AEIC Research

Alaska is characterized by high seismicity rate due to the active subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the North American Plate, and is the most seismically active region in the United States. Alaska also has the greatest tsunami potential in the entire United States. Nearly entire state of Alaska is seismically active and thus offers an excellent natural laboratory for the study of earthquake occurrence and a variety of tectonic and volcanic processes. AEIC's research projects include detailed studies of notable earthquakes in the state and their relation to ongoing tectonic processes, investigations of earth structure and tectonic processes using regional seismic data. AEIC conducts an extensive research in the area of the real-time seismology, such as real-time detection of earthquakes and their source parameters. In the field of tsunami investigations, AEIC's projects include evaluation and mapping of potential inundation areas for Alaskan coastal communitites using hypothetical earthquake scenarios and numerical modeling of the tsunami wave propagation . AEIC maintains active collaborations with a number of national and internationa research groups and regional seismic networks.

Eberhart-Phillips, D., D.H. Christensen, T.M. Brocher, R. Hansen, N.A. Ruppert, P.J. Haeussler, and G.A. Abers, Imaging the transition from Aleutian subduction to Yakutat collision in central Alaska, with local earthquakes and active source data, J. Geophys. Res., V. 11, B11303, doi:10.1029/2005JB004240, 2006.

Suleimani, E.N., R.A. Combellick, D. Marriott, R.A. Hansen, A.J. Venturato, and J.C. Newman, Tsunami Hazard Maps of the Homer and Seldovia areas, Alaska, Alaska Div. Geol.&Geophys. Surveys Report of Investigation, in press, 2004.
N.A. Ratchkovski, S. Wiemer, and R.A. Hansen, Seismotectonics of the Central Denali Fault, Alaska and the 2002 Denali Fault Earthquake Sequence, Bull. Seis. Soc. Am. 6B, S156-S174, 2004.
T.M. Brocher, G.S. Fuis, W.J. Lutter, N.I. Christensen, and N.A. Ratchkovski, Seismic velocity models for the Denali fault zone along the Richardson Highway, Alaska, Bull. Seis. Soc. Am. 6B, S85-S106, 2004.
D.D. Oglesby, D.S. Dreger, R.A. Harris, N. Ratchkovski, and R. Hansen, Inverse kinematic and forward dynamic models of the 2002 Denali, Alaska earthquake, Bull. Seis. Soc. Am. B6, S214-S233, 2004.
M.A. Fisher, N.A. Ratchkovski, W.J. Nokleberg, L. Pellerin, and J.M. Glen, Geophysical data reveal the crustal structure of the Alaska Range orogen within the aftershock zone of the M=7.9 Denali Fault earthquake, Bull. Seis. Soc. Am. B6, S107-S131, 2004.
A. Martirosyan, R. Hansen, and N. Ratchkovski, Strong-motion records of the 2002 Denali Fault, Alaska earthquake, Earthquake Spectra 20, 579-596, 2004.
R.A. Hansen and N.A. Ratchkovski, Seismological aspects of the 2002 Denali Fault, Alaska earthquake, Earthquake Spectra 20, 555-563, 2004.
M.A. Fisher, W.J. Nokleberg, N.A. Ratchkovski, L. Pellerin, J.M. Glen, T.M. Brocher, and J. Booker, Geophysical investigation of the Denali fault and Alaska Range orogen within the aftershock zone of the October-November, 2002, M=7.9 Denali fault earthquake, Geology 32, 269-272, 2004.
D. Dreger, D.D. Oglesby, R.A. Harris, N. Ratchkovski, and R. Hansen, Kinematic and dynamic rupture models of the November 3, 2002 Mw 7.9 Denali, Alaska, earthquake, Geophys. Res. Lett. 31, L04605, doi:10.1029/2003GL018333, 2004.
Stachnik, J.C., G.A. Abers, and D.H. Christensen, Seismic attenuation and mantle wedge temperatures in the Alaska subduction zone, J. Geophys. Res. 109, B10304, doi: 10.1029/2004JB003018, 2004.
D.I. Doser, N.A. Ratchkovski, P. Haeussler, and R. Saltus, Changes in Crustal Deformation Rates Associated with the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake, Bull. Seis. Soc. Am. 94, 320-325, 2004.
Olson J.V., C.R. Wilson, and R.A. Hansen, Infrasound associated with the 2002 Denali fault earthquake, Alaska, Geophys. Res. Lett. 30, 2195, doi:10.1029/2003GL018568, 2003.
E. Suleimani, R. Hansen and Z. Kowalik. Inundation modeling of the 1964 tsunami in Kodiak Island, Alaska. Submarine Landslides and Tsunamis, A.C. Yalciner, E.N. Pelinovsky, E. Okal and C.E. Synolakis (eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.
Ratchkovski, N.A., Change in stress directions along the central Denali fault, Alaska after the 2002 earthquake sequence, Geophys. Res. Lett. 30, 2017, doi:10.1029/2003GL017905, 2003.
Ratchkovski, N.A., A. Hansen, J.C. Stachnik, T. Cox, O. Fox, L. Rao, E. Clark, M. Lafevers, S. Estes, J.B. MacCormack, and T. Williams, Aftershock sequence of the MW 7.9 Denali, Alaska, earthquake of 3 November 2002 from regional seismic network data, Seism. Res. Lett. 74, 743-752, 2003.
D. Eberhart-Phillips, P.J. Haeussler, J.T. Freymueller, A.D. Frankel, C.M. Rubin, P. Craw, N.A. Ratchkovski, G. Anderson, A.J. Crone, T.E. Dawson, H. Fletcher, R. Hansen, E.L. Harp, R.A. Harris, D.P. Hill, S. Hreinsdottir, R.W. Jibson, L.M. Jones, D.K. Keefer, C.F. Larsen, S.C. Moran, S.F. Personlus, G. Plafker, B. Sherrod, K. Sieh, and W.K. Wallace, The 2002 Denali Fault Earthquake, Alaska: A Large Magnitude, Slip-Partitioned Event, Science 300, 1113-1118, 2003.
Ratchkovski, N.A. and R.A. Hansen, New evidence for segmentation of the Alaska subduction zone, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 92, 1754-1765, 2002.
Ratchkovski, N.A. and R.A. Hansen, New constraints on tectonics of interior Alaska: Earthquake locations, source mechanisms and stress regime, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 92, 998-1014, 2002.
E.N.Suleimani, R.A. Hansen, R.A. Combellick, G.A. Carver, R.A. Kamphaus, J.C. Newman, and A.J. Venturato. Tsunami hazard maps of the Kodiak area, Alaska. Report of Investigations 2002-1, State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, 16 pp, 2002.
Ratchkovski, N.A. and R.A. Hansen, Sequence of strong intraplate earthquakes in the Kodiak Island region, Alaska in 1999-2001, Geophys. Res. Lett. 28, 3729-3732, 2001.
Hansen, R.A. and N.A. Ratchkovski, The Kodiak Island, Alaska, Mw 7 earthquake of December 6, 1999, Seism. Res. Lett. 72, 22-32, 2001.

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Alaska Seismicity

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