USGS Fact Sheet 110-99: The “LARSE” Project—Working Toward a Safer Future for Los Angeles

The “LARSE” Project—Working Toward a Safer Future for Los Angeles

By Thomas L. Henyey, Gary S. Fuis, Mark L. Benthien, Thomas R. Burdette, Shari A. Christofferson, Robert W. Clayton, Edward E. Criley, Paul M. Davis, James W. Hendley II, Monica D. Kohler, William J. Lutter, John K. McRaney, Janice M. Murphy, David A. Okaya, Trond Ryberg, Gerald W. Simila, and Peter H. Stauffer

Summary

The Los Angeles region is underlain by a network of active faults, including many that are deep and do not break the Earth's surface. These hidden faults include the previously unknown one responsible for the devastating January 1994 Northridge earthquake, the costliest quake in U.S. history. So that structures can be built or strengthened to withstand the quakes that are certain in the future, the Los Angeles Region Seismic Experiment (LARSE) is locating hidden earthquake hazards beneath the region to help scientists determine where the strongest shaking will occur.

COOPERATING ORGANIZATIONS
California Department of Parks and Recreation
California Department of Transportation
California Division of Mines and Geology
California Office of Emergency Services
California State University, Northridge
Canadian Geological Survey
City of Los Angeles
County of Los Angeles
Copenhagen University, Denmark
GeoForschungsZentrum, Potsdam, Germany
Incorporated Research Institutes for Seismology
Karlsruhe University, Germany
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Los Angeles Unified School District
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy
Southern California Earthquake Center
University of Texas at El Paso
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
U.S. Bureau of Land Management
U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach
Many private and government landowners

First posted May 9, 2005

Report PDF (8 MB)

Disponible también en Español: USGS Fact Sheet 111–99 (ese documento es PDF)

For additional information, contact:
Earthquake Science Center

U.S. Geological Survey
345 Middlefield Road MS 977
Menlo Park, California 94025

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Suggested citation:

Henyey, Thomas L.; Fuis, Gary S.; Benthien, Mark L.; Burdette, Thomas R.; Christofferson, Shari A.; Clayton, Robert W.; Davis, Paul M.; Hendley, James W.; Kohler, Monica D.; Lutter, William J.; McRaney, John K.; Murphy, Janice M.; Okaya, David A.; Ryberg, Trond; Similia, Gerald W.; Stauffer, Peter H., 1999, The "LARSE" Project - Working Toward a Safer Future for Los Angeles: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 110-99, 2 pp., https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1999/0110/.