All About Earthquakes w/Dir. Goulet of the USGS Earthquake Science Center

At 4:17 am local time on February 6th a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked southeast Turkey and Syria. The initial quake was soon followed by almost 600 aftershocks in a 24 hour period. The damage to people and property has been incalculable. This catastrophe triggered memories of the 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta quake which shook San Francisco and the surrounding areas almost 34 years ago.

After Loma Prieta, the Bay Area led the way in seismic preparedness and earthquake mitigation. Land use reform, building code updates, retrofitting, and early warning systems are just some of the improvements. But... is it enough?

Could the devestation we see in Turkey happen here?

How do we prepare for the Big One?

Could Loma Prieta happen again?

What causes earthquakes?

Can earthquakes be stopped?

Quakes are never far from our minds here in California. Manny’s is excited to welcome Dr. Christine Goulet, director of the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Science Senter and the country’s foremost earthquake expert, for a conversation on the latest earthquake science and mitigation innovations.

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photo credit: Khalil Hamra/LA Times

ABOUT DR. CHRISTINE GOULET

Christine Goulet is the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Science Center. Her work and research interests are in the field of applied seismology with an aim to improve hazard assessment and positively impact societal resilience. 

Dr. Goulet studied Geological Engineering in Canada and obtained her Ms. and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from UCLA where she developed a graduate course on ground-motion characterization for engineers. She then worked as a consultant for several engineering and seismology projects. She joined the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research center (PEER) in 2010 where she co-led the NGA-East Program, the largest ground-motion modeling project conducted in the U.S. to date. Joining SCEC in 2015, she led the science and integrative activities for large-scale collaborative projects involving diverse disciplines that feed into earthquake hazard and that make extensive use of high-performance computing. Dr. Goulet served on several professional committees and boards, including for the Seismological Society of America and its Eastern Section.

ABOUT THE USGS EARTHQUAKE SCIENCE CENTER

The Earthquake Science Center has been the flagship research center of the USGS in the western United States for more than 50 years. It is the largest USGS research center in the West and houses extensive laboratories, scientific infrastructure, and research facilities.

The mission of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Science Center is to collect a wide range of data on earthquakes, faults, and crustal deformation; conduct research to increase our understanding of earthquake source processes, occurrence, and effects; and synthesize this knowledge into probabilistic seismic hazard assessments, aftershock forecasts and ground-shaking scenarios for anticipated major earthquakes. We disseminate these data products, hazard assessments, and research discoveries to scientists, engineers, emergency managers, and the public.

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