Updates to and applications of the USGS National Crustal Model for seismic hazard studies
Oliver S. Boyd
L. Harvey Thorleifson, editor(s)
2022, Conference Paper, OFR22-02, Geologic Mapping Forum 21/22 abstracts
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Crustal Model (NCM) is being developed to assist in the modeling of seismic hazards across the conterminous United States. The NCM is composed of a grid of geophysical profiles, extending from the Earth’s surface into the upper mantle. It is constructed from a 3D...
Landslides in Minnesota
Stephen B. DeLong, Carrie E. Jennings, Karen B. Gran
2022, Fact Sheet 2022-3007
Landslides in Minnesota have caused loss of life, damaged infrastructure, and negatively affected Minnesota’s natural resources. Landslides increase the amount of sediment contributed to lakes and rivers, with negative consequences for water quality and aquatic habitats. Recent mapping reveals that landslide susceptible areas within Minnesota primarily occur on steep slopes...
Prospective and retrospective evaluation of the U.S. Geological Survey public aftershock forecast for the 2019-2021 Southwest Puerto Rico Earthquake and aftershocks
Nicholas van der Elst, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, Andrew J. Michael, Sara K. McBride, Elizabeth Vanacore
2022, Seismological Research Letters (93) 620-640
The Mw">Mw 6.4 Southwest Puerto Rico Earthquake of 7 January 2020 was accompanied by a robust fore‐ and aftershock sequence. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has issued regular aftershock forecasts for more than...
Alaska Volcano Observatory archive of seismic drum records of eruptions of Augustine Volcano (1986), Redoubt Volcano (1989–90), Mount Spurr (1992), and Pavlof Volcano (1996), and the 1996 earthquake swarm at Akutan Peak
James P. Dixon, John A. Power
2022, Data Report 1146
The advent of continuous digital recording of seismograph stations in Alaska did not occur until the fall of 2002. Continuous records of seismic waveforms prior to 2002 were recorded only in analog form. The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) has a substantial archive of continuous analog records made on helicorders in...
Photomosaics and logs associated with study of West Napa Fault at Ehlers Lane, north of Saint Helena, California
Belle E. Philibosian, Robert R. Sickler, Carol S. Prentice, Alexandra J. Pickering, Patrick Gannon, Kiara N. Broudy, Shannon A. Mahan, Jazmine N. Titular, Eli A. Turner, Cameron Folmar, Sierra F. Patterson, Emilie E. Bowman
2022, Open-File Report 2022-1002
The West Napa Fault has previously been mapped as extending ~45 kilometers (km) from northern Vallejo to southern Saint Helena, California, dominantly running along the western edge of Napa Valley. A zone of fault strands (some previously unmapped) along a ~15-km section of the fault ruptured during the 2014 magnitude...
Comment on “Which earthquake accounts matter” by Susan E. Hough and Stacey S. Martin
David J. Wald
2022, Seismological Research Letters (93) 500-505
In their analysis of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) “Did You Feel It?” (DYFI) data Hough and Martin (2021) claim, among other assertions, that the following:Socioeconomic and geopolitical factors can introduce biases in the USGS’ characterization of earthquakes and their effects, especially if online data collection systems...
The US Geological Survey ground failure product: Near-real-time estimates of earthquake-triggered landslides and liquefaction
Kate E. Allstadt, Eric M. Thompson, Randall W. Jibson, David J. Wald, Mike Hearne, Edward J. Hunter, Jeremy Fee, Heather Schovanec, Daniel Slosky, Kirstie Lafon Haynie
2022, Earthquake Spectra (38) 5-36
Since late 2018, the US Geological Survey (USGS) ground failure (GF) earthquake product has provided publicly available spatial estimates of earthquake-triggered landslide and liquefaction hazards, along with the qualitative hazard and population exposure-based alerts for M > 6 earthquakes worldwide and in near real time (within ∼30 min). Earthquake losses...
Near real-time updating of pager loss estimates
Davis Engler, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Hae Young Noh, David J. Wald
2021, Conference Paper
Initial alerts by PAGER (Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response) within minutes following an earthquake include several uncertainties, mainly due to potential inaccuracies in location, depth, fault delineation, and shaking estimates. We enhance an updating framework by incorporating early reports of fatalities within the first 24 hours, or so,...
Landslides triggered by the August 14, 2021, magnitude 7.2 Nippes, Haiti, earthquake
Sabrina N. Martinez, Kate E. Allstadt, Stephen L. Slaughter, Robert G. Schmitt, Elaine Collins, Lauren N. Schaefer, Sonia Ellison
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1112
The August 14, 2021, magnitude 7.2 Nippes, Haiti, earthquake triggered thousands of landslides on the Tiburon Peninsula. The landslides directly caused fatalities and damage and impeded response efforts by blocking roads and causing other infrastructure damage. Adverse effects of the landslides likely will continue for months to years. This report...
The HayWired earthquake scenario—Engineering implications
Shane T. Detweiler, Anne M. Wein, editor(s)
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5013-I–Q
The HayWired Earthquake Scenario—Engineering Implications is the second volume of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5013, which describes the HayWired scenario, developed by USGS and its partners. The scenario is a hypothetical yet scientifically realistic earthquake sequence that is being used to better understand hazards for the San...
The HayWired Earthquake Scenario—Societal Consequences
Anne M. Wein, Joseph L. Jones, Laurie A. Johnson, Cynthia Kroll, Jennifer A. Strauss, David Witkowski, Dale A. Cox
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3054
The HayWired earthquake scenario, led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), anticipates the impacts of a hypothetical moment magnitude 7.0 earthquake on the Hayward Fault. The fault runs along the east side of California’s San Francisco Bay and is among the most active and dangerous in the United States, passing...
ShakeAlert® earthquake warning: The challenge of transforming ground motion into protective actions
Douglas D. Given, West Coast ShakeAlert Project Team
2021, Conference Paper, Proceedings of SMIP 2021 seminar on utilization of strong-motion data
The USGS ShakeAlert® earthquake early warning (EEW) system is operational and providing public alerting in three West Coast states: California, Washington, and Oregon. Since 2006 the USGS has pursued a strategy of incrementally developing and rolling out EEW for increasingly larger areas and uses. As funding from federal and state...
Intelligent monitoring system for real-time geologic storage, optimization, and reservoir management
J. Ole Kaven
2021, Technical Report DOE-USGS-FE0026517-1
The objective of the subtask was to develop a near-real-time monitoring system for seismic data at the Decatur, IL, geologic carbon sequestration (GCS) site and specifically include fiber-optic cable derived distributed acoustic signal (DAS) data in the process. Owing to the large volumes of data, we opted to utilize existing...
Seismic monitoring during crises at the NEIC in support of the ANSS
Paul S. Earle, Harley M. Benz, William L. Yeck, Gavin P. Hayes, Michelle M. Guy, John Patton, David Kragness, David B. Mason, Brian Shiro, Emily Wolin, John Bellini, Jana Pursley, Robert Lorne Sanders
2021, Seismological Research Letters (5) 2905-2914
Over the past two decades, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) has overcome many operational challenges. These range from minor disruptions, such as power outages, to significant operational changes, including system reconfiguration to handle unique earthquake sequences and the need to...
Streambank erosion and related geomorphic change in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, California
Stephen B. DeLong, Alexandra J. Pickering, Timothy Kuhn
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5025
Landscape change in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, California, was characterized using data derived from four lidar surveys: one airborne survey in 2006 and three terrestrial surveys in 2016, 2017, and 2018. These surveys were used to generate a better quantitative understanding of changes associated with fluvial processes along the...
A near-real-time model for estimating probability of road obstruction due to earthquake-triggered landslides
B.H. Wilson, Kate E. Allstadt, Eric M. Thompson
2021, Earthquake Spectra (37) 2400-2418
Coseismic landslides are a major source of transportation disruption in mountainous areas, but few approaches exist for rapidly estimating impacts to road networks. We develop a model that links the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) near-real-time earthquake-triggered landslide hazard model with Open Street Map (OSM) road network data...
The 2018 update of the US National Seismic Hazard Model: Ground motion models in the western US
Peter M. Powers, Sanaz Rezaeian, Allison Shumway, Mark D. Petersen, Nico Luco, Oliver S. Boyd, Morgan P. Moschetti, Arthur D. Frankel, Eric M. Thompson
2021, Earthquake Spectra (37) 2315-2341
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) is the scientific foundation of seismic design regulations in the United States and is regularly updated to consider the best available science and data. The 2018 update of the conterminous U.S. NSHM includes significant changes to the...
Implementation plan for the southern Pacific Border and Sierra-Cascade Mountains provinces
Victoria E. Langenheim, Russell W. Graymer, Robert E. Powell, Kevin M. Schmidt, Donald S. Sweetkind
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1012
IntroductionThe National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP) is publishing a strategic plan titled Renewing the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program as the Nation’s Authoritative Source for Modern Geologic Knowledge (Brock and others, in press). The plan provides a vision, mission, and goals for the program during the years 2020–2030, which...
Improving paleoseismic earthquake magnitude estimates with rupture length information: Application to the Puget Lowland, Washington State, U.S.A.
Richard Styron, Brian Sherrod
2021, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (111) 1139-1153
Both earthquake displacement and rupture length correlate with magnitude, and therefore observations of each from past earthquakes can be used to estimate the magnitude of those earthquakes in the absence of instrumental records. We extend the Bayesian inversion method of Biasi and Weldon (2006), which estimates paleoearthquake magnitude from displacement...
Assessment of a claimed ultra-low frequency electromagnetic (ULFEM) earthquake precursor
Can Wang, Lilianna Christman, Simon Klemperer, Jonathan M.G. Glen, Darcy McPhee, Chen Bin
2021, Geophysical Journal International (229) 2081-2095
The rate of occurrence of anomalous ultra-low frequency electromagnetic (ULFEM) pulses has been claimed to have increased days to weeks prior to the M5.4 2007 and M4.0 2010 Alum Rock earthquakes. We re-examine the previously reported ultra-low frequency (ULF: 0.01–10 Hz) magnetic data recorded at a QuakeFinder site located 9 km...
The 2018 update of the US National Seismic Hazard Model: Ground motion models in the central and eastern US
Sanaz Rezaeian, Peter M. Powers, Allison Shumway, Mark D. Petersen, Nico Luco, Arthur D. Frankel, Morgan P. Moschetti, Eric M. Thompson, Daniel McNamara
2021, Earthquake Spectra (37) 1354-1390
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) is the scientific foundation of seismic design regulations in the United States and is regularly updated to consider the best available science and data. The 2018 update of the conterminous US NSHM includes major changes to the underlying ground...
Expected warning times from the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system for earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest
Jeffrey J. McGuire, Deborah E. Smith, Arthur D. Frankel, Erin A. Wirth, Sara K. McBride, Robert M. de Groot
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1026
The ShakeAlert® earthquake early warning system has been live since October 2019 for the testing of public alerting to mobile devices in California and will soon begin testing this modality in Oregon and Washington. The Pacific Northwest presents new challenges and opportunities for ShakeAlert owing to the different types of...
Amateur radio operators help fill earthquake donut holes
David J. Wald, Vince Quitoriano, Oliver Dully
2021, Eos, American Geophysical Union (102)
If you’ve ever seen tall antennas rising from everyday residences in your community and wondered what they are for, it could be that those homes belong to ham radio enthusiasts who enjoy communicating with each other over the airwaves. In addition to having fun with their radios and finding camaraderie, many ham...
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory 2018 annual report
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory
2021, Circular 1474
The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) monitors volcanic and hydrothermal activity associated with the Yellowstone magmatic system, conducts research into magmatic processes occurring beneath Yellowstone Caldera, and issues timely warnings and guidance related to potential future geologic hazards. This report summarizes the activities and findings of YVO during the year 2018,...
Latency of waveform data delivery from the Southern California Seismic Network during the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence and its effect on ShakeAlert
Igor Stubailo, Mark Alvarez, Glenn Biasi, Rayomand Bhadha, Egill Hauksson
2021, Seismological Research Letters (92) 170-186
The occurrence of the 4–6 July 2019 Mw 6.4 and Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence provided the first full‐scale test of the network and telemetry readiness of the Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN), to support the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning (EEW) system in California. ShakeAlert is...
