SCEC Award Number 15107 View PDF
Proposal Category Collaborative Proposal (Data Gathering and Products)
Proposal Title Enhancements to the SCEC CFM: Database & delivery, earthquake simulator formats, & Statewide CFM
Investigator(s)
Name Organization
John Shaw Harvard University Andreas Plesch Harvard University Philip Maechling University of Southern California
Other Participants
SCEC Priorities 4a, 4c SCEC Groups Seismology, Geology, USR
Report Due Date 03/15/2016 Date Report Submitted 03/13/2016
Project Abstract
 This past year we a completed a series of improvements to the SCEC Community Fault Model (CFM) (Plesch et al., 2007) to help support its use in earthquake simulators and a variety of other science and hazard assessment projects. These projects represent a collaborative effort between the lead development team for the CFM at Harvard University and UCSB (Craig Nicholson) and SCEC’s Community Modeling Environment (CME) group, led by Phil Maechling.
Specifically, we:
1) Completed the first fully-evaluated Statewide Community Fault Model (SCFM v. 3.0), which involved peer review of the northern California fault representations. These faults were combined with the latest iteration of the southern California Fault model (CFM 5.0) to comprise the new statewide model.
2) Developed a relational database architecture that will allow users to search and access components of the latest CFM models (CFM 5.0 and SCFM 3.0);
3) Completed a set of rectilinear (CFM-R) and regularly gridded CFM representations at resolutions that are targeted by SCEC investigators for fault system modeling;
4) Released a new version of the SCEC southern California USR, which includes the aforementioned CFM's and an updated version of the SCEC Community Velocity Model (CVM-H 15.1.0).
This project represents the primary effort to support and develop the SCEC Community Fault models (CFM, CFM-R, and SCFM), and to help facilitate the use of these models in probabilistic seismic hazards assessments, fault system modeling, tectonic studies, and earthquake simulators.
Intellectual Merit This grant represents the primary effort to support and develop the SCEC Community Fault Models (CFM, SCFM) and Unified Structural Representation (USR). A series of improvements to these models help facilitate their use in probabilistic seismic hazards assessments, fault system modeling, tectonic studies, and earthquake simulators. These efforts directly address SCEC priority 4 “Structure and evolution of fault zones and systems: relation to earthquake physics.”
Broader Impacts This work directly addresses SCEC’s primary mission to improve seismic hazards assessment in California by defining the 3D geometry and interaction of active fault systems. This past year we completed the first fully evaluated statewide model and made a series of improvements to these representations. In addition, the project has enhanced the description of 3D velocity structure in the SCEC Unified Structural Representation (USR), with the goal of improving the accuracy of earthquake wave propagation studies and strong ground motion predictions.
Exemplary Figure Perspective view of the Statewide Community Fault Model (SCFM 3.0).
Linked Publications

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