Sustainable Research Software through Open-Source Communities
A recent Eos article entitled “It’s Time to Shift Emphasis Away from Code Sharing” (Green and Thirumalai, 2019) describes a reality of research software in the earth sciences. It shares an anecdote...
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SCEC Co-Director Greg Beroza Receives Humboldt Research Award
Greg Beroza, Wayne Loel Professor of Geophysics at Stanford, and Co-Director of SCEC, has been awarded the prestigious Humboldt Research Award (also known as...
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5 Powerful Lessons From SCEC’s Exceptional Research Mentors
As the 2021 internship season gets underway, we can tap into powerful lessons learned from the 2020 program. Despite their own personal and professional challenges, mentors of the SCEC SOURCES...
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New SCEC/USGS Community Stress Drop Validation Study Launched
Stress is released when an earthquake occurs. This ‘stress drop’ is a key parameter for earthquake source physics, and determines ground motion amplitude and thus potential extent of damage....
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Community Fault Model v5.3 Released with Updated Web Tools for Improved Access
We are pleased to announce the release of version 5.3 of the SCEC Community Fault Model (CFM5.3) — the most detailed and comprehensive three-dimensional representation of southern California faults...
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Research Highlights

The Community Stress Drop Validation technical activity group is focused on resolving discrepancies in earthquake stress drop.

The Community Geodetic Model (CGM) provides displacement time series and velocities of the Earth’s surface over southern California.

The Community Rheology Model (CRM) provides a three-dimensional description of the ductile rheology of southern California’s lithosphere.

The Committee for Utilization of Ground Motions Simulations (UGMS) developed site-specific response spectral acceleration maps for the Los Angeles region.

Recent Publications

Resolution and uncertainties in estimates of earthquake stress drop and energy release Abercrombie, R. E.
Propagation of large earthquakes as self-healing pulses or mild cracks. Lambert, V. R., Lapusta, N., & Perry, S. M.
Seismic Moment Accumulation Response to Lateral Crustal Variations of the San Andreas Fault System Ward, L. A., Smith-Konter, B. R., Xu, X., & Sandwell, D. T.
Variability of near‐fault seismic risk to reinforced concrete buildings based on high‐resolution physics‐based ground motion simulations Kenawy, M., McCallen, D. B., & Pitarka, A.
Toward Physics‐Based Nonergodic PSHA: A Prototype Fully Deterministic Seismic Hazard Model for Southern California Milner, K. R., Shaw, B. E., Goulet, C. A., Richards-Dinger, K. B., Callaghan, S., Jordan, T. H., Dieterich, J. H., & Field, E. H.

See all publications...

Science Workshops

Societal Shock Resilience, an NSF Convergence Accelerator Workshop,
June 7-8, 11, 2021

SCEC-IRIS-UNAVCO Community Workshop: Rupture and Fault Zone Observatory (RuFZO), April 13, 2021

Yehuda Ben-Zion: Scientific Motivation for the Rupture and Fault Zone Observatory (more presentations)

See more workshops...

Education Programs

Supported Opportunities for Undergraduates and Researchers to Collaborate on Earthquake Science (SOURCES) offers a remotely-mentored research experience to college students nationwide.

Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) pairs a student, one-on-one, to conduct research with a pre-eminent earthquake scientist or specialist.

Undergraduate Studies in Earthquake Information Technology (UseIT) internship is a team-based undergraduate research program.

SCEC Transitions Program provides students and early-career scientists with resources and mentoring at major transitions in their educational and professional careers.

See more opportunities...

Recent Earthquakes

Earthquakes can happen at any time. See the USGS or SCEDC for real-time earthquake information.

Earthquake Preparedness

Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety
A step-by-step guide for staying safe before, during, and after an earthquake.

ShakeOut Earthquake Drills
ShakeOut Earthquake Drills are an opporuntity to practice how to prepare to survive and recover from the next damaging earthquake.

Earthquakes in the News

What causes earthquake foreshocks?
On the morning of July 4, 2019, a series of very small earthquakes began to rumble in the Mojave Desert, not far from...
An Earthquake in Japan Speaks to a Sea Wall in San Francisco
Like Kobe, the Northern California coastal city sits at the heart of a dense, seismically active urban area constructed...
NASA Balloon Detects California Earthquake – Next Stop Venus?
Between July 4 and July 6, 2019, a sequence of powerful earthquakes rumbled near Ridgecrest, California, triggering...
June 2021 WSSPC Monthly Bulletin
Tsunamis from uncommon sources, fracking-induced earthquakes in Texas, and examining "slow-slip" earthquakes - all in...
Study reveals the workings of nature’s own earthquake blocker
A new study finds a naturally occurring “earthquake gate” that decides which earthquakes are allowed to grow into...
Surprising recharacterization of earthquake risk along a strand of the San Andreas
A recent study indicates increased slip rates along the Mission Creek strand of the San Andreas Fault, suggesting a...
When it comes to earthquakes, size matters but so does the terrain
Earthquakes can be like Jell-O. A simple, yet often used analogy is that if you’re sitting in a valley or basin, it...
In major milestone, U.S. earthquake early warning system now covers entire West Coast
On Tuesday at 8 a.m., mobile users in Washington state finally gained access to the earthquake early warning system’s...
Who is most vulnerable during a major Northern California earthquake?
Most risk analysis focuses on the cascading effects of an earthquake such as landslides, fire or building damage. A...
Coachella Valley Disaster Preparedness webinar will feature Dr. Dennis Mileti’s last presentation on earthquake preparedness Wednesday
You can never be too prepared for an earthquake or other disaster. That was what Dr. Dennis Mileti believed as a world-...

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