Mark Benthien is the Director of Public Education and Preparedness at the Statewide California Earthquake Center, headquartered at the University of Southern California (USC). Mark received a Bachelor of Science in Geophysics from UCLA and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from USC.

Mark communicates earthquake and tsunami knowledge in order to increase awareness, reduce economic losses, and save lives. Many of these efforts are in coordination with members of the Earthquake Country Alliance (ECA), a California-focused public-private-grassroots partnership of people and organizations that provide earthquake information, for which Mark serves as Executive Director and lead organizer of the annual Great California ShakeOut earthquake drill, involving 10 million participants each year. He also coordinates with ShakeOut regions across the U.S. and around the world (see ShakeOut.org), for which in 2012 he was recognized as a White House “Champion of Change” and involve more than 50 million people each year. He also recruits participation in California’s Tsunami Preparedness week (along with similar exercises in other states and the Caribbean) via TsunamiZone.org. Finally, he is the Executive Producer of Quake Heroes (a motivational documentary that depicts stories from the 1994 Northridge earthquake).

SCEC Participation

Current Roles

SCEC Executive Committee, Member (2017 - Present)
SCEC Associate Director (2001 - Present)
SCEC Staff (1996 - Present)

Past Roles

SCEC Mentor (2000, 2002 - 2004, 2007 - 2011, 2022, 2024)
SCEC Board of Directors, Managing Coordinator (2019 - 2023)
SCEC Research Collaborator (1993 - 1995)
SCEC Intern (1994)