How

earthquake
swarms
arise
Preston Tu
Period 0
 About

● What is an
earthquake?
● How do earthquakes
form?
● New physics-based
simulator built by
Dunham.
 Migrating swarms

● High-pressure fluids
trigger earthquake
swarms.
● Earthquake swarms
have an aftershock
sequence.
 Fault zones

● Faults in Earth's crust are saturated with fluids and

water.
● Rocks found in fault zones revealed telltale cracks.
● Earthquake swarms’ migrate speed fluctuates
depending on environment.
 Underground valves

● Fluids cross along

faults irregularly.
● Fluid and pressure
causes faults to slip.
 Predictions

● Physics-based
simulator might be
able predict an
earthquakes:
○ Time
○ Place
○ Size
 Smaller earthquakes
with ‘ambition’

● Most shaking comes

from little
earthquakes.
● “Sharks versus cows”
concept
 San Andreas Fault

● A major fracture in
Earth’s crust.
● Classified as a
strike-slip fault.
● Man-made buildings
built on the fault.
 The ‘big one’

● Pairs of earthquakes
in California raises the
risk of the ‘big one.’
● Ridgecrest quakes
puts stress on Garlock
fault.
● The ‘big one’
probability can rise.
 Earthquakes and
climate change

● Sound waves not

being monitored.
● Using earthquakes to
estimate temperature
changes in water.
● SOFAR Channel and T
waves.
Earthquakes affecting
hospitals

● Earthquakes can
impact both people
and hospitals.
● Solve by:
○ Analysis models
○ Performance tests
○ Map out routes
 Works Cited
- Seismological Society of America. "Smaller earthquakes with 'ambition' produce the most
ground shaking." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 4 November 2020.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201104121438.htm>.
- Stanford University. "How earthquake swarms arise: Model shows how fluids unlock faults to
unleash earthquake swarms." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 September 2020.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200925113640.htm>.
- AAAS. "Desert quakes may have boosted chances of ‘big one’ striking California." Science.
Roland Pease, 13 July 2020.
<www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07.htm>.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "San Andreas Fault." Britannica.
Emily Rodriguez, 29 January 2020.
<www.britannica.com/place/San-Andreas-Fault>.
- Seismic Ocean Thermometry. "Underwater earthquakes’ sound waves reveal changes in ocean
warming." ScienceNews. Carolyn Gramling, 17 September 2020.
<www.sciencenews.org/article/underwater-earthquakes-sound-waves-ocean-warming-climate-chan
ge>.
- Stanford University. "A new technique predicts how earthquakes would affect a city's hospitals."
Medicalxpress. Medicalxpress, 23 October 2020.
<www.medicalxpress.com/news/2020-10-technique-earthquakes-affect-city-hospitals.html>.