SCEC Award Number 26052
Proposal Category Community Workshop
Proposal Title Parkfield 2.0
Investigator(s)
Name Organization
Roland Bürgmann University of California, Berkeley William Ellsworth Stanford University Clifford Thurber University of Wisconsin, Madison
SCEC Milestones A1-1, B2-1, B3-3, C1,2,3-1, C2-2, D1-1, D3-1, D3-2 SCEC Groups Seismology, Geodesy, FARM
Report Due Date 07/12/2026 Date Report Submitted No report submitted
Project Abstract
 We propose a workshop on the earthquake science opportunities along the San Andreas Fault (SAF) in the Parkfield region. Parkfield presents unique opportunities for multidisciplinary research. The Parkfield segment sits at the transition from the creeping segment to the northwest to the locked (1857 rupture) segment to the southeast. There, the SAF hosts magnitude 6 earthquakes (now 21 years since the most recent one), locked and creeping behavior, abundant microseismicity, repeating earthquakes at multiple magnitudes, complex fault zone structure, low-frequency earthquakes and tremor, slow slip events, and a complex paleoseismic record. There are abundant strong motion and geodetic observations from the 2004 M 6 event. The complex rupture of the 2004 event and the spectrum of fault slip behavior are evidence of heterogeneous material properties and state of stress along the fault. The SAFOD borehole provides a window into the fault at seismogenic depths, including cores from creeping patches retrieved in 2004 as well as access to the fault at 2.5 km depth. The substantial infrastructure that is in place makes this area an excellent candidate for a Rupture and Fault Zone Observatory that can capture the next M 6 event at Parkfield. A new phase of fault zone drilling could provide cores from the rupture patch of M~2 repeating earthquakes. The proposed workshop will assess the current state of knowledge about the SAF at Parkfield and the state of geophysical instrumentation covering Parkfield, and develop a vision for Parkfield science in the future.
Intellectual Merit The Parkfield 2.0 workshop focused on the earthquake science opportunities along the San Andreas Fault in the Parkfield region. The Parkfield segment sits at the transition from the creeping segment to the northwest to the locked segment to the southeast. It hosts regular magnitude 6 earthquakes, locked and creeping behavior, abundant microseismicity, repeating earthquakes, complex fault zone structure, tremor, slow slip events, and a complex paleoseismic record. This workshop successfully assessed the current state of knowledge about the SAF at Parkfield and the state of geophysical instrumentation covering Parkfield, and initiated development of a vision for Parkfield science in the future.
Broader Impacts We were able to engage early- and mid-career scientists who have not been deeply involved in Parkfield but are positioned to lead studies into the future, along with more senior
researchers who have deep knowledge of Parkfield and the Simmler and Carrizo Plain segments of the San Andreas Fault to the south. By bringing together these groups in a workshop format, we also started the process of passing along essential knowledge of the region to the next generation of SCEC geologists, geodesists, seismologists and theoreticians. MORE?
Project Participants In additon to the three PIs, the workshop organizing committee included Yihe Huang (University of Michigan), Nathan Toke (Utah Valley University), and Andy Barbour (USGS).
Exemplary Figure Figure 1. Caption text of figure for potential use in the SCEC Annual Science Highlights
Linked Publications

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