GIRS 2023-08: Usability of Ground Motions Recorded by Community Seismic Network

(Revised on February 20, 2024)

By: Jonathan P. Stewart, Shako Mohammad, Chukwuebuka C. Nweke, Rashid Shams, Tristan E. Buckreis, Monica D. Kohler, and Yousef Bozorgnia
DOI: 10.34948/N36K5M

Abstract:

Among the global regions that experience shallow crustal earthquakes in active tectonic regions, southern California is among the most seismically active and most densely instrumented. Networks currently operating in southern California with relatively modern (new, or with recently updated) sensors include CSMIP, USGS, and SCSN. Research with substantial engineering impact, such as the NGA-West projects, has made extensive use of this data. A major data source in urban Los Angeles that has not been considered in these projects is the Community Seismic Network (CSN), which is a low-cost, MEMS-sensor and cloud-based strong-motion seismic network (Clayton et al. 2011, 2020). Because of their low cost, CSN stations are deployed at much higher density (i.e., smaller average station-to-station spacing) than stations for other networks. CSN data are publicly available for significant felt earthquakes in southern California. This dense network of ground motions provides enticing opportunities for investigations of spatially variable ground motions and variations in source-to-site path and site response effects over short length scales.

(full abstract available in the report)