SCEC Award Number 25286 View PDF
Proposal Category Collaborative Research Project (Multiple Investigators / Institutions)
Proposal Title Continued Development of OpenSHA to Support Next-Generation Earthquake Rupture Forecasts and Facilitate User Adoption
Investigator(s)
Name Organization
Kevin Milner United States Geological Survey Philip Maechling University of Southern California Edward Field United States Geological Survey
SCEC Milestones C1,2,3-1, C1-1, D2-1 SCEC Groups RC, EFP, ASI
Report Due Date 03/15/2026 Date Report Submitted 04/30/2026
Project Abstract
 Development in 2025 focused on continued support and modernization of software tools for seismic hazard analysis, simulation, and visualization within the SCEC Community Modeling Environment. SCEC-VDO was updated with native Apple Silicon support, improving performance and cross-platform usability for 3D visualization of earthquake and fault data. The Quakeworx Science Gateway and UCERF3-ETAS application continued to be supported and enhanced, with improvements to user interface and performance enabling broader access to large-scale simulations through web-based workflows. OpenSHA development emphasized improved release practices and the implementation of the GetFile framework to support reliable access to large datasets such as UCERF3 and NSHM23, including support for the NSHM23 Western U.S. earthquake rupture forecast.

Additional efforts expanded usability and scientific capabilities within OpenSHA. Training materials were developed to support NSHM23 hazard calculations, and a new Intensity Measure Event Set Calculator was introduced for computing intensity measures across large sets of sites and earthquake ruptures. The OpenSHA-Jupyter project demonstrated the feasibility of Jupyter notebooks for interactive hazard analysis and reproducible workflows. CyberShake work continued traditional physics-based hazard calculations while introducing the ability to incorporate rupture directivity through user-defined rupture variation probabilities, enabling more flexible evaluation of its impact on hazard curves, maps, and disaggregation results.
Intellectual Merit The work described in this report helps achieve SCEC’s goal of integrating data and models into usable products that also support continued research. Specifically, it synthesized many studies conducted with SCEC support (e.g., fault slip rate studies, paleoseismic studies, and other research) into a high profile model: the 2023 update to the National Seismic Hazard Model.
Broader Impacts OpenSHA is a primary vehicle for transforming the results of SCEC science into usable products (e.g., NSHM23 and CyberShake). OpenSHA not only benefits hazard and loss user communities, but also individual scientists and engineers by providing them with a suite of analysis tools and desktop applications for their research (e.g., viewing CyberShake results or computing hazard curves from NSHM23 and similar models) and as a PSHA teaching tool for professors. New tools and better documentation developed as part of this proposal will enable users to more easily interact with and customize NSHM23 and similar models.
Project Participants Project Co-PIs: Philip Maechling, Kevin Milner, and Ned Field
USGS Researchers: Kevin Milner and Ned Field
SCEC Software Developer: Akash Bhatthal
Exemplary Figure Intensity Measure Event Set Calculator v26.1.1. New OpenSHA application for computing intensity measures (IMs) across large sets of sites and earthquake ruptures.
Linked Publications

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