Center Operations: The Coupled Evolution of Earthquakes, Faults, and Geohazards of the San Andreas Fault System

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

The rapidly deforming Pacific-North America plate boundary in California contains an evolving network of hundreds of active faults organized around the main San Andreas Fault. Many of these faults have dimensions large enough to generate hazardous earthquakes. The San Andreas fault system has an excellent field access that allows detailed studies of properties and dynamics of earthquakes and faulting processes. The Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC) is a multi-disciplinary collaboration that enables the development of system-level models of earthquakes and their hazards. The Center advances the frontiers of earthquake research and hazard analysis, and related STEM education and engagement, through five Major Activities: (1) System Science Research, (2) Research Computing, (3) Community Engagement (4) Workforce Development, and (5) Collaboration Planning and Program Evaluation. The focus of this Geohazard Center on coupled evolution of earthquakes and faults facilitates the development of quantitative relations between diverse features that can be used for validation and improved hazard assessment. Advanced research computing for building and testing software and models is used to validate results, improve uncertainty estimates, and assess the efficacy of research activities toward improving earthquake science and impacts on society. This project is co-funded by the Directorate for Geosciences to support AI/ML advancement in the Geosciences. This award contributes to the National Science Foundation's role in the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), 2022-2029 Strategic Plan. The Center aims to identify emergent phenomena and future behavior of earthquakes and faults using the San Andreas plate-boundary system as a natural laboratory. The research addresses five key questions on i) the loading of faults, ii) the response of fault and crustal materials to loading, iii) the evolution of the active fault network, iv) how the evolving properties affect ongoing deformation and ground motion, and v) the forecasting of strong ground motion and large earthquakes. Addressing these questions could revolutionize earthquake science and hazard estimation. The Center’s shared research computing activities and community models provide unique pathways for physics-based modeling of earthquakes and the ground motions they generate. SCEC interacts with federal and state agencies to support seismic risk reduction and promote community resilience. The Center’s working groups, workshops, field activities, and annual meetings enable a diverse group of scientists to interact over sustained periods, building deep scientific collaborations and interpersonal networks. In addition, the Center promotes intellectual exchange and amplify the support for students and early-career scientists, while broadening their participation in STEM fields. Conducting the research, community engagement and education activities within the organizational structure of SCEC facilitates productive activities that often lead to a larger impact than the sum of individual parts. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.