Lavinia Welch Final Project Presentation Elluminate Session December 6, 2009

California Earthquake Mapping Resources Lavinia Welch San José State University Library 220 Professor Susan Aber

Overview This presentation aims to locate and broadcast resources that can be useful for earthquake preparedness Most of the resources are map or map related The coverage area of most of the resources is southern California Historical significance of earthquakes in this area will be addressed Libraries that serve as exceptional mapping resources will be identified Educational materials will also be showcased

Introduction There's a 100 percent chance of an earthquake today! …somewhere on Earth -- an earthquake will occur. (USGS, para.1). California has a history of earthquake events that at times have been very severe – for example, 1906 San Francisco Quake Preparedness goes a long way in ensuring the safety of your friends and family Mapping resources can be invaluable when teaching and preparing for this natural hazard

USGS The USGS is the United States Geological Survey Formed in 1879 and headquartered in Reston Virginia USGS is a prime source of mapping materials such as printed maps, digital scans, aerial photos, satellite images publications and data USGS studies all natural hazards including; earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, landslides, volcanoes and wildfires. Relative Shaking Hazard in the Unites States over a period of 50 years. Bright colors have a higher probability of shake during an earthquake event. Map not to scale. Source USGS

Maps-California Map resources for California can be found in many different places – Libraries, websites and government agencies One great source is Humboldt University – Within Humboldt's California index they have a page specifically for natural hazards including earthquakes geospatial/calmaps.htm#hazard FEMA offers a seismic rehabilitation cost estimator at

Major Faults of California Faults run all along the state of California making it a place especially prone to earthquakes. Many different maps display these faults for scientists, natural disaster preparedness teams and people interesting in knowing if their home are situated near a fault. It is important to locate how close you live to a fault so that proper steps can be taken to prepare in the event of an earthquake.

Historically Significant Events One of the most significant earthquake events to hit California was the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 – and a great fire burned much of the city with at least 700 deaths – the quake occurred on the northern most section of the San Andreas Fault and lasted for between seconds – the quake was felt from Oregon to south of Los Angeles in inland to Nevada – natural result was that sediment filled valleys experienced severe shaking due to the geological make up of this area

Photos of the 1906 Quake Damage This photograph by Arnold Genthe shows Sacramento Street and approaching fire. Image taken from Steinbrugge Collection of the UC Berkeley Earthquake Engineering Research Center.

More Photos of Quake Damage San Francisco City Hall after the 1906 Earthquake. (from Steinbrugge Collection of the UC Berkeley Earthquake Engineering Research Center)

George Lawrence Aerial Photos Image taken from

Earthquake Photos from a different perspective: George Lawrence - Kite Aerial Photo Image taken from

Modern Resources Many online resources for earthquake hazard mapping – Gathered by organizations, academic libraries, governmental agencies – Creating shake maps, fault maps, “did you feel it” maps, seismogram displays and probability maps Popular local examples of recent earthquake maps are available from the Southern California Earthquake Data Center (SCEDC) – allows the user to locate immediately were an earthquake has occurred and the intensity – I have used this page on my cell phone to locate the epicenter after I have felt a quake – the bigger the square, the larger the quake & recent occurrences are in red (see next image!)

Organizations: SCEDC Map Image taken from

Parkfield Shake Table Parkfield is located right on the San Andreas fault line in California. It exists to study actual earthquake waves and show a visual representation of these waves with a shake table that consists of vertical rods that shake when they detect movement through motion detectors. This table is an conception and construction of R.V. Rogers, artist, and Andy Michael, seismologist. The shake table at dusk (

Placing Parkfield, California in the Bigger Picture… Image taken from

Libraries and Earthquake Study There are many libraries that are the home to mapping resources and materials that can be used for the study of earthquake events. We will look at some of these facilities and what they have to offer the scientific community. In addition, some educational resources including maps that can be used in the classroom when teaching earthquake preparedness are also covered.

Academic Library – UC Berkley Earth Sciences & Maps This specialty library has an index page that provides access to all subject areas as well as USGS Quads online including topographic and aerial partners with the Berkley Seismological Laboratory that conducts earthquake research and is active in education ( links to the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zones of California ( links to the Southern California Earthquake Center ( – which combines historical significance and the need for preparedness

UC Berkley Collection and links to SCEDC maps Image taken from

Academic Library – Humboldt University Library One the most comprehensive indexes for California maps and a great resource for both earthquake hazard maps and California maps-- library.humboldt.edu/~rls/geospatial/calmaps.htm#geologic library.humboldt.edu/~rls/geospatial/calmaps.htm#geologic Lists maps that can found both online through the university library catalog and via a website found on their index which allows for flexibility for the searcher that may not be able to visit the library in person Links to State of California Geological Survey and geological maps dex.aspx dex.aspx

Map examples from Humboldt University Library Image taken from cgs/rghm/quakes/Pages/MS49.aspx Image taken from CGS/rghm/psha/fault_parameters/htm/Pages/index.aspx

Online Library – Librarians Internet Index Librarians Internet Index - publicly funded website not a regular library in that… – no reference services available – no items to check out offers a weekly newsletter for those interested allows users to suggest a site that they deem a valid resource on a particular subject area this online index is a great time saver - most sites used on this report are listed on this index

Librarians Internet Index links to- governmental agency maps and photos Image taken from Image taken from regional/nca/1906 /

Governmental Agency Library – USGS Library at Menlo Park This is the Western Regional Library for the USGS – “Special collections of California monographs, maps, and journals on California geology, water, ecology, soils, mining exploration, history. Aerial photography collection of 100,000 aerial photos, mostly of San Francisco Bay Region, many 1940's-50’s (USGS, 2009, – Maps include USGS Topographic from the early 1880’s to present, USGS Series maps, non-USGS maps, gazetteers, map catalogs, indexes and other mapping resources – The library uses the U.S. Geological Survey Library Classification System – Some materials are available via their online catalog

Conclusions I hope you enjoyed this sample of the many library resources and services for earthquakes. Two others include… California Geological Survey /Index.aspx /Index.aspx An Online Museum for historic accounts of CA earthquakes

More References About.com. (2009, November 18). Seismic hazard map, U.S. 48 states. Retrieved from Cal E.M.A. (2007, November 16). Preparedness and training. Retrieved from Cal.gov (2007, November 27). California geological survey. Retrieved from Discovery Education. (2008, November 20). Lesson plans library. Retrieved from Fema. (2009, November 16). Seismic rehabilitation cost estimator. Retrieved from Humboldt University (2007, November 27). California maps. Retrieved from Librarians Internet Index. (2009, November 18). Earthquakes-California. Retrieved from San Francisco Public Library (2007, November 20). San Francisco historical photograph collection. Retrieved from

More References Scott Haefner (2009, November 20). Parkfield shake table. Retrieved from Southern California Earthquake Data Center. (2009, November 18). Welcome page. Retrieved from The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco. (2009, November 18). Large format damage photographs. Retrieved from UC Berkley Library. (2009, November 20). Earth sciences and map library. Retrieved from USGS. (2009, November 18). Earthquakes. Retrieved from USGS. (2009). USGS library. Retrieved November 18, USGS (2009, November 20). “San Francisco in ruins” by George Lawrence. Retrieved from Wikipedia (2009, November 29). George Lawrence. Retrieved from