Making CyberShake Friendly to General Users: CyberShake Data Access GUI

Mario Chong Loo, Natasha Tiwari, Yongfei Wang, & Scott Callaghan

Submitted September 7, 2025, SCEC Contribution #14456, 2025 SCEC Annual Meeting Poster #TBD

CyberShake is physics-based seismic hazard analysis software developed by the SCEC (Statewide California Earthquake Center). Despite its high-resolution ground motion simulations for Southern California, its command-line interface and technical configuration requirements form a barrier to use and access by new users, educators, and non-expert researchers.

My research project involves the development of a desktop-based graphical user interface (GUI) to using Tkinter, which is a Python library designed to wrap and automate the CyberShake data access tool’s core functions, such as model selection, filtering, query generation, and seismogram retrieval. To further enhance usability, the CyberShake GUI incorporates a Large Language Model (LLM) interface powered by Gemini AI API. This allows users to ask basic questions about the CyberShake data access tool (e.g., “What are the models?”) and receive intelligent, context-aware responses directly within the application.

The resulting application significantly improves the user experience of accessing CyberShake data. GUI testing showed users were able to complete tasks more quickly and with fewer errors compared to the command-line version. The integrated LLM further enhanced accessibility by guiding users through unfamiliar steps, answering questions about the tool's features, and helping interpret results.
It brings seismic hazard tools within reach of more professionals by making them more user-friendly and responsive to user input. Future work will include the expansion of the LLM's learning, such as the exploration of web-based applications to provide remote access and additional collaboration, making it cross-platform, and and filtering within the interactive map.

Key Words
GUI, CyberShake, LLM, Map

Citation
Chong Loo, M., Tiwari, N., Wang, Y., & Callaghan, S. (2025, 09). Making CyberShake Friendly to General Users: CyberShake Data Access GUI. Poster Presentation at 2025 SCEC Annual Meeting.

Related Projects & Working Groups
Applied Science Implementation (ASI)