Oliver S Boyd, Ph.D.
Research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey studying various aspects of seismic hazard including ground motions and earthquake probabilities
Biography
I began with the National Seismic Hazards Modeling Project in Golden, CO in 2004 studying time-dependent seismic hazard in Alaska and producing 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. I moved to Memphis, TN in 2007 to focus on earthquake hazards in the central and eastern United States (CEUS) and returned to Golden in 2013 to work on issues related to earthquake hazards across the conterminous United States, specifically those related to earthquake ground motions as part of the Ground Motion Project. Much of my past research has centered 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 CEUS source models for the 2008 and 2014 updates of the National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) and helped to incorporate basin models in the western United States for the 2018 update of the NSHM. More recently, I have been helping to contruct a geology-based National Crustal Model for earthquake hazard studies. Prior to joining the Survey, I obtained my Ph.D. in Geophysics from the University of Colorado at Boulder where I performed laboratory experiments of seismic wave attenuation in artificial glass cracks and glass bead cylinders, produced and interpreted tomographic models of seismic wave attenuation and velocity beneath the western United States, and studied receiver functions in New Zealand.
Science and Products
Influence of lithostatic stress on earthquake stress drops in North America
We estimate stress drops for earthquakes in and near the continental United States using the method of spectral ratios. The ratio of acceleration spectra between collocated earthquakes recorded at a given station removes the effects of path and recording site and yields source parameters including corner frequency for, and the ratio of seismic...
Boyd, Oliver S.; McNamara, Daniel E.; Hartzell, Stephen H.; Choy, George 2016 Eastern Section SSA Annual Meeting Report
Report on the Eastern Section Seismological Society of America Meeting.
Pratt, Thomas L.; Goulet, Christine A.; Boyd, Oliver S. A rare moderate‐sized (Mw 4.9) earthquake in Kansas: Rupture process of the Milan, Kansas, earthquake of 12 November 2014 and its relationship to fluid injection
The largest recorded earthquake in Kansas occurred northeast of Milan on 12 November 2014 (Mw 4.9) in a region previously devoid of significant seismic activity. Applying multistation processing to data from local stations, we are able to detail the rupture process and rupture geometry of the mainshock, identify the causative fault plane, and...
Choy, George; Rubinstein, Justin L.; Yeck, William L.; McNamara, Daniel E.; Mueller, Charles; Boyd, Oliver S. 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, Natasha 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, Leonardo 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 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. 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 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. 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. 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 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, Yuehua