Current Challenges In Statistical Seismology

This special issue emerged following the 2013 8th International Statistical Seismology (StatSei8) workshop in Beijing. The articles within have been collected to report on exciting new research in statistical seismology methods and applications; it contains a collection of the newest methods, techniques and results related to statistical analysis of earthquake occurrence and earthquake probability forecasting. The articles within ultimately help to define future research directions in the field. Especially, the rapid development of observation technologies has brought geophysical research into the big-data era. This includes not only non-seismicity geophysical data, such as GPS observation on surface displacement, InSAR observation of the co-seismic deformation, ionospheric observations, etc., but also extended seismological data including slow earthquakes, tremor, and VLF earthquakes. The subject of statistical seismology bridges the gap between physical and statistical models. Many significant achievements have been accomplished during the last several decades, including formulation of conditional intensity models for quantifying seismicity rates, earthquake probability forecasts, and theories related to rigorous testing of forecast models.

This book addresses current activities in strong-motion networks around the globe, covering issues related to designing, maintaining and disseminating information from these arrays. The book is divided into three principal sections. The first section includes recent developments in regional and global ground-motion predictive models. It presents discussions on the similarities and differences of ground motion estimations from these models and their application to design spectra as well as other novel procedures for predicting engineering parameters in seismic regions with sparse data. The second section introduces topics about the particular methodologies being implemented in the recently established global and regional strong-motion databanks in Europe to maintain and disseminate the archived accelerometric data. The final section describes major strong-motion arrays around the world and their historical developments. The last three chapters of this section introduce projects carried out within the context of arrays deployed for seismic risk studies in metropolitan areas. Audience: This timely book will be of particular interest for researchers who use accelerometric data extensively to conduct studies in earthquake engineering and engineering seismology.

Statistical Seismology aims to bridge the gap between physics-based and statistics-based models. This volume provides a combination of reviews, methodological studies, and applications, which point to promising efforts in this field. The volume will be useful to students and professional researchers alike, who are interested in using stochastic modeling for probing the nature of earthquake phenomena, as well as an essential ingredient for earthquake forecasting.

As geological threats become more imminent, society must make a major commitment to increase the resilience of its communities, infrastructure, and citizens. Recent earthquakes in Japan, New Zealand, Haiti, and Chile provide stark reminders of the devastating impact major earthquakes have on the lives and economic stability of millions of people worldwide. The events in Haiti continue to show that poor planning and governance lead to long-term chaos, while nations like Chile demonstrate steady recovery due to modern earthquake planning and proper construction and mitigation activities. At the request of the National Science Foundation, the National Research Council hosted a two-day workshop to give members of the community an opportunity to identify "Grand Challenges" for earthquake engineering research that are needed to achieve an earthquake resilient society, as well as to describe networks of earthquake engineering experimental capabilities and cyberinfrastructure tools that could continue to address ongoing areas of concern. Grand Challenges in Earthquake Engineering Research: A Community Workshop Report explores the priorities and problems regions face in reducing consequent damage and spurring technological preparedness advances. Over the course of the Grand Challenges in Earthquake Engineering Research workshop, 13 grand challenge problems emerged and were summarized in terms of five overarching themes including: community resilience framework, decision making, simulation, mitigation, and design tools. Participants suggested 14 experimental facilities and cyberinfrastructure tools that would be needed to carry out testing, observations, and simulations, and to analyze the results. The report also reviews progressive steps that have been made in research and development, and considers what factors will accelerate transformative solutions.

204 Pure app!. geophys. , P. Reasenberg demonstrated that in Cascadia earthquakes are four times more likely to be foreshocks than in California. Many speakers emphasized the regional differences in all earthquake parameters, and it was generally understood that basic models of the earthquake occurrence must be modified for regional application. The idea that the focal mechanisms of foreshocks may differ from that of background activity was advocated by Y. Chen and identified by M. Ohtake as possibly the thus far most neglected property of foreshocks, in efforts to identify them. S. Matsumura proposed that focal mechanism patterns of small earthquakes may differ character istically near locked fault segments into which fault creep is advancing. Considerable discussion was devoted to the status of the seismic gap hypothesis because M. Wyss argued that the occurrence of the M 7. 9, 1986, Andreanof Islands earthquake was a confirmation of Reid's rebound theory of earthquakes and thus of the time predictable version of the gap hypothesis, whereas Y. Kagan believed he could negate this view by presenting a list of nine earthquake pairs with M> 7. 4, moment centroid separation of less than 100 km, and time difference less than about 60% of the time he estimated it would take plate motions to restore the slip of the first event.

Complexity of Seismic Time Series: Measurement and Application applies the tools of nonlinear dynamics to seismic analysis, allowing for the revelation of new details in micro-seismicity, new perspectives in seismic noise, and new tools for prediction of seismic events. The book summarizes both advances and applications in the field, thus meeting the needs of both fundamental and practical seismology. Merging the needs of the classical field and the very modern terms of complexity science, this book covers theory and its application to advanced nonlinear time series tools to investigate Earth’s vibrations, making it a valuable tool for seismologists, hazard managers and engineers. Covers the topic of Earth’s vibrations involving many different aspects of theoretical and observational seismology Identifies applications of advanced nonlinear time series tools for the characterization of these Earth’s signals Merges the needs of geophysics with the applications of complexity theory Describes different methodologies to analyze problems, not only in the context of geosciences, but also those associated with different complex systems across disciplines

The two volume International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology represents the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior's (IASPEI) ambition to provide a comprehensive overview of our present knowledge of earthquakes and seismology. This state-of-the-art work is the only reference to cover all aspects of seismology--a "resource library" for civil and structural engineers, geologists, geophysicists, and seismologists in academia and industry around the globe.Part B, by more than 100 leading researchers from major institutions of science around the globe, features 34 chapters detailing strong-motion seismology, earthquake engineering, quake prediction and hazards mitigation, as well as detailed reports from more than 40 nations. Also available is The International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology, Part A. Authoritative articles by more than 100 leading scientists Extensive glossary of terminology plus 2000+ biographical sketches of notable seismologists