Earthquake Hazards Program Research Articles

Bayesian nonparametric nonhomogeneous Poisson process with applications to USGS earthquake data

Intensity estimation is a common problem in statistical analysis of spatial point pattern data. This paper proposes a nonparametric Bayesian method for estimating the spatial point process intensity based on mixture of finite mixture (MFM) model. MFM approach leads to a consistent and simultaneous estimate of the intensity surface of spatial point pattern and the clustering information (number of clusters and the clustering configurations) of subareas of the intensity surface. An efficient Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm is proposed for our method, where it performs a marginalization over the number of clusters which avoids complicated reversible jump MCMC or allocation samplers. Extensive simulation studies are carried out to examine empirical performance of the proposed method. The usage of our proposed method is further illustrated with the analysis of the Earthquake Hazards Program of United States Geological Survey (USGS) earthquake data.

Now Trending … Earthquake Information

Abstract The U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program has overall successfully fulfilled its mission of providing timely earthquake information via web applications and other methods. Imagine a single month of earthquake data delivery, serving 3.6 billion total data requests, including 29 million pageviews by 7.1 million users, 606 million automated data feeds, and 45 million catalog downloads. Yet, some challenges and lapses in delivery have happened at critical times, including during the Ridgecrest earthquakes in 2019. We delve into the evolving demand for real-time information as well as the technologies put in place to support the ever-growing number of users in an increasingly mobile world.

Seismic status in Bangladesh

Seismic status in Bangladesh

Who Participates in the Great ShakeOut? Why Audience Segmentation Is the Future of Disaster Preparedness Campaigns.

Background: In 2008, the Southern California Earthquake Center in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program launched the first annual Great ShakeOut, the largest earthquake preparedness drill in the history of the United States. Materials and Methods: We collected online survey data from 2052 campaign registrants to assess how people participated, whether audience segments shared behavioral patterns, and whether these segments were associated with five social cognitive factors targeted by the ShakeOut campaign. Results: Participants clustered into four behavioral patterns. The Minimal cluster had low participation in all activities (range: 0–39% participation). The Basic Drill cluster only participated in the drop, cover and hold drill (100% participation). The Community-Oriented cluster, involved in the drill (100%) and other interpersonal activities including attending disaster planning meetings (74%), was positively associated with interpersonal communication (β = 0.169), self-efficacy (β = 0.118), outcome efficacy (β = 0.110), and knowledge about disaster preparedness (β = 0.151). The Interactive and Games cluster, which participated in the drill (79%) and two online earthquake preparedness games (53% and 75%), was positively associated with all five social cognitive factors studied. Conclusions: Our results support audience segmentation approaches to engaging the public, which address the strengths and weaknesses of different segments. Offering games may help “gamers” gain competencies required to prepare for disasters. Targeting the highly active Community-Oriented cluster for leadership roles could help build community resilience by encouraging others to become more involved in disaster planning. We propose that the days of single, national education campaigns without local variation should end.

Global Positioning System Data Collection, Processing, and Analysis Conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program

ABSTRACT The U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Science Center collects and processes Global Positioning System (GPS) data throughout the western United States to measure crustal deformation related to earthquakes and tectonic processes as part of a long‐term program of research and monitoring. Here, we outline data collection procedures and present the GPS dataset built through repeated temporary deployments since 1992. This dataset consists of observations at ∼1950 locations. In addition, this article details our data processing and analysis procedures, which consist of the following. We process the raw data collected through temporary deployments, in addition to data from continuously operating western U.S. GPS stations operated by multiple agencies, using the GIPSY software package to obtain position time series. Subsequently, we align the positions to a common reference frame, determine the optimal parameters for a temporally correlated noise model, and apply this noise model when carrying out time‐series analysis to derive deformation measures, including constant interseismic velocities, coseismic offsets, and transient postseismic motion.

Real-Time Assessment of the Broadband Coseismic Deformation of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake Using an Adaptive Kalman Filter

Online Material: Matlab scripts and example data for adaptive Kalman filter. The 2011 M w 9.0 Tohoku‐Oki earthquake was the most disastrous known event in Japan,triggering a powerful tsunami wave with a maximum amplitude of ∼40 m (Mori et al. , 2012). At least 15,883 people were killed and over 6145 injured, with a total economic loss of more than $235 billion U.S., making it the costliest natural disaster in world history (Emergency Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters, 2011; Hennessy‐Fiske, 2011). The earthquake occurred at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time (05:46:24 UTC), with epicenter location at 38.297° N, 142.372° E and depth of 30 km (U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program, 2011). Seismic waveforms were recorded by continuous Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) monitoring network of GNSS Earth Observation Network (GEONET) (Sagiya et al. , 2001) and strong‐motion seismograph networks of the Kyoshin Network (K‐NET) and Kiban Kyoshin Network (KiK‐net) (Aoi et al. , 2004). These have been separately or jointly applied to rapid earthquake magnitude determination (Ohta et al. , 2012; Wright et al. , 2012; Melgar, Crowell, et al. , 2013), tsunami warning (Melgar and Bock, 2013), earthquake rupture process inversion (Ide et al. , 2011; Suzuki et al. , 2011; Yagi and Fukahata, 2011; Yokota et al. , 2011; Yue and Lay, 2011; Frankel, 2013), ionosphere perturbation detection (Heki, 2011; Tsugawa et al. , 2011; Komjathy et al. , 2012), study of Earth free oscillation (Mitsui and Heki, 2012), etc. For those studies, the acquisition of robust seismic waveforms is vital but defective, especially in a real‐time mode. High‐rate Global Positioning System (GPS) is capable of recording seismic waveforms with centimeter‐level accuracy (Genrich and Bock, 2006), regardless of relative kinematic positioning mode (Nikolaidis et al. , 2001; Larson et al. , 2003; Blewitt et al. , 2006, 2009; Bilich et al. , 2008; Crowell …

Investigating the Origin of Seismic Swarms

According to the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Hazards Program, a seismic swarm is “a localized surge of earthquakes, with no one shock being conspicuously larger than all other shocks of the swarm. They might occur in a variety of geologic environments and are not known to be indicative of any change in the long‐term seismic risk of the region in which they occur” (http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/Seismicity/description_earthquakes.html).

Strong Quake Strikes Japan

As Eos was about to go to press, a powerful earthquake with a preliminary estimated magnitude of 8.9 shook the northeast coast of Japan on 11 March at 05:46:23 UTC. It is the largest known earthquake along the Japan Trench subduction zone since 869 A.D. or earlier, Brian Atwater, geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), told Eos. The quake's magnitude would place it fifth in terms of any earthquake magnitude worldwide since at least 1900, according to information from the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program. The amount of energy released in the quake—which occurred 130 kilometers east of Sendai, Honshu, at a depth of 24.4 kilometers—was equivalent to the energy from 30 earthquakes the size of the 1906 quake in San Francisco, Calif., according to David Applegate, USGS senior science advisor for earthquake and geologic hazards. He said the economic losses from the shaking are estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars.

Assessment of Seismic Site Conditions: a Case Study from Guwahati City, Northeast India

The 1897 Great Shillong earthquake revealed considerable seismic susceptibility in Guwahati City, such as soil liquefaction, landslides, and surface fissures. In an attempt to quantify the seismic vulnerability of the city based on geological, seismological, and geotechnical aspects concerning seismic site characterization, in-depth analysis was performed using a microtremor survey with recordings of five small to moderate magnitude (4.8 ≤ mb ≤ 5.4) earthquakes that occurred in 2006 and geotechnical investigations using the Standard Penetration Test (SPT). Additionally, the basement topography was established using vertical electrical resistivity sounding and selected drill-hole information. Region-specific relationships are derived by correlating the estimated values of predominant frequency, shear-wave velocity, and basement depth indicating conformity with the predominant frequency distribution and the basin topography underlain by a hard granitic basement. Most parts of the city adhere to the predominant frequency range of 0.5–3.5 Hz, setting aside areas of deep sediment fills or hilly tracts, suggesting that the existing moderate-rise RC buildings in the territory are seismically vulnerable. Furthermore, the geotechnical assessment of the soil liquefaction potential reveals widespread susceptibility across the terrain. Eventually, a site classification map of the city is prepared following the National Earthquake Hazard Program (NEHRP) provision. The average site amplification factor from geotechnical modeling for site class D is about 3 in the frequency range of 2–4 Hz. In addition, earthquake data yield an average site amplification factor of 4–6 in the frequency range of 1.2–5.0 Hz at the seismic stations located in site class E and F. High site amplifications of around 5.5 and 7.5 at 2 Hz, respectively, are observed at AMTRON and IRRIG seismic stations, which are located in the proximity of Precambrian rocks, indicating probable basin edge effects—scattering and diffraction of incident energy. Interplay of dispersed valleys surrounded by small hillocks in the study region is likely to induce micro-basin effects where the sediment thickness/depth vis-a-vis predominant frequency and basin geometry in conjunction play pivotal roles in the augmentation of site response.

Earthquakes and pediatric nephrology: are we prepared?

Sirs, With the recent Haiti earthquake causing significant morbidity and mortality [1], it is now time to look back and analyse our readiness for disaster management. Contrary to our expectations and understanding, earthquakes are common natural disasters from a global point of view. As updated on the home page of the US Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program (http://earthquake. usgs.gov/), earthquakes with a magnitude 4.0 or greater occur every day all over the world [2]. Because the number of casualties in a large earthquake is much higher than in other natural disasters, crush syndrome has been recognized to be the most frequent cause of acute kidney injury (AKI) after an earthquake. Kidney failure has been identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one of the most urgent public health concerns in Haiti following the 7.0-magnitude earthquake on 12 January 2010 [3]. Historically, recognition and better understanding of acute renal failure was obtained following crush injuries in patients in wartime London in 1940 [4]. The main problems handled by pediatric nephrologists are prevention of AKI (by fluid management), management of AKI (due to sepsis, crush injury and infections), management of hyperkalemia, and renal replacement therapy. Proper and timely transportation of the victims with AKI and those with end stage renal disease (ESRD) to the centre with availability of renal replacement therapy is also required. The logistics of medical supply availability is also an issue [5]. In the face of an imminent emergency situation, dialysis facilities, the AKI and the ESRD community, and emergency response organizations need to execute carefully designed plans, with a well-designed timeline for disaster preparation and response [6]. The experience of the Haitian earthquake identified that the organization of effort was not up to par. Use of the Pediatric Nephrology List Serve by Andrew Aronson allowed for global communication outside of Haiti, but did not allow for communication within Haiti. Having “eyes on site” was important to access the needs of the pediatric population. Constant communication with Dr. Emilo Mena Castro in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic allowed for close coverage of care. Utilization of Dr. Castro as a pediatric port of call for the identification of the needs of children with AKI and for distribution of equipment for treatment of AKI was important. Intra-island and intra-Haitian communication was lacking, making it difficult to identify who was in need and where they were located. Further, the lack of available equipment for creatinine or potassium analysis also contributed to care delivery difficulty. It was learned that many pediatric nephrologists throughout the world were willing and ready to help in any way. Local communication and intra-country communication is important to assess and deliver care when needed. S. K. Sethi (*) Division of Pediatric Nephrology, Department of Pediatrics, PGIMER and associated RML Hospital, New Delhi, India 110001 e-mail: sidsdoc@gmail.com

GIS-Based Virtual Geotechnical Database for the St. Louis Metro Area

Research Article| May 01, 2010 GIS-Based Virtual Geotechnical Database for the St. Louis Metro Area JAE-WON CHUNG; JAE-WON CHUNG 1Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering, 1400 North Bishop Avenue, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyRolla, MO 65409 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar J DAVID ROGERS J DAVID ROGERS 1Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering, 1400 North Bishop Avenue, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyRolla, MO 65409 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information JAE-WON CHUNG 1Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering, 1400 North Bishop Avenue, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyRolla, MO 65409 J DAVID ROGERS 1Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering, 1400 North Bishop Avenue, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyRolla, MO 65409 Publisher: Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1558-9161 Print ISSN: 1078-7275 Copyright © 2010 EEGS Environmental & Engineering Geoscience (2010) 16 (2): 143–162. https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.16.2.143 Article history First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation JAE-WON CHUNG, J DAVID ROGERS; GIS-Based Virtual Geotechnical Database for the St. Louis Metro Area. Environmental & Engineering Geoscience 2010;; 16 (2): 143–162. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.16.2.143 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyEnvironmental & Engineering Geoscience Search Advanced Search Abstract The St. Louis metropolitan area is the focus of the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Hazard Program's plan for assessing the likely risks of an earthquake emanating from the New Madrid Seismic Zone or the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone, which are the most active seismic zones recognized in the Midwestern United States. The St. Louis metro area includes portions of eight counties located both in Missouri and Illinois that abut the state boundary formed by the Mississippi River. The Illinois and Missouri geological surveys have prepared geologic maps and data sets that employ dissimilar geodata information, differing map units, map scales, and storage formats, with geodata stored in analog or digital formats. This research sought to combine the dissimilar geodata sets and to integrate them into a single Virtual Geotechnical Database within an accepted geographic information system (ArcGIS), which could be manipulated to retrieve subsurface data and to perform an array of spatial analyses. The geodatabase is intended to promote standardization of geologic interpretations between Missouri and Illinois and will be available to other researchers. The existing body of data was manipulated to extract useful information on the surficial geology, loess thickness, bedrock geology, well locations, and measured values of shear wave velocity, which could be conjoined to create stand-alone GIS information layers. “Depth-to-bedrock” refers to the lithologic contact with early Paleozoic-age strata recognized by formational assignments across the two states. Depth-to-bedrock and groundwater table elevations underling the study area were interpolated using geostatistical methods of ordinary kriging and cokriging, respectively. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Earthquake hazards program reauthorization

With the U.S. National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) coming up for reauthorization and with funding for the program expiring at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2009, a subcommittee of the House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology held an 11 June hearing to examine the program and question whether it should be focused solely on earthquakes or be broadened to include other hazards as well.Subcommittee chair David Wu (D‐Oreg.) told Eos that in drafting reauthorization legislation, he is leaning toward a multihazard approach for NEHRP. ‘As we discuss the successes in earthquake mitigation and priorities moving forward, we must note that research for other hazards has yet to produce the same advances. This lag may exist because wind, fire, and tsunami mitigation do not have the same federal [research and development] structure that has produced our many advances on the seismic front,” he noted at the hearing.

Earthquake Hazards Program

Earthquake Hazards Program

Shakemap Implementation in Italy

Italy is a seismically active country and has been the site of several large and extremely damaging earthquakes since historical times. Tragic examples of these earthquakes in the past century include the M 6.8 1905 Calabria, the M 7.0 1908 Messina-Reggio Calabria, the M 7.0 1915 Marsica, the M 6.7 1930 Irpinia, the M 6.5 1968 Belice, the M 6.5 1976 Friuli, and the M 6.9 1980 Irpinia (Boschi et al. 2000). All these earthquakes caused extensive damage and hundreds to tens of thousands of casualties. In recent years, the Dipartimento per la Protezione Civile (Italian Civil Protection Department [DPC], which answers directly to the prime minister) has supported several projects in the field of seismology aimed toward a better understanding of the occurrence of earthquakes on Italian territory and their associated ground shaking. In this context, project DPC-S4 2004–2006 was directed specifically at the quick assessment of ground-motion shaking in Italy (see http://www.ingv.it/progettiSV/Progetti/Sismologici/sismologici\_con\_frame.htm, in Italian). The DPC in Italy, and civil defense agencies in general, are indeed in great need of rapid and accurate information on where earthquake damage is located, so they can properly direct rescue teams and organize an emergency response. For these reasons, the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) has implemented the software package ShakeMap, developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program (Wald et al. 2006) and specifically designed to generate maps of the peak ground-motion (PGM) parameters and the instrumentally derived intensities. ShakeMap is capable of generating maps of ground shaking of various PGM including peak ground acceleration (PGA), ground velocity (PGV), and spectral acceleration response (PSA) at 0.3, 1.0 and 3.0 s, and instrumentally derived intensities. At its core, ShakeMap is a seismologically based interpolation algorithm that exploits the available data of the observed ground motions and the …

Broadband Waveform Modeling of Moderate Earthquakes in the San Francisco Bay Area and Preliminary Assessment of the USGS 3D Seismic Velocity Model

Abstract Recently, the United States Geologic Survey Earthquake Hazards Program developed a 3D seismic velocity model of Northern California based on geology, including a detailed model of the urbanized San Francisco Bay Area. In this study, we report comparisons of observed three-component broadband (0.03–0.25-Hz) waveforms with synthetic seismograms computed with the new 3D model using an elastic finite difference method. We selected a set of 12 moderate earthquakes ( M w 4.0–5.1) that occurred within the greater San Francisco Bay Area, having well-constrained source parameters and broadband recordings with high signal-to-noise ratios. The objective of this study was to investigate how well the 3D velocity model predicts observed waveforms and to identify features of the model that may require revision to improve the waveform fits and predictions of ground motions for future events. We show for the 3 September 2000 Yountville earthquake that reported source parameters accurately predict waveforms at two close strong-motion stations (approximately 10 km from the epicenter). By comparing synthetics for the average 1D model GIL7 (Stidham et al. , 1999) and the 3D structures we show that the effects of seismic wave propagation in the 3D model become important for frequencies at and above 0.1 Hz (periods less than 10 sec). Comparison of observed and synthetic seismograms for the 3D model consistently shows that the model predicts energy arriving earlier than is observed, particularly for the surface waves, indicating that the shear velocities in the upper crust must be reduced. We cross correlated the observed and synthetic waveforms and recorded the delay time and linear correlation for best alignment of the data and delayed synthetic. The results indicate that generally the 3D model predicts the observed waveforms well (mean linear correlations 0.41) and includes features that arise from the interaction of the wave field with 3D structure, especially the major sedimentary basins in San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay, Santa Clara Valley, and Livermore Valley. Simple conversion of the observed delay times for optimal alignment suggests shear velocities should be reduced by 4%–5% on average. Based on these findings, we conclude that the model is an excellent first step, suggesting that the overall structure of the model is accurate (i.e., the basin and discontinuity geometry). However, the velocities must be reduced to improve the observed timing of surface-wave arrivals.

The USGS Earthquake Notification Service (ENS): Customizable Notifications of Earthquakes around the Globe

Research Article| January 01, 2008 The USGS Earthquake Notification Service (ENS): Customizable Notifications of Earthquakes around the Globe Lisa A. Wald; Lisa A. Wald U.S. Geological Survey DFC PO Box 25046 MS-966 Denver, Colorado 80225 USA lisa@usgs.gov (L.W.) Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar David J. Wald; David J. Wald U.S. Geological Survey DFC PO Box 25046 MS-966 Denver, Colorado 80225 USA lisa@usgs.gov (L.W.) Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Stan Schwarz; Stan Schwarz U.S. Geological Survey DFC PO Box 25046 MS-966 Denver, Colorado 80225 USA lisa@usgs.gov (L.W.) Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Bruce Presgrave; Bruce Presgrave U.S. Geological Survey DFC PO Box 25046 MS-966 Denver, Colorado 80225 USA lisa@usgs.gov (L.W.) Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Paul S. Earle; Paul S. Earle U.S. Geological Survey DFC PO Box 25046 MS-966 Denver, Colorado 80225 USA lisa@usgs.gov (L.W.) Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Eric Martinez; Eric Martinez U.S. Geological Survey DFC PO Box 25046 MS-966 Denver, Colorado 80225 USA lisa@usgs.gov (L.W.) Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar David Oppenheimer David Oppenheimer U.S. Geological Survey DFC PO Box 25046 MS-966 Denver, Colorado 80225 USA lisa@usgs.gov (L.W.) Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Seismological Research Letters (2008) 79 (1): 103–110. https://doi.org/10.1785/gssrl.79.1.103 Article history first online: 14 Jul 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Lisa A. Wald, David J. Wald, Stan Schwarz, Bruce Presgrave, Paul S. Earle, Eric Martinez, David Oppenheimer; The USGS Earthquake Notification Service (ENS): Customizable Notifications of Earthquakes around the Globe. Seismological Research Letters 2008;; 79 (1): 103–110. doi: https://doi.org/10.1785/gssrl.79.1.103 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietySeismological Research Letters Search Advanced Search At the beginning of 2006, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program (EHP) introduced a new automated Earthquake Notification Service (ENS) to take the place of the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) “Bigquake” system and the various other individual EHP e-mail list-servers for separate regions in the United States. These included northern California, southern California, and the central and eastern United States. ENS is a “one-stop shopping” system that allows Internet users to subscribe to flexible and customizable notifications for earthquakes anywhere in the world. The customization capability allows users to define the what (magnitude threshold), the when (day... You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Tsunami hits the Solomon Islands

A magnitude 8.1 earthquake shook the Solomon Islands on 1 April at approximately 7:40 A.M. local time. The earthquake generated a tsunami several meters high that struck many of the islands. The earthquake occurred along the boundary of the Pacific plate where the Australia, Woodlark, and Solomon Sea plates subduct beneath it, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Hazards Program. At least 34 people were killed by the tsunami and several dozen more are still missing, according to the National Disaster Council in the Solomon Islands. The NDC estimates that 900–2500 homes were destroyed by the tsunami, displacing about 5500 people

Advanced National Seismic System delivers improved information

The Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS),an initiative begun in 1998 to integrate, expand, and modernize seismic monitoring nationwide, is providing improvements in earthquake monitoring and in the development, production, and delivery of earthquake data, information, and science. The ANSS initiative is an element of the Earthquake Hazard Program (EHP) of the U.S.Geological Survey (USGS).The USGS National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC),an integral part of ANSS, has incorporated into its routine operations many of the developments in data processing and data products supported by the ANSS. The four principal elements of ANSS monitoring operations are, in sequence: data collection, data processing, generation of data products, and product dissemination. This article describes the current status and new developments in each of these elements, and how they have affected NEIC capabilities.

USGS earthquake hazards program

USGS earthquake hazards program

Implementing ShakeMap for the New Madrid Seismic Zone

Immediately after a damaging earthquake, emergency managers rapidly seek answers to many important questions: Where is the worst and/or least damage? What equipment and personnel must be mobilized and to what extent? ShakeMap was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program to assist in answering these questions by producing near-real-time maps of ground motion and shaking intensity following significant earthquakes (Wald et al. 2004). To produce maps, ShakeMap mimics a dense array of seismometers by using an attenuation relationship to model peak ground motions at virtual or “phantom” stations between existing seismic stations. The modeled data are corrected for site amplification (Borcherdt 1994) and used to produce an instrumental intensity map, a hybrid Modified Mercalli map based on instrumental recording (Wald et al. 1999a). ShakeMap software, implemented predominantly in the Western United States (Northern and Southern California; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Seattle, Washington), requires a degree of regional customization to ensure accuracy of the maps. We report here on the Eastern United States software customization required for implementation of ShakeMap in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) and verification of the resulting maps. The New Madrid region has a relatively high seismic hazard, yet very little data exist for large earthquakes. To estimate peak ground motions for magnitudes greater than 6.0, we qualitatively compared scenario ShakeMaps using different attenuation relationships and intensity regressions to a magnitude 7.4 scenario produced by the USGS Memphis hazard mapping group (Chris Cramer, personal communication 2005; see also http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/usgs/products/regional.html). For smaller events (M < 6) we used the 10 February 2005 magnitude 4.1 earthquake near Blytheville, Arkansas, as an example. The study location is in the Upper Mississippi Embayment of the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS) and is centered on the NMSZ (figure 1). The area covers a four-by-four-degree grid from …