USGS Awards $5 Million for Earthquake Research

RESTON, Va. - Five-million dollars in grants and cooperative agreements are being awarded in 2009 for earthquake research to 84 recipients including universities, state geological surveys and private firms, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announced today. In addition, applications are being accepted for up to $7 million in grants and cooperative agreements for earthquake research in 2010.

"These grants underscore once again the importance to our nation of the earth science work accomplished by the USGS," Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said. "Earthquakes are one of the most costly natural hazards faced by the nation, posing a risk to 75 million Americans in 39 states."

USGS supports research on earthquake hazards in at-risk regions nationwide, including effects from earthquake shaking and the physical conditions and processes that cause earthquakes. The research is helping to better understand how earthquake hazards change with time and to reduce losses through effective earthquake forecasts based on the best possible scientific information.

"These research grants help the government gain access to talented academic, state, and private-sector researchers whose investigations are critical to helping prevent earthquake hazards from becoming disasters," said David Applegate, USGS Senior Science Advisor for Earthquake & Geologic Hazards.

The grants listed as pertaining to the Central and Eastern U.S are:

Pedro de Alba Central, University of New Hampshire
Use of Ground Failure Case Histories to Characterize a Design Earthquake for Coastal New England

Martin Chapman, Virginia Polytechnic and State University
Investigation into the Nature of Vertical Strong Ground-Motion for the Charleston, SC Area

Charles Langston, University of Memphis
Finding the Path Effect for Shear Waves in the Central US Using Broadband Waveform Inversion

David Dolenc, University of Minnesota Duluth
Effects of Shallow 3D Structure of the Mississippi Embayment on Ground-Motion Amplification: Collaborative Research between University of Minnesota Duluth and University of Memphis

William McCann
Estimating the Lower Limit of the Seismogenic Zone & Rates of Aseismic Slip on the Puerto Rico Megathrust Using Focal Mechanisms and Repeating Earthquakes

Jer-Ming Chiu, University of Memphis
High-Resolution P- and S- Wave Velocity Structure of the Post-Paleozoic Sediments in the Upper Missippi Embayment: Collaborative Research between the University of Kentucky and the University of Memphis

Youssef Hashash, University of Illinois
Site Amplification Factors for Deep Deposits & Their Application in Seismic Hazard Analysis for Central US

Stephen Horton, University of Memphis
Effects of Shallow 3D Structure of the Mississippi Embayment on Ground-Motion Amplification: Collaborative Research between University of Minnesota Duluth and

Edward Woolery, University of Kentucky
Ground Motion Site Effects in the Wabash Valley Region from the 18 April 2008 Mt. Carmel, Illinois Earthquake and Aftershocks

Robert Graves, URS Group, Inc.
Ground Motion Simulations for the 1811 and 1812 New Madrid Earthquakes

Edward Woolery and Zhenming Wang, University of Kentucky
High-Resolution P- and S- Wave Velocity Structure of the Post-Paleozoic Sediments in the Upper Mississippi Embayment: Collaborative Research between the University of Kentucky and the University of Memphis

Joe Gillman, Missouri Division of Geology and Land Survey
Detailed Surficial Materials Mapping for the O'Fallon 7.5 Minute Quadrangle as a Portion of the St. Louis Area Earthquake Hazards Mapping Project

Chris Cramer, University of Memphis
In Support of the St. Louis Area Earthquake Hazards Mapping Project: Update Hazard Map Uncertainty Analysis

John Puchakayala and Robert Smalley, University of Memphis
Constraining Central US Deformation Models with Continuous GPS Data

Randel Tom Cox, University of Memphis
Holocene Faulting and Liquefaction along the Southern Margin of the North American Craton (Alabama-Oklahoma Transform)

Stephen Horton, University of Memphis
The Effects of Radiation Pattern on Ground Motion in the New Madrid Seismic Zone

For a complete list of funded projects and reports, visit the Earthquake Hazards Program, External Research Support Web site.

The USGS is the applied earth science component of the four-agency National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), a congressionally established partnership to implement research and reduce losses from earthquake disasters.