Four students contributed to QuakeSim during the summer of 2012. Caltech student Daniel Kong researched implementation of networking and role-based authentication for QuakeSim users. Moises Ponce-Zepeda, who attends UC Santa Barbara, constructed models to understand how to separate small deformation signals from overprints from large earthquakes. Under NASA's Applied Sciences DEVELOP program Seth Gorlik and Austen Madson used QuakeSim tools for improving disaster decision support and understanding earthquakes in the Central United States.
Highlights
Recent Posts
Students Contribute to QuakeSim in Summer of 2012
Wed, 10/10/2012 - 10:49
Participation in the 9th Annual US Japan Natural Resources Panel on Earthquake Research
Wed, 10/10/2012 - 10:31
In 1964 the United States and Japan established the Cooperative Program in Natural Resources to promote conservation of marine and terrestrial resources through cooperation in applied science and technology. The impetus for forming the UJNR came from the bilateral Committee on Trade and Economic Affairs which agreed that exchanging natural resources information, specialists, technical data, and research equipment would greatly benefit the economy and welfare of both countries. The UJNR Panel on Earthquake Research combines basic and applied research to improve our understanding of the causes and effects of earthquakes and to facilitate the transmission of research results to those who implement hazard reduction measures.
QuakeSim Co-Wins NASA Software of the Year Award
Thu, 09/20/2012 - 17:13
QuakeSim, developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is a comprehensive, state-of-the-art software tool for simulating and understanding earthquake fault processes and improving earthquake forecasting. Initiated in 2002, QuakeSim uses NASA remote sensing and other earthquake-related data to simulate and model the behavior of faults in 3-D both individually and as part of complex, interacting systems. This provides long-term histories of fault behavior that can be used for statistical evaluation. QuakeSim also is used to identify regions of increased earthquake probabilities called hotspots.
Studies have shown QuakeSim to be the most accurate tool of its kind for intermediate earthquake forecasting and detecting the subtle, transient deformation in Earth's crust that precedes and follows earthquakes. Its varied applications include scientific studies, developing earthquake hazard maps that can be used for targeted retrofitting of earthquake-vulnerable structures, providing input for damage and loss estimates after earthquakes, guiding disaster response efforts, and studying fluid changes in reservoirs, among others.
QuakeSim provides model and analysis tools, computational infrastructure, access to data and an interface for understanding the complete cycle of earthquakes. The software assimilates data of crustal deformation that leads to and follows earthquakes, together with seismicity data of earthquakes and geologic data. QuakeSim's integrated, map-based interfaces and applications make an unprecedented amount of complex geophysical data from the ground, air and space available and accessible to a broad range of scientists and end users, including emergency responders, commercial disaster companies, the insurance industry and civil engineers. The software allows them to explore and analyze observations, model earthquake processes and analyze patterns to focus attention and identify significant and/or subtle features in the data.
QuakeSim has had a number of notable accomplishments to date. It produced the first readily accessible set of digital fault models of California. It was used to identify regions in extreme southern California at risk for earthquakes, guiding the collection of data by NASA's Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) prior to a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in Baja, Mexico in 2010, which led to the first-ever airborne radar images of deformation in Earth's surface caused by a major earthquake. It helped define NASA's planned synthetic aperture radar satellite mission. It was used to rule out tectonic deformation of Earth's surface as a factor when a spate of water pipe breaks afflicted Los Angeles in 2009. The software also was used in several recent government earthquake response exercises, including the 2008 California ShakeOut, 2011 National Level Exercise and the 2012 Golden Guardian Exercise. QuakeSim approaches are being adopted by numerous organizations, including the Southern California Earthquake Center, United States Geological Survey and the California Geological Survey.
The multidisciplinary QuakeSim team includes principal investigator Andrea Donnellan, Jay Parker, Robert Granat, Charles Norton and Greg Lyzenga of JPL; Geoffrey Fox and Marlon Pierce of Indiana University, Bloomington; John Rundle of the University of California, Davis; Dennis McLeod of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles; and Lisa Grant Ludwig of the University of California, Irvine.
Studies have shown QuakeSim to be the most accurate tool of its kind for intermediate earthquake forecasting and detecting the subtle, transient deformation in Earth's crust that precedes and follows earthquakes. Its varied applications include scientific studies, developing earthquake hazard maps that can be used for targeted retrofitting of earthquake-vulnerable structures, providing input for damage and loss estimates after earthquakes, guiding disaster response efforts, and studying fluid changes in reservoirs, among others.
QuakeSim provides model and analysis tools, computational infrastructure, access to data and an interface for understanding the complete cycle of earthquakes. The software assimilates data of crustal deformation that leads to and follows earthquakes, together with seismicity data of earthquakes and geologic data. QuakeSim's integrated, map-based interfaces and applications make an unprecedented amount of complex geophysical data from the ground, air and space available and accessible to a broad range of scientists and end users, including emergency responders, commercial disaster companies, the insurance industry and civil engineers. The software allows them to explore and analyze observations, model earthquake processes and analyze patterns to focus attention and identify significant and/or subtle features in the data.
QuakeSim has had a number of notable accomplishments to date. It produced the first readily accessible set of digital fault models of California. It was used to identify regions in extreme southern California at risk for earthquakes, guiding the collection of data by NASA's Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) prior to a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in Baja, Mexico in 2010, which led to the first-ever airborne radar images of deformation in Earth's surface caused by a major earthquake. It helped define NASA's planned synthetic aperture radar satellite mission. It was used to rule out tectonic deformation of Earth's surface as a factor when a spate of water pipe breaks afflicted Los Angeles in 2009. The software also was used in several recent government earthquake response exercises, including the 2008 California ShakeOut, 2011 National Level Exercise and the 2012 Golden Guardian Exercise. QuakeSim approaches are being adopted by numerous organizations, including the Southern California Earthquake Center, United States Geological Survey and the California Geological Survey.
The multidisciplinary QuakeSim team includes principal investigator Andrea Donnellan, Jay Parker, Robert Granat, Charles Norton and Greg Lyzenga of JPL; Geoffrey Fox and Marlon Pierce of Indiana University, Bloomington; John Rundle of the University of California, Davis; Dennis McLeod of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles; and Lisa Grant Ludwig of the University of California, Irvine.
QuakeSim Members Participate in the 2012 Southern California Earthquake Center Annual Meeting
Tue, 09/11/2012 - 10:00
Posters
- Glenn P. Biasi, James N. Brune, and Lisa Grant-Ludwig Contributions of Precarious Rock Evidence to Ground Motion Prediction and Simulations (2012 SCEC Annual Meeting poster 144)
- Andrea Donnellan, Analyzing UAVSAR Data using the QuakeSim Computational Environment (2012 SCEC Annual Meeting poster 217)
- Jay W. Parker, Margaret Glasscoe, and Andrea Donnellan, Automated Determination of Fault Slip Model from GPS Network Signals After an Earthquake (2012 SCEC Annual Meeting poster 207)
- Moises M. Ponce-Zepeda, Andrea Donnellan, and Jay Parker, Understanding Slip on Triggered Faults in the Presence of a Large Regional Deformation (2012 SCEC Annual Meeting poster 268)
- Yi-Hsuan Wu, Chien-Chih Chen, Donald L. Turcotte, and John B. Rundle, Quantifying the seismic risk with Gutenberg-Richter relation (2012 SCEC Annual Meeting poster 060)
- Mark R. Yoder, John B. Rundle, and Donald L. Turcotte, 1/f and the Earthquake Problem: Scaling constraints to facilitate operational earthquake forecasting (2012 SCEC Annual Meeting poster 057)
- Zhang, M. Burak Yikilmaz, and John B. Rundle, Study on the Earthquake Potential Risk in Western United States by LURR Method Based on Seismic Catalogue, Fault Geometry and Focal Mechanisms (2012 SCEC Annual Meeting poster 044)
- Eric M. Heien, Michael K. Sachs, Galen Danziger, John B. Rundle, and Louise H. Kellogg, An Analysis of Tradeoffs in Element Size and Approximation Schemes for Earthquake Simulation (2012 SCEC Annual Meeting poster 055)
- James R. Holliday and John B. Rundle, Using Socioeconomic Data to Calibrate Loss Estimates (2012 SCEC Annual Meeting poster 059)
NASA-Funded Quake Forecast Gets High Score in Study
Fri, 09/30/2011 - 08:45
QuakeSim's earthquake forecasting methodology scored well in a recent competition organized by the Southern California Earthquake Center. In 2005 seven forecasts were submitted to the competition. The QuakeSim forecast, led by Professor John Rundle at UC Davis was most accurate in picking the locations of future earthquakes. Results were published in the September 26, 2011 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Michael Sachs Awarded NASA Fellowship
Thu, 07/28/2011 - 13:28
Michael Sachs, a graduate student at UC Davis and QuakeSim team member has been awarded a NASA Graduate Student Fellowship for his work entitled: "Virtual California Simulations for NASA InSAR Data."
Andrea Donnellan talks about earthquakes on Earth Day
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 12:37
Andrea Donnellan talks about studying earthquakes around the world and NASA technology for earthquakes at JPL's Internal Earth Day Event. This 12 minute talk is one in a series of talks and starts at 1:07 in the recording.
Minor corrections: The GPS station referred to in Antarctica is uplifting at 12 mm/yr (not 12 cm/yr) and the Chilean earthquake referred to occurred in 1960 (not 1964).
TeraGrid: Paying it Forward in the Wake of Disaster
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 11:51
...The National Science Foundation's (NSF) TeraGrid is the world's most comprehensive cyberinfrastructure in support of open scientific research. The people who support and use this resource form an unparalleled, multidisciplinary fraternity of innovators and problem solvers. ... Indiana University (IU) provided assistance to the international emergency response community via the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-funded E-DECIDER and QuakeSim projects in the weeks following the disaster.
Earthquake Chat for Students
Thu, 04/21/2011 - 13:45
Greg Lyzenga took place in an Earthquake Chat for Students. He discusses how earthquakes work, and talks about tsunamis and earthquake preparedness.
Fault finding: UCI seismologist finds far more frequent earthquakes along the San Andreas
Sun, 03/06/2011 - 14:37
(PhysOrg.com) -- UCI seismologist Lisa Grant Ludwig finds far more frequent earthquakes along the San Andreas fault. Findings in the Sept. 1 issue of Geology conclude that for the last 700 years, earthquakes have occurred far more often than once thought in the Carrizo Plain section, as often as every 45 to 144 years. The last big quake there was in 1857, more than 150 years ago.
Geoffrey Fox - HPC Wire's "People to Watch 2010"
Sun, 03/06/2011 - 14:34
QuakeSim Co-I Geoffrey Fox was named one of HPCWire's "People to Watch 2010." Fox is Director of the Digital Science Center, Pervasive Technology Institute and Community Grids Laboratory Director at Indiana University. Now as the principal investigator for the recently-conceived FutureGrid project, an ambitious four-year, $15 million project funded primarily by the NSF to develop system software and applications for the next generation of scientific computing, Geoffrey is looking to establish a new paradigm for distributed computing systems.
There's a Hole in this Possible Earthquake Pattern
Sun, 03/06/2011 - 14:18
As UC Davis physicist and geologist John Rundle ponders the map of recent California earthquakes, he sees visions of a doughnut even Homer J. Simpson wouldn't like. The doughnut is formed by pinpointing the recent quakes near Eureka, Mexicali and Palm Springs...