Seismological Laboratory

Contents

History

Laboratories house instrumentation developed by manufacturers and labs associated with Guralp Systems, Nanometrics, Streckeisen (Streckeisen seismograph), Kinemetrics, GeoSIG, Bureau Central Sismologique Français, and research groups at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, ETH Zurich, Purdue University, and University of California, Berkeley. Facilities typically include arrays with broadband seismometers deployed across sites such as San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth, Parkfield Observatory, Cascadia Initiative, Alpine Seismic Network, Icelandic Meteorological Office stations, and deep borehole observatories like Hikurangi Subduction Zone observatories. Instrument suites integrate accelerographs used in studies by Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center and tsunami buoys from Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, alongside GPS units from International GNSS Service and strainmeters developed in collaboration with Geodynamics Laboratory teams.

Research spans tectonics informed by studies of the San Andreas Fault, Alpine Fault, Hayward Fault, North Anatolian Fault, Denali Fault, and Alpine Fault (New Zealand), seismic tomography built on techniques from Johnston et al. and projects like USArray, seismic hazard assessment used by Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Atomic Energy Agency consultancies, induced seismicity research connected to operations by Chevron Corporation, Newmont Corporation, The European Space Agency, and Hydraulic fracturing case studies, and earthquake source physics advanced by work of Hiroo Kanamori, Thorne Lay, Lucy Jones, Katia and Maurice Krafft, and Graham A. Tobin. Complementary areas include volcanic seismology tied to Mount St. Helens, Eyjafjallajökull, Mount Etna, Kīlauea, and Soufrière Hills volcano, as well as cryoseismology examining features at Greenland Ice Sheet, Antarctic Peninsula, Alaska, and Svalbard.

Data workflows integrate inputs from regional networks such as California Integrated Seismic Network, Japan Meteorological Agency seismic network, New Zealand National Seismograph Network, Swiss Seismological Service, and the Global Seismographic Network, using processing tools inspired by software from ObsPy, SeisComP3, SAC (Seismic Analysis Code), Antelope (software), and platforms maintained by Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology. Analyses employ methods from waveform inversion literature, cross-correlation techniques applied in studies by Paul Richards, Yosio Nakamura, Gao et al., and machine learning approaches developed with collaborators from Google DeepMind, IBM Research, Microsoft Research, University of Oxford, and Australian National University. Data sharing follows standards from International Seismological Centre and repositories like IRIS (organization), EMSC, and GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences.

Outreach programs partner with museums and institutions such as Smithsonian Institution, Natural History Museum, London, American Museum of Natural History, Exploratorium, Science Museum, London, and university extension programs at University of California, Los Angeles and University of British Columbia. Educational initiatives include curricular contributions to UNESCO-backed projects, collaborations with International Tsunami Information Center, internship exchanges with Royal Society fellows, and public preparedness campaigns coordinated with Red Cross, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, World Bank resilience programs, and local authorities in cities like Tokyo, San Francisco, Naples, Istanbul, and Wellington.

Operational roles encompass rapid event detection for agencies like Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, National Seismic Service, and Japan Meteorological Agency, providing products used by FEMA, European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, and United Nations Development Programme in disaster response. Laboratories support engineering standards set by American Society of Civil Engineers, feed building codes in jurisdictions such as California Building Standards Commission and Japanese Building Standards Bureau, and contribute to emergency drills coordinated with Department of Homeland Security and municipal agencies in Los Angeles, Seattle, Tokyo, Mexico City, and Lima.