Elizabeth Cochran

Last updated
Elizabeth Cochran
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Scientific career
Thesis Earthquake rupture initiation and fault structure : I. triggering of earthquakes by Earth tides : II. seismic anisotrophy near the Hector Mine rupture : III. post-seismic displacements observed with InSAR  (2005)

Elizabeth Scott Cochran is a seismologist known for her work on early warning systems for earthquakes and human-induced earthquakes.

Contents

Education and career

As a middle-school student living in California, Cochran experiences the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. [1] Cochran has a B.S. from the University of California, Santa Barbara (2000) and went on to earn an M.Sc.(2003) and a Ph.D.(2005) from the University of California. [2] Following her Ph.D. Cochran was a postdoctoral investigator at the University of California, San Diego. [3] From 2007 until 2011 Cochran was an assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside, until she joined the United States Geological Survey. [2]

Research

Cochran's early research was on the impact of the 1999 Hector Mine earthquake. [4] [5] Her subsequent work examined the geographic extent of earthquake damage, [6] and defined the factors that lead to the 2011 Oklahoma earthquake. [7] In 2006, Cochran co-foundered of Quake-Catcher Network, a crowd-sourced program that detects earthquakes. [2] Quake-Cather Network was able to track the 2008 Reno earthquakes. [1] The original idea was to use laptops to track earthquakes, [8] [9] but as the project evolved it outfitted citizen scientists with seismometers which are used to detect earthquakes. [10] [11] Later, Cochran was the lead scientist for ShakeAlert, an early warning system for earthquakes in the western United States. [12] [13]

Selected publications

Awards and honors

In 2006 Cochran received the Doris M. Curtis Outstanding Woman in Science Award from the Geological Society of America. [14] In 2010 Cochran received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, which is an honor given to early career scientists in the United States. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seismology</span> Scientific study of earthquakes and propagation of elastic waves through a planet

Seismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or other planetary bodies. It also includes studies of earthquake environmental effects such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, glacial, fluvial, oceanic, atmospheric, and artificial processes such as explosions. A related field that uses geology to infer information regarding past earthquakes is paleoseismology. A recording of Earth motion as a function of time is called a seismogram. A seismologist is a scientist who does research in seismology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Madrid Seismic Zone</span> Major seismic zone in the southern and midwestern United States

The New Madrid Seismic Zone, sometimes called the New Madrid Fault Line, is a major seismic zone and a prolific source of intraplate earthquakes in the Southern and Midwestern United States, stretching to the southwest from New Madrid, Missouri.

Induced seismicity is typically earthquakes and tremors that are caused by human activity that alters the stresses and strains on Earth's crust. Most induced seismicity is of a low magnitude. A few sites regularly have larger quakes, such as The Geysers geothermal plant in California which averaged two M4 events and 15 M3 events every year from 2004 to 2009. The Human-Induced Earthquake Database (HiQuake) documents all reported cases of induced seismicity proposed on scientific grounds and is the most complete compilation of its kind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cascadia subduction zone</span> Convergent plate boundary that stretches from northern Vancouver Island to Northern California

The Cascadia subduction zone is a 960 km fault at a convergent plate boundary, about 112-160 km off the Pacific Shore, that stretches from northern Vancouver Island in Canada to Northern California in the United States. It is capable of producing 9.0+ magnitude earthquakes and tsunamis that could reach 30m. The Oregon Department of Emergency Management estimates shaking would last 5-7 minutes along the coast, with strength and intensity decreasing further from the epicenter. It is a very long, sloping subduction zone where the Explorer, Juan de Fuca, and Gorda plates move to the east and slide below the much larger mostly continental North American Plate. The zone varies in width and lies offshore beginning near Cape Mendocino, Northern California, passing through Oregon and Washington, and terminating at about Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

Megathrust earthquakes occur at convergent plate boundaries, where one tectonic plate is forced underneath another. The earthquakes are caused by slip along the thrust fault that forms the contact between the two plates. These interplate earthquakes are the planet's most powerful, with moment magnitudes (Mw) that can exceed 9.0. Since 1900, all earthquakes of magnitude 9.0 or greater have been megathrust earthquakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pseudotachylyte</span> Glassy, or very fine-grained, rock type

Pseudotachylyte is an extremely fine-grained to glassy, dark, cohesive rock occurring as veins that form through frictional melting and subsequent quenching during earthquakes, large-scale landslides, and impacts events. Chemical composition of pseudotachylyte generally reflects the local bulk chemistry, though may skew to slightly more mafic compositions due to the preferential incorporation of hydrous and ferro-magnesian minerals into the melt phase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1976 Guatemala earthquake</span> February 1976 earthquake in Guatemala

The 1976 Guatemala earthquake struck on February 4 at 03:01:43 local time with a moment magnitude of 7.5. The shock was centered on the Motagua Fault, about 160 km northeast of Guatemala City at a depth of 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) near the town of Los Amates in the department of Izabal.

Clarence Roderic Allen was an American geologist who studied seismology.

The Walker Lane is a geologic trough roughly aligned with the California/Nevada border southward to where Death Valley intersects the Garlock Fault, a major left lateral, or sinistral, strike-slip fault. The north-northwest end of the Walker Lane is between Pyramid Lake in Nevada and California's Lassen Peak where the Honey Lake Fault Zone, the Warm Springs Valley Fault, and the Pyramid Lake Fault Zone meet the transverse tectonic zone forming the southern boundary of the Modoc Plateau and Columbia Plateau provinces. The Walker Lane takes up 15 to 25 percent of the boundary motion between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, the other 75 percent being taken up by the San Andreas Fault system to the west. The Walker Lane may represent an incipient major transform fault zone which could replace the San Andreas as the plate boundary in the future.

The 2007 Alum Rock earthquake occurred on October 30 at 8:04 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time in Alum Rock Park in San Jose, in the U.S. state of California. It measured 5.6 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong). The event was then the largest in the San Francisco Bay Area since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale, but was later surpassed by the 2014 South Napa earthquake. Ground shaking from the Alum Rock quake reached San Francisco and Oakland and other points further north. Sixty thousand felt reports existed far beyond Santa Rosa, as far north as Eugene, Oregon.

The 1970 Tonghai earthquake occurred at 01:00:41 local time on January 5 with a moment magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). The strike-slip rupture originated on the Red River Fault, which had not experienced an earthquake above magnitude 7 since 1700, and affected Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China. At least 10,000 people were killed, making it one of the deadliest in its decade. The tremor caused between US$5 and $25 million in damage, felt over an area of 8,781 km2 (3,390 sq mi). In Hanoi, North Vietnam, almost 483 km (300 mi) from the epicenter, victims left their homes as the rupture rumbled through the city.

The Chixoy-Polochic Fault, also known as Cuilco-Chixoy-Polochic Fault, is a major fault zone in Guatemala and southeast Mexico. It runs in a light arc from the east coast of Guatemala to Chiapas, following the deep valleys of the Polochic River, Chixoy River and Cuilco River.

The 1932 Changma earthquake occurred at 10:04:27 local time on 25 December. With an estimated magnitude of 7.6 on the surface wave magnitude scale, and a maximum felt intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale, the quake destroyed 1,167 houses and caused 275 to 70,000 deaths and 320 injuries.

Susan Y. Schwartz is a scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz known for her research on earthquakes, through field projects conducted in locations in Costa Rica and the San Andreas Fault.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Oklahoma earthquake</span> 2011 earthquake near Prague, Oklahoma

The 2011 Oklahoma earthquake was a 5.7 magnitude intraplate earthquake which occurred near Prague, Oklahoma on November 5 at 10:53 p.m. CDT in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The epicenter of the earthquake was in the vicinity of several active wastewater injection wells. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), it was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Oklahoma; this record was surpassed by the 2016 Oklahoma earthquake. The previous record was a 5.5 magnitude earthquake that struck near the town of El Reno in 1952. The quake's epicenter was approximately 44 miles (71 km) east-northeast of Oklahoma City, near the town of Sparks and was felt in the neighboring states of Texas, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri and even as far away as Tennessee and Wisconsin. The quake followed several minor quakes earlier in the day, including a 4.7 magnitude foreshock. The quake had a maximum perceived intensity of VIII (Severe) on the Mercalli intensity scale in the area closest to the epicenter. Numerous aftershocks were detected after the main quake, with a few registering at 4.0 magnitude.

The 2016 Oklahoma earthquake occurred on September 3, 2016 near Pawnee, Oklahoma. Measuring 5.8 on the moment magnitude scale, it is the strongest in state history. At 5.8 magnitude, this ties it with the 2011 Virginia earthquake, which was determined after it struck to be the most powerful quake in the eastern United States in the preceding 70 years.

The 1679 Sanhe-Pinggu earthquake was a major quake that struck the Zhili region in Qing China on the morning of September 2, 1679. It is the largest recorded surface rupture event to have occurred in the North China Plain. The epicenter was located approximately 50 km (31 mi) east of the Imperial Palace in Beijing.

Anne Meltzer is a seismologist known for her research on earthquakes and the formation of mountain ranges. Her research primarily focused on the evolution of the earth's lithosphere and the surface processes associated with faulting and deformation in the earth's crust. Through her own personal research and collaboration with other colleagues, she strived to make advancements in the efficiency and effectiveness of monitoring earthquakes. In addition, her work aimed to effectively reduce earthquake destruction in countries that experience frequent seismic phenomena.

Anne M. Tréhu is a professor at Oregon State University known for her research on geodynamic processes, especially along plate boundaries. She is an elected fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

References

  1. 1 2 "USGS scientist works on earthquake early warning and monitoring systems". The Washington Post. September 2, 2014. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 "Elizabeth S Cochran | U.S. Geological Survey". www.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  3. ↑ "ORCID". orcid.org. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  4. ↑ Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Vidale, John E.; Li, Yong-Gang (2003). "Near-fault anisotropy following the Hector Mine earthquake: HECTOR MINE ANISOTROPY". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 108 (B9). doi: 10.1029/2002JB002352 .
  5. ↑ Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Vidale, John E.; Tanaka, Sachiko (2004-11-12). "Earth Tides Can Trigger Shallow Thrust Fault Earthquakes". Science. 306 (5699): 1164–1166. Bibcode:2004Sci...306.1164C. doi:10.1126/science.1103961. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   15498971. S2CID   45644672.
  6. ↑ Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Li, Yong-Gang; Shearer, Peter M.; Barbot, Sylvain; Fialko, Yuri; Vidale, John E. (2009-04-01). "Seismic and geodetic evidence for extensive, long-lived fault damage zones". Geology. 37 (4): 315–318. Bibcode:2009Geo....37..315C. doi:10.1130/G25306A.1. ISSN   0091-7613.
  7. ↑ Sumy, Danielle F.; Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Keranen, Katie M.; Wei, Maya; Abers, Geoffrey A. (2014). "Observations of static Coulomb stress triggering of the November 2011 M 5.7 Oklahoma earthquake sequence". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 119 (3): 1904–1923. Bibcode:2014JGRB..119.1904S. doi: 10.1002/2013JB010612 . ISSN   2169-9313.
  8. ↑ Vance, Erik. "Scientists Want Your MacBook for Earthquake Detection". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  9. ↑ DiMassa, Cara Mia (2010-03-22). "Scientist recruits quake-catching army". Arkansas Online. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  10. ↑ Vastag, Brian (2011-09-11). "Explorations". Austin American-Statesman. pp.  , . Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  11. ↑ Benson, K.; Schlachter, S.; Estrada, T.; Taufer, M.; Lawrence, J.; Cochran, E. (2013-10-01). "On the powerful use of simulations in the Quake-Catcher Network to efficiently position low-cost earthquake sensors". Future Generation Computer Systems. Including Special sections: Advanced Cloud Monitoring Systems & The fourth IEEE International Conference on e-Science 2011 — e-Science Applications and Tools & Cluster, Grid, and Cloud Computing. 29 (8): 2128–2142. doi:10.1016/j.future.2013.04.012. ISSN   0167-739X. S2CID   1734586.
  12. ↑ Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Kohler, Monica D.; Given, Douglas D.; Guiwits, Stephen; Andrews, Jennifer; Meier, Men‐Andrin; Ahmad, Mohammad; Henson, Ivan; Hartog, Renate; Smith, Deborah (2017-12-06). "Earthquake Early Warning ShakeAlert System: Testing and Certification Platform". Seismological Research Letters. 89 (1): 108–117. doi:10.1785/0220170138. ISSN   0895-0695. S2CID   135100928.
  13. ↑ Kohler, Monica D.; Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Given, Doug; Guiwits, Steve; Neuhauser, Doug; Henson, Ivan; Hartog, Renate; Bodin, Paul; Kress, Victor; Thompson, Stephen; Felizardo, Claude (2017-12-06). "Earthquake Early Warning ShakeAlert System: West Coast Wide Production Prototype". Seismological Research Letters. 89 (1): 99–107. doi:10.1785/0220170140. ISSN   0895-0695. S2CID   134793266.
  14. ↑ "Past Awardees". www.geosociety.org. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  15. ↑ "President Obama Honors Outstanding Early-Career Scientists". whitehouse.gov. 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
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