CLOSE
‘Rock recorders’ reveal drastic drop in earthquake hazard forecasts for Los Angeles
By:
Jan 18, 2024
Jan 18, 2024
Photo of one of the precariously balanced rocks studied as part of the project at Lovejoy Buttes. Blue and white tape on the PBR, and red and orange tape on the outcrop below. Yellow tape is used to accurately map the geometry of the base of the PBR. The pattern of joints(fractures) in the granite rock mean that this landscape has an abundance of fragile features.
Imperial College London press release
-----
Imperial College London scientists have challenged existing earthquake hazard estimates for the San Andreas fault near Los Angeles.
The fault marks where two tectonic plates meet, and is responsible for some of California's largest earthquakes.
The latest seismic hazard assessment, led by researchers at Imperial, suggests that the hazard of a giant earthquake on the Mojave section of the San Andreas fault area – the closest section to greater Los Angeles – is much lower.
The team found that in the unlikely event that a once-in-10,000-years earthquake erupted on the San Andreas fault, the ground would shake 65 per cent less violently than previously thought.
The ground shaking uncertainty range was 72 per cent lower than previous estimates – meaning that researchers are much more certain about the new estimate compared to previous estimates.
To reach this conclusion, researchers investigated a group of precariously balanced rocks (PBRs) at Lovejoy Buttes, an area found 15 kilometres away from the San Andreas fault.
PBRs are naturally balanced rock formations which are found worldwide and provide ancient geological data. Despite their delicate balance, PBRs have survived thousands of years of earthquakes without toppling, revealing insights into prehistorical seismic activity. In this way, they act as ‘inverse seismometers’ or earthquake ‘rock recorders’, as described by the researchers – since the PBRs have not toppled, they record ground shaking of large earthquakes that have not happened.
Senior author Dr Dylan Rood, from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering (ESE) at Imperial, said: “Earthquake hazard scientists are usually limited in their estimation of future earthquake hazard by the fact that modern seismometers have only been recording earthquake shaking for approximately the past hundred years. Therefore, when it comes to less frequent earthquakes happening over tens of thousands to millions of years, estimates become highly uncertain as more assumptions need to be made.
“Our groundbreaking ‘inverse seismometers’ technique allows us to forecast large, infrequent earthquake ground shaking more precisely. These precariously balanced rocks overturn the hazard model for the San Andreas fault nearest to Los Angeles.”
By precisely dating the age of the PBRs at Lovejoy Buttes and examining their structural fragility (and therefore the likelihood of toppling due to ground tremors), the team at Imperial obtained key information about what intensity of ground shaking can be expected during these rare, powerful San Andreas fault earthquakes.
The findings were presented at the AGU Annual Meeting last month and are published today in Seismological Research Letters.
First author Dr Anna Rood, seismic hazard scientist at the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation and ESE and Civil and Environmental Engineering alumna, said:
“We have innovated and implemented the most rigorous PBR validation methods to date. This is an important advance in earthquake hazard analysis, and practitioners should incorporate these methods. Our improved estimates have implications for the seismic hazard assessment of greater Los Angeles, which guide plans for disaster preparation, emergency responses and building codes. While a reduction in hazard may comfort residents of this earthquake-prone region, the magnitude of the inconsistency between our previous hazard estimates and the PBR survival raises important questions about our understanding of earthquake processes.”
Researchers emphasised the need for independent data to validate seismic hazard estimates going forward. To improve the accuracy of estimates, they stress the importance of utilising the unique data over the timescales of rare, large earthquakes provided by fragile geologic features such as PBRs.
Next, the team will use their inverse seismometer technique to validate seismic hazard estimates for other areas, including the Cascadia Subduction Zone in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Subduction zones generate the largest earthquakes on Earth, yet important questions remain about past and future shaking during magnitude nine megathrust earthquakes.
The study was funded by the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC), the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the US National Science Foundation and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in the UK, part of UKRI.
‘San Andreas fault earthquake hazard model validation using probabilistic analysis of precariously balanced rocks and Bayesian updating’ by Anna H. Rood, Peter J. Stafford, Dylan H. Rood published 17 January 2024 in Seismological Research Letters.
All photo credits: Dylan and Anna Rood
----------
For more information contact:
Caroline Brogan, Media Manager (Engineering)
Imperial College London
caroline.brogan@imperial.ac.uk
+44(0)20 7594 3415
+44(0)7745 650 147
Out of hours press officer mobile: +44 (0)7803 886248
About Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a global top ten university with a world-class reputation. Imperial’s 22,000 students and 8,000 staff are working to solve the biggest challenges in science, medicine, engineering and business.
Imperial ranks sixth in the 2024 QS World University Rankings and eighth in the 2024 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF) found that it has a greater proportion of world-leading research than any other UK university. It also received a Gold Award in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Imperial was named University of the Year in the Daily Mail University Guide 2024, University of the Year for Graduate Employment in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024, and awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its COVID-19 response.
No images found.
GALLERY
Photo of a precariously balanced rock from elsewhere in southern California, same PBR as in DSCN2456.
Photo of one of the precariously balanced rocks studied as part of the project at Lovejoy Buttes. Blue and white tape on the PBR, and red and orange tape on the outcrop below. Yellow tape is used to accurately map the geometry of the base of the PBR. Close up of photo DSCN1575. This is oldest rock we studied at Lovejoy Buttes and is ~50,000 years old. This age is shown by the dark rock varnish that has developed on its surface over time.
Photo of one of the precariously balanced rocks studied as part of the project at Lovejoy Buttes. Blue and white tape on the PBR, and red and orange tape on the outcrop below. Yellow tape is used to accurately map the geometry of the base of the PBR. The pattern of joints(fractures) in the granite rock mean that this landscape has an abundance of fragile features.
Photo of a precariously balanced rock from elsewhere in southern California, same PBR as in DSCN2456.
VIDEO
RELATED CONTENTS