Earthquake Patterns and Hazards in Nevada

Earthquake Patterns and Hazards in Nevada Mike Freeman

Why earthquakes are hazards • Probability & Predictions • Where earthquakes occur in Nevada • Pattern of earthquake hazards • Geology of urban landscape: Reno • Increasing the probability of a hazard • Potential destruction in Nevada • Conclusion

Hazards • What makes a Hazard? • Unavoidable • Destructive • Foreseeable • Unpredictable • With close proximity to people

Probabilities & Predictions • Almost impossible to predict • Based on fault lines and geology • Can’t predict when, but can predict size and location approximations accurately

Patterns: Where

Patterns: Why they’re Hazards Nevada Population in 2005

Geology: Making areas more hazardous • Types of soils make earthquakes stronger or weaker • Map of Reno

Hazardous Patterns • Only a Hazard because of the proximity of human populations as outlined by early earthquakes which caused little damage • Pattern across Physical Nevada with fault lines and geomorphology

References • The Nevada Seismology Lab • Http://www.seismo.unr.edu/htdocs/maps.html • Earthquake hazards through USGS • http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/hazmaps/haz101/haz101.php • Earthquake probabilities through Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology • http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/eqprob/eqprob.htm • Map collections of De la Mare Library • http://www.delamare.unr.edu/Maps/collections.html#organizations • Dictionary.com reference • http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hazard • Population map derived from data provided by: • http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/32/32510.html

Earthquake Patterns and Hazards in Nevada