NEHRP Clearinghouse
- Title
- Predicted Surface Displacements for Scenario Earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay Region.
- File
- PB2009110863.pdf
- Author(s)
- Murray-Moraleda, J. R.
- Source
- January 2009, 44 p.
- Identifying Number(s)
- USGS-OFR2008-1375
- Abstract
- In the immediate aftermath of a major earthquake, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will be called upon to provide information on the characteristics of the event to emergency responders and the media. One such piece of information is the expected surface displacement due to the earthquake. In conducting probabilistic hazard analyses for the San Francisco Bay Region, the Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities (WGCEP) identified a series of scenario earthquakes involving the major faults of the region, and these were used in their 2003 report (hereafter referred to as WG03) and the recently released 2008 Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF). Here I present a collection of maps depicting the expected surface displacement resulting from those scenario earthquakes. The USGS has conducted frequent Global Positioning System (GPS) surveys throughout northern California for nearly two decades, generating a solid baseline of interseismic measurements. Following an earthquake, temporary GPS deployments at these sites will be important to augment the spatial coverage provided by continuous GPS sites for recording postseismic deformation, as will the acquisition of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) scenes.
- Keywords
- Radar; U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); California; Deformation; San Francisco Bay Area; Ground motion; Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR); Seismic detectors; Measurement; Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF); Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities (WGCEP); Displacement; Hazards; Global positioning system; Emergency responders; Earthquakes