nluco | Southern California Earthquake Center

Nicolas Luco

Geologic Hazards Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey

Research Civil Engineer

Expertise: Seismic Risk Analysis, Ground Motions for Engineering Analysis/Design

About Me Publications

As one of a growing handful of civil/structural engineers in the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program (EHP), and with statistics expertise, my research primarily focuses on probabilistic methods for seismic design and retrofit of buildings and other structures. These methods make use of and provide feedback on the USGS National Seismic Hazard Model and other EHP science and products. To both motivate and apply my research, I serve as a liaison on numerous external committees that develop the seismic provisions of US building codes. I also research risk assessment methods for natural hazards, mostly for earthquakes but also for rockfalls, with an interest in other hazards. Prior to joining the USGS in 2004, for three years I worked at a catastrophe risk modeling company.

SCEC Participation

Current Roles

SCEC Board of Directors, Liaison Member (2017 - Present)

Past Roles

SCEC Science Planning Committee, Group Leader (2012 - 2016)
SCEC Science Planning Committee, Group Co-Leader (2007 - 2011)

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Rezaeian, S., Stewart, J. P., Luco, N., & Goulet, C. A. (2022, 09). Findings from a Decade of Ground Motion Simulation Validation Research and a Path Forward. Poster Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12238

Lin, T., Rezaeian, S., Luco, N., Deierlein, G., Baker, J. W., & Zareian, F. (2020). Guidelines on Utilization of Simulated Ground Motions for Engineering Building Response Applications. Earthquake Spectra, (in preparation). SCEC Contribution 10791

Baker, J. W., Rezaeian, S., Goulet, C. A., Luco, N., & Teng, G. (2020, 07). Selection of CyberShake Simulated Ground Motion Time Series for Engineering Analysis. Poster Presentation at 2020 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 10169

Moschetti, M. P., Thompson, E. M., Luco, N., Jordan, T. H., Powers, P. M., Shumway, A. M., Petersen, M. D., Graves, R. W., Callaghan, S., Goulet, C. A., Milner, K. R., Maechling, P. J., Wang, F., & Rekoske, J. (2019, 08). An empirical- and simulation-based ground-motion model for Southern California. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 9820

White, I., Liu, T., Luco, N., & Liel, A. B. (2016, 08). Comparisons between the 2016 USGS induced-seismicity hazard model and “Did You Feel It?” data. Poster Presentation at 2016 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 6956

Liu, T., Luco, N., & Liel, A. B. (2016, 09). Seismic Risk from Induced and Natural Earthquakes for the Central and Eastern United States. Poster Presentation at 2016 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 6407

Petersen, M. D., Shumway, A. M., Powers, P. M., Field, E. H., Moschetti, M. P., Jaiswal, K. S., Milner, K. R., Rezaeian, S., Frankel, A., Llenos, A. L., Michael, A. J., Altekruse, J., Ahdi, S. K., Withers, K. B., Mueller, C. S., Zeng, Y., Chase, R., Salditch, L., Luco, N., Rukstales, K. S., Herrick, J. A., Girot, D. L., Aagaard, B. T., Bender, A. M., Blanpied, M. L., Briggs, R., Boyd, O. S., Clayton, B. S., DuRoss, C. B., Evans, E. L., Haeussler, P., Hatem, A., Haynie, K. L., Hearn, E. H., Johnson, K. M., Kortum, Z. A., Kwong, N. S., Makdisi, A. J., Mason, B., McNamara, D., McPhillips, D., Okubo, P., Page, M. T., Pollitz, F. F., Rubinstein, J. L., Shaw, B. E., Shen, Z., Shiro, B., Smith, J. A., Stephenson, W. J., Thompson, E. M., Thompson Jobe, J. A., Wirth, E., & Witter, R. C. (2023). The 2023 US 50-State National Seismic Hazard Model: Overview and implications. Earthquake Spectra,. doi: 10.1177/87552930231215428. SCEC Contribution 13391

Jordan, T. H., Anderson, J. G., Biasi, G., Campbell, K., Dawson, T., DeShon, H., Gerstenberger, M., Gregor, N., Kelson, K., Lee, Y., Luco, N., Marzocchi, W., Rowshandel, B., Schwartz, D., Shome, N., Toro, G., Weldon, R., Wong, I., & Abrahamson, N. (2023). Panel Review of the USGS 2023 Conterminous U.S. Time-Independent Earthquake Rupture Forecast. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 114(1), 572-607. doi: 10.1785/0120230140. SCEC Contribution 13329

Field, E. H., Milner, K. R., & Luco, N. (2021). The Seismic Hazard Implications of Declustering and Poisson Assumptions Inferred from a Fully Time-Dependent Model. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 112(1), 527-537. doi: 10.1785/0120210027. SCEC Contribution 11111

Baker, J. W., Rezaeian, S., Goulet, C. A., Luco, N., & Teng, G. (2021). A Subset of CyberShake Ground Motion Time Series for Response History Analysis. Earthquake Spectra, 37(2), 1162-1176. doi: 10.1177/8755293020981970. SCEC Contribution 10077

Zhong, K., Lin, T., Deierlein, G. G., Graves, R. W., Silva, F., & Luco, N. (2020). Tall building performance‐based seismic design using SCEC broadband platform site‐specific ground motion simulations. Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics, 1-18. doi: 10.1002/eqe.3364. SCEC Contribution 10793

Baker, J. W., Luco, N., Abrahamson, N. A., Graves, R. W., Maechling, P. J., & Olsen, K. B. (2014). Engineering Uses of Physics-Based Ground Motion Simulations . Oral Presentation at Tenth U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering. SCEC Contribution 1815

Luco, N., & Jordan, T. H. (2012). Progress of the Southern California Earthquake Center Technical Activity Group on Ground Motion Simulation Validation. Seismological Research Letters, 83(2). SCEC Contribution 1686

Last updated Apr 02, 2024.

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