Understanding the dynamics of earthquakes and faulting, and the associated geohazards, requires a systems-level approach.
The Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC) collaborates with academic, government, industry, and other organizations to advance earthquake science, community resilience, and education by: (1) Gathering and analyzing data from field observations and laboratory experiments. (2) Developing system-level models and simulations of earthquake processes to synthesize knowledge as a physics-based understanding of seismic hazard. (3) Communicating that understanding to expand knowledge and reduce earthquake risk.
Building Community Earth Models (CEM) for California
SCEC CEMs are collaborative platforms that provide community-contributed data, models, and tools to study key geophysical features of the San Andreas Fault System.
Developing Advanced Modeling Frameworks
SCEC develops physics-based models and advanced modeling frameworks to simulate earthquake processes and the evolution of faults and earthquakes more realistically.
Increasing California’s Resilience to Earthquakes
SCEC provides the scientific foundation for earthquake risk-reduction by integrating observations within a system science modeling framework to quantify seismic hazard.
Using Artificial Intelligence in Earthquake Science
By applying AI methods across earthquake science, SCEC is exploring its potential in fault mapping, ground motion simulations, earthquake forecasting, and more.
Each year, SCEC solicits proposals for research, workshops, and trainings through a competitive process, typically attracting hundreds of investigators to contribute to the Center’s programs. The 2024 Science Plan emphasized new opportunities enabled by a geographic scope that now includes the entire transform plate boundary system of California. It also provides a roadmap on how to distribute research efforts in southern, central, and northern California to achieve the Center’s science goals.
SCEC5 Research Accomplishments
Co-Director Greg Beroza (Stanford) presents research highlights from SCEC5 (2017-2023), which sets the stage for the Statewide California Earthquake Center.
2024 Stress Drop Validation Workshop
January 22, 2024
2024 SCEC Proposal Review Meeting
January 25-26, 2024
USGS Northern California Earthquake Hazards Workshop
January 30 – February 1, 2024
Statewide California Community Earth Models Workshop
March 3-4, 2024
SCEC prioritizes investigator-driven, interdisciplinary research, fostering connections with scientific, engineering, and community stakeholders. This collaborative approach sustains basic and applied earthquake science research, enabling exploration of new avenues, welcoming new investigators, and providing a global platform for multidisciplinary research, workforce development, and community engagement. SCEC fosters an inclusive and diverse professional culture that maximizes the contributions of future earthquake scientists.
Review Group Co-Leaders
Farzin Zareian (UCI), Lisa Grant Ludwig (UCI), Brian Olson (CGS)
The Applied Science Implementation (ASI) group connects SCEC scientists and research results with practicing engineers, government officials, business risk managers, and other professionals, as well as computer scientists, to improve the application of earthquake science and take advantage of emerging technologies to perform research. The ASI group engages with communities that interface with the Center, such as technical stakeholders and downstream users, to apply geoscientific knowledge to hazard quantification, validate ground motion simulations and earthquake rupture forecasts, and integrate and use SCEC products.
Review Group Co-Leaders
Domniki Asimaki (Caltech), Annemarie Baltay (USGS)
The Ground Motions (GM) group studies ground motion data and models wave propagation mechanisms, including nonlinearity and scattering effects. They develop and validate physics-based simulation methodologies to predict strong-motion broadband waveforms and permanent ground deformation. The group also studies how regional nonlinear effects can be modeled to produce simulated ground motions that are valid across a range of magnitudes, distances, and frequencies, especially for large magnitudes at close distances.
Review Group Co-Leaders
Max Werner (Bristol), Morgan Page (USGS)
The Earthquake Forecasting and Predictability (EFP) group coordinates research on: developing earthquake forecast methods; evaluating earthquake forecasts; expanding knowledge of earthquake processes relevant for forecasting; developing and using earthquake simulators; and understanding the limits of earthquake predictability. Through the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP), the EFP group supports a wide range of scientific prediction experiments worldwide, including those involving geographically distributed fault systems in different tectonic environments, through international collaboration.
Review Group Co-Leaders
Cliff Thurber (UW Madison), Jamie Steidl (UCSB)
The Seismology disciplinary group collects data on seismic phenomena in the plate boundary system of California, develops new techniques to extract detailed and reliable information from the data, and integrates the results into models of velocity structures, source properties, and seismic hazard. The group fosters innovation in network deployments, data collection, and data processing, especially those that fill important observational gaps and provide real-time research tools.
Review Group Co-Leaders
Mike Oskin (UC Davis), William Griffith (Ohio State)
The Earthquake Geology disciplinary group focuses on the Late Quaternary record of faulting and ground motion, including data gathering in response to major earthquakes. The group fosters research on outstanding seismic hazard issues, the geological framework and earthquake history of faults in California, and contributes significant information to the Community Earth Models. The group manages the SCEC geochronology infrastructure, which provides 14C and cosmogenic dating for SCEC-funded research.
Review Group Co-Leaders
Gareth Funning (UCR), Manoochehr Shirzaei (Virginia Tech)
The Tectonic Geodesy disciplinary group uses geodetic measurements to study crustal deformation over the earthquake cycle along the San Andreas Fault System. They aim to determine how faults are loaded and the role of off-fault deformation. The group monitors and responds to earthquakes, tracking surface deformation changes, measuring coseismic displacements, and contributing to the Community Geodetic Model.
Review Group Co-Leaders
Ricardo Taborda (EAFIT), Ahmed Elbanna (UIUC), Phil Maechling (SCEC)
The Research Computing (RC) disciplinary group develops research software and uses advanced modeling, data-intensive computing, and high-performance computing to address emerging needs of SCEC users. They work with SCEC scientists to leverage rapidly changing computer architectures, algorithms, and software technology, and engage with academic and national high performance computing (HPC) resource providers to facilitate large-scale and data-intensive research computing. The group also supports students in the geosciences and computer science to develop valuable research computing skills.
Review Group Co-Leaders
Michele Cooke (UMass), Ramon Arrowsmith (ASU)
The Plate Boundary System (PBS) group studies earthquake history to clarify and refine hazard assessments throughout the entire transform plate boundary between the Pacific and North American Plates from western Nevada to the Borderlands offshore, and from Baja California to Cape Mendocino. They develop projects to collect and analyze data on the timing and size of large earthquakes along the San Andreas Fault System and to investigate fault features that may halt or permit continued rupture.
Review Group Co-Leaders
Nadia Lapusta (Caltech), Nick Beeler (USGS), Alice Gabriel (UCSD)
The Fault and Rupture Mechanics (FARM) group uses field, lab, and theoretical studies to (1) constrain the properties, conditions, and physical processes that control faulting in the lithosphere throughout the earthquake cycle; and (2) develop physics-based fault models at various scales, such as for earthquake nucleation, propagation, and arrest, or long-term earthquake sequences. They aim to understand earthquakes in the San Andreas Fault System and contribute to seismic hazard estimates and physics-based ground motion predictions.
Review Group Co-Leaders
Roland Bürgmann (UC Berkeley), Karen Luttrell (LSU)
The Stress and Deformation Over Time (SDOT) group studies lithospheric processes in the San Andreas Fault System to understand how faults are loaded and evolve over time on timescales from tens of millions of years to tens of years. They use geodynamic modeling to characterize present-day stress and deformation, and to tie this to long-term lithospheric evolution. SDOT also develops system-wide deformation models to contribute to physics-based probabilistic seismic hazard analysis.
Review Group Co-Leaders
Scott Marshall (App State), Laurent Montesi (U. Maryland)
The Community Earth Models (CEM) group develops, refines and integrates community models describing a wide range of features of the California lithosphere and asthenosphere. These features include: elastic and attenuation properties (Community Velocity Model, CVM), temperature (Community Thermal Model, CTM), rheology (Community Rheology Model, CRM), stress and stressing rate (Community Stress Model, CSM), deformation rate (Community Geodetic Model, CGM), and fault geometry (Community Fault Model, CFM). Their ultimate goal is to provide an internally consistent suite of models that can be used together to simulate seismic phenomena in California.
Review Group Co-Leaders
Patricia Persaud (U Arizona), Marine Denolle (U Washington)
The Community Capability Building (CCB) group focuses on activities that train researchers at all career levels in multidisciplinary research and the skills needed to engage in the SCEC collaboration, including new technical skills that emerge and/or are needed for research. They support efforts that maximize the contributions from the next generation of earthquake scientists by providing opportunities to learn from and collaborate with experienced researchers, develop new skills, and build networks. This enables a diverse group of researchers to collaborate over time, building deep scientific collaborations and interpersonal networks to advance earthquake science.
The SCEC Community may register any recently published journal article, book, chapter, presentation, and more in the SCEC Publications Database. These publications may be results partially or entirely funded by SCEC.
The SCEC Annual Meeting brings together 400-500 participants worldwide to share breakthroughs, assess progress, and chart a collaborative path for earthquake science. All of the Center activities are presented, analyzed, and woven into a set of priorities for SCEC to pursue in the future.
Documents published by the SCEC community, including journal articles, books, chapters, presentations, etc. are collected in the SCEC publications database. Each record is identified by its SCEC Contribution Number, that can be used to acknowledgement of SCEC funding support.
Major Funding From
ABOUT SCEC
HEADQUARTERS AT
Statewide California Earthquake Center
University of Southern California
3651 Trousdale Parkway #169
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0742
