Earthquake Seismology

My research interests are in earthquake seismology, seismotectonics, earthquake hazard analysis, and crustal structure. My work at the University of Utah, and that of my students, has focused on studies of the Intermountain region using data from the University's regional seismic network, portable seismographs, and seismic reflection equipment. Specific areas of research have included focal mechanisms and source properties of earthquakes in the Intermountain seismic belt, earthquake hazards in Utah, amplification of seismic waves in the Salt Lake Basin, seismic wave attenuation and its implications for source studies, the Great Salt Lake fault, and the seismic velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath Utah.

Arabasz, W.J., and J.C. Pechmann, with contributions from M.K. McCarter and J.D. McKenzie (2001).  Seismic characterization of coal-mining seismicity in Utah for CTBT monitoring, Final Report, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Research Agreement No. B344836, 125 pp.

Wong, I., W. Silva, S. Olig, P. Thomas, D. Wright, F. Ashland, N. Gregor, J. Pechmann, M. Dober, G. Christenson, and R. Gerth (2002).  Earthquake scenario and probabilistic ground shaking maps for the Salt Lake City, Utah, metropolitan area, Utah Geological Survey, Misc. Publ. 02-5, 50 pp., 9 plates.

Pankow, K.L., and J.C. Pechmann (2004).  The SEA99 ground motion predictive relations for extensional tectonic regimes:  Revisions and a new peak ground velocity relation, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 94, 341-348.

Pankow, K. L., W. J. Arabasz, J. C. Pechmann, and S. J. Nava (2004). Triggered seismicity in Utah from the 3 November, 2002, Denali fault earthquake, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 94, S332-S347.

Arabasz, W. J., S. J. Nava, M. K. McCarter, K. L. Pankow, J C. Pechmann, J. Ake, and A. McGarr (2005). Coal-mining seismicity and ground-shaking hazard-A case study in the Trail Mountain area, Emery County, Utah, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 95, 18-30.

Dinter, D. A., and J. C. Pechmann (2005). Segmentation and Holocene displacement history of the Great Salt Lake fault, Utah, in  Proceedings Volume, Basin and Range Province Seismic Hazards Summit II, W.L. Lund (Editor), Utah Geol. Survey, Misc. Publ. 05- 2, CD, 5 pp. (extended abstract).

Pankow, K. L., and J. C. Pechmann (2005). Determination of low-strain site amplification factors in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah, using ANSS data, in Proceedings Volume, Basin and Range Province Seismic Hazards Summit II, W.L. Lund (Editor), Utah Geol.Survey, Misc. Publ. 05-2, CD, 15 pp.

Pechmann, J.C., S.J. Nava, F.M. Terra, and J.C. Bernier (2006).  Local magnitude determinations for Intermountain Seismic Belt Earthquakes from broadband digital data, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am., in press.


Recent Presentations:

Pechmann, J.C., J.C. Bernier, S.J. Nava, F.M. Terra, and W.J. Arabasz (2001).  Correction of systematic time-dependent coda-magnitude errors in the Utah and Yellowstone National Park region earthquake catalogs, 1981-2001, EOS, Trans. AGU 82, no. 47 (Supplement), F809.

Nava, S., W. Arabasz, J. Pechmann, K. Pankow, A. Moeinvaziri, D. Drobeck, and T. Dye (2003). Creating a regional earthquake information system: Practical experience from the Utah regional seismic network, Seism. Res. Lett. 74, 251.

Sheng, J., G.T. Schuster, K.L. Pankow, J.C. Pechmann, and R.L. Nowack (2003). Coherence-weighted wavepath migration of teleseismic data, EOS, Trans. AGU 84, no. 46 (Supplement), Abstract S11E-0344.

Arabasz, W. J., T. M. Dye, D. L. Drobeck, K. L. Pankow, J. C. Pechmann, R. Burlacu, and A. Moeinvaziri (2005). Utah’s ANSS urban strong-motion network, 2000-2005: status, lessons, and applications, Seism. Res. Lett. 76, 229.

Pankow, K., J. Pechmann, and W. Arabasz (2006).  ANSS accelerometer data—not just for “the big one” (anymore), Seism. Res. Lett. 77, 232.