz; Harmsen, Stephen C.; Boyd, Oliver S.; Field, Edward H.; Chen, Rui; Rukstales, Kenneth S.; Luco, Nico; Wheeler, Russell L.; Williams, Robert A.; Olsen, Anna H.Attribution: Natural Hazards, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Earthquake Hazards Program, Rocky Mountain, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin, United States of America
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Documentation for the 2014 update of the United States national seismic hazard maps; 2014; OFR; 2014-1091; Petersen, Mark D.; Moschetti, Morgan P.; Powers, Peter M.; Mueller, Charles S.; Haller, Kathleen M.; Frankel, Arthur D.; Zeng, Yuehua; Rezaeian, Sanaz; Harmsen, Stephen C.; Boyd, Oliver S.; Field, Ned; Chen, Rui; Rukstales, Kenneth S.; Luco, Nico; Wheeler, Russell L.; Williams, Robert A.; Olsen, Anna H.