U.S. Seismic Hazard Maps - 2002 Edition

The 2002 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Maps display earthquake ground motions for various probability levels across the United States and are applied in seismic provisions of building codes, insurance rate structures, risk assessments, and other public policy. This update of the maps incorporates new findings on earthquake ground shaking, faults, seismicity, and geodesy. The resulting maps are derived from seismic hazard curves calculated on a grid of sites across the United States that describe the frequency of exceeding a set of ground motions.

Types: Citation; Tags: B/C site class boundary, EHP, Earthquake Hazards Program, GHSC, Geologic Hazards Science Center, All tags... Hazard Maps, NEHRP, National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program, National Seismic Hazard Maps, Seismic Hazard Maps, USGS, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), United States, Vs30, building codes, earthquake ground motions, earthquake probability, geophysics, insurance rate structures, probabilistic hazard maps, public policy, risk assessments, seismic hazard, seismic hazard curves, seismic provisions, spectral accelerations, tectonic, Fewer tags

Compilation of Geologic and Seismic Velocity Characteristics at Advanced National Seismic System Strong Motion Accelerometer Sites

Near-surface site characteristics are critical for accurately modeling ground motion, which in turn influences seismic hazard analysis and design of critical infrastructure. Currently, there are many strong motion accelerometers within the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) that are missing this information. We use a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based framework to intersect the site coordinates of approximately 5,500 ANSS accelerometers located throughout the United States and its territories with geology and velocity information. We consider: (1) surficial geology from digitized geologic maps (Horton, 2017; Wilson et al., 2015; Sherrod et al., 2007; Bawiec, 1999; Saucedo, 2005; Bedrossian et al., 2012;...

Categories: Data; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: ANSS, Alabama, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, All tags... California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Geography, Geophysics, Georgia, Guam, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Information Sciences, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Remote Sensing, Rhode Island, Seismic site characteristics, Seismology, Soil Sciences, South Carolina, South Dakota, Strong Motion, Structural Geology, Tennesee, Texas, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), United States, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Vs30, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, earthquake seismology, seismic stations, vs30 measurements, vs30 proxy, Fewer tags

A Compilation of Vs30 Values in the United States

Compiled Vs30 measurements obtained by studies funded by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other governmental agencies. Thus far, there are 2,997 sites in the United States, along with metadata for each measurement from government-sponsored reports, Web sites, and scientific and engineering journals. Most of the data originated from publications directly reporting the work of field investigators. A small subset (less than 20 percent) of Vs30 values was previously compiled by the USGS and other research institutions. Whenever possible, Vs30 originating from these earlier compilations were crosschecked against published reports. Both downhole and surface-based Vs30 estimates are represented. Most of the VS30 data...

Types: Citation; Tags: Earth, Earthquake Hazards Program, GHSC, Geologic Hazards Science Center, USGS, All tags... Vs30, Vs30 coefficients, average shear-velocity, earth science, earthquake hazard, emergency management, emergency manager, emergency responder, emergency response, first-order assessment of seismic site conditions, geology, geophysics, ground-motion prediction, ground-shaking, seismic hazard, seismic site conditions, seismology, shear-velocity, topographic slope, topographic slope-based Vs30 maps, topography, Fewer tags

U.S. National Seismic Hazard Maps: Products and Tools

The U.S. Geological Survey’s National Seismic Hazard Map Program publishes a number of products and tools designed to provide details of earthquake shaking hazards and help engineers meet modern seismic design provisions for the construction of buildings, bridges, highways, and utilities that are better able to withstand earthquakes, not only saving lives but also enabling critical activities to continue with less disruption.

Types: Citation; Tags: B/C site class boundary, EHP, Earthquake Hazards Program, GHSC, Geologic Hazards Science Center, All tags... Hazard Maps, NEHRP, National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program, National Seismic Hazard Maps, Seismic Hazard Maps, USGS, United States, Vs30, building codes, earthquake ground motions, earthquake probability, geophysics, insurance rate structures, probabilistic hazard maps, public policy, risk assessments, seismic hazard, seismic hazard curves, seismic provisions, spectral accelerations, tectonic, Fewer tags

Global Vs30 Map Server

The Global Vs30 Server allows a user to select from a map or input a rectangular region of interest. It then provides (optionally) a Vs30 grid in ASCII or GMT grid format, and a JPEG Vs30 map. Wald et al. (2004) first, and Wald and Allen (BSSA, 2007, in press), more fully, describe a methodology for deriving maps of seismic site conditions using topographic slope as a proxy. Vs30 measurements (the average shear-velocity down to 30 m) are correlated against topographic slope to develop two sets of coefficients for deriving Vs30: one for active tectonic regions that possess dynamic topographic relief, and one for stable continental regions where changes in topography are more subdued.

Types: Citation; Tags: Earth, Earthquake Hazards Program, GHSC, Geologic Hazards Science Center, USGS, All tags... USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Vs30, Vs30 coefficients, average shear-velocity, earth science, earthquake hazard, emergency management, emergency manager, emergency responder, emergency response, first-order assessment of seismic site conditions, geology, geophysics, ground-motion prediction, ground-shaking, seismic hazard, seismic site conditions, seismology, shear-velocity, topographic slope, topographic slope-based Vs30 maps, topography, Fewer tags

U.S. Seismic Hazard Maps - 2014 Edition

The 2014 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Maps display earthquake ground motions for various probability levels across the United States and are applied in seismic provisions of building codes, insurance rate structures, risk assessments, and other public policy. The updated maps represent an assessment of the best available science in earthquake hazards and incorporate new findings on earthquake ground shaking, faults, seismicity, and geodesy. The USGS National Seismic Hazard Mapping Project developed these maps by incorporating information on potential earthquakes and associated ground shaking obtained from interaction in science and engineering workshops involving hundreds of participants,...

Types: Citation; Tags: B/C site class boundary, EHP, Earthquake Hazards Program, GHSC, Geologic Hazards Science Center, All tags... Hazard Maps, NEHRP, National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program, National Seismic Hazard Maps, Seismic Hazard Maps, USGS, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), United States, Vs30, building codes, earthquake ground motions, earthquake probability, geophysics, insurance rate structures, probabilistic hazard maps, public policy, risk assessments, seismic hazard, seismic hazard curves, seismic provisions, spectral accelerations, tectonic, Fewer tags

U.S. Seismic Hazard Maps - 2008 Edition

The 2008 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Maps display earthquake ground motions for various probability levels across the United States and are applied in seismic provisions of building codes, insurance rate structures, risk assessments, and other public policy. This update of the maps incorporates new findings on earthquake ground shaking, faults, seismicity, and geodesy. The resulting maps are derived from seismic hazard curves calculated on a grid of sites across the United States that describe the frequency of exceeding a set of ground motions. The USGS National Seismic Hazard Mapping Project developed these maps by incorporating information on potential earthquakes and associated ground...

Types: Citation; Tags: B/C site class boundary, EHP, Earthquake Hazards Program, GHSC, Geologic Hazards Science Center, All tags... Hazard Maps, NEHRP, National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program, National Seismic Hazard Maps, Seismic Hazard Maps, USGS, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), United States, Vs30, building codes, earthquake ground motions, earthquake probability, geophysics, insurance rate structures, probabilistic hazard maps, public policy, risk assessments, seismic hazard, seismic hazard curves, seismic provisions, spectral accelerations, tectonic, Fewer tags

A Global Hybrid Vs30 Map with a Topographic-Slope-Based Default and Regional Map Insets

Time-averaged shear wave velocity over the upper 30 meters of the earth's surface (Vs30) is a key parameter for estimating ground motion amplification as both a predictive and diagnostic tool for earthquake hazards. A first-order approximation of Vs30 is commonly obtained via a topographic slope-based or terrain proxy due to the widely available nature of digital elevation models. However, better-constrained Vs30 maps have been developed in many regions. Such maps preferentially employ various combinations of Vs30 measurements, higher-resolution slope, lithologic, geologic, geomorphic, and other proxies, and often utilize refined interpolation schemes. We develop a new hybrid global Vs30 map database that defaults...

Tags: EHP, Earthquake Hazards Program, GHSC, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Geophysics, All tags... Global, New Madrid Seismic Zone, Reelfoot fault, Seismology, USGS, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Vs30, coseismic ridge-spreading features, earth science, earthquake hazard, fault, fault mechanism, fault source, hazard models, paleoseismic record, sackungen, topography, Fewer tags