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Five years after the Ridgecrest earthquake sequence
As millions of Southern Californians looked forward to fireworks and other celebrations on July 4, 2019, an earthquake struck much of the state, causing high-rise buildings in the Los Angeles area to visibly shake.
Ridgecrest Earthquake Epicenter
Earthquake scientists quickly determined that the epicenter of the first of the quakes was at a remote U.S. Naval base at China Lake near the town of Ridgecrest, in the high desert about 150 miles north of Los Angeles.
July 4th damageday The quake, estimated at magnitude 6.4, was largely confined to Ridgecrest, China Lake and nearby Trona.
Main shock – July 5, 2019, 8:19 PM local time
The earthquake was 7.1 in magnitude. Ridgecrest Main ShockAs we all know, this was the largest earthquake to hit Southern California in 20 years, causing damage to nearby communities that had already been affected by earthquakes the day before. The shockwaves of this powerful earthquake shook population centers throughout Southern California.
Seismic Network
The Ridgecrest earthquake and its aftershocks were recorded by a traditional seismic network that was expanded over the past decade as part of the development of the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system. California Integrated Seismic Network Comprised of thousands of advanced seismometers across California, they transmit data in real time to a central hub, which is then processed and analyzed by real-time systems and teams of experts.
ShakeAlert improvements
In July 2019, the ShakeAlert earthquake warning system went into use in industrial settings, such as slowing and stopping trains in California. Analysis of data from the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence led to technical improvements to ShakeAlert, revised alert delivery thresholds, and streamlined alert message content.
California began alerting the public via apps and the Wireless Emergency Alert system in October 2019, and Oregon and Washington began alerting the public via apps and the Wireless Emergency Alert system in 2021.
Rich Dataset
Scientists continue to analyze rich data sets to address key questions in earthquake science, including what factors control the timing and location of aftershocks and how the ground shakes near large earthquakes.
investigation Ridgecrest Sequence Data from seismic networks, geodetic networks, satellites, and more have been used. In addition to the increasingly complex traditional seismic networks, the scientific community has adopted other technologies that allow the recording of earthquake shaking to be more detailed than before. One of these technologies is borrowed from the oil patch: simple “node” seismometers, which have been used for many years to obtain seismic data for industry, mainly oil and gas exploration. In recent years, these simple instruments have been increasingly used for scientific studies of earthquakes and faults.
Node-based seismometers are quick to install, requiring only a single insertion into the ground, whereas traditional seismometers are much more expensive and can take hours to install. Earthquake scientists are increasingly using dense node deployments to record earthquakes, which provide a much larger sample than can be obtained using traditional networks. For example, data from the node deployments can be used to better understand the structure of the fault zone beneath the Ridgecrest area.
new technology
A newer technology, also being developed first for industrial applications, involves so-called distributed acoustic sensing systems, which turn unused fiber-optic cables into seismic recording devices. With advanced technology, the signal along the entire length of the cable can be interrogated to get a record of the earthquake vibrations at any point along the cable. While any seismometer records vibrations at a single point, distributed acoustic sensing systems record vibrations across a linear array, capturing vibration data in unprecedented detail.
Advances in seismic instrumentation have enabled the collection of unprecedented amounts of seismic data, the analysis of which is a challenge for the scientific community. The modern era of big data in seismology has driven the development of new analytical techniques, including machine learning and artificial intelligence.
The quest continues
Since earthquake science became a modern scientific field, its progress has been driven by major earthquakes. Data from seismic recordings allow scientists to explore earthquakes and their effects in greater detail.
Five years after the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake rocked California’s high desert, the scientific community continues to collect and analyze increasing streams of data to deepen our understanding of earthquakes and their hazards.
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