Roland Bürgmann
Department of Earth and Planetary Science
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
Professor
Expertise: Geodesy, Earthquakes, GPS, InSAR, Active Tectonics, Structural Geology, Slow Fault Slip, Landslides
About Me
Publications
Roland's research interests are in active tectonics, crustal deformation and lithosphere rheology. Among other service, he recently served as chair of the USGS National Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council (NEPEC) and member of the USGS Scientific Earthquake Studies Advisory Committee (SESAC), and he is currently a member of the DFG Expertengremium für die Exzellenzstrategie in Germany, and the Integration and Innovation Advisory Committee of the EarthScope Consortium. He received the 2026 Howard D. Day Prize and Lectureship of the National Academy of Sciences and was the 2024 Bowie Lecturer and 2013 Birch Lecturer of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a Fellow of the AGU, and received the 2005 Bessel Prize of the Humboldt Foundation in Germany.
SCEC Board of Directors, At-Large Member (2012 - 2016)
SCEC Participation
SCEC Science Planning Committee, Group Co-Leader (2019 - 2023)SCEC Board of Directors, At-Large Member (2012 - 2016)
Periollat, A. J., Funning, G. J., & Bürgmann, R. (2026, 08). Binary Probabilistic Inference of Megathrust Segmentation in the Presence of Slow Slip Events: Insights from the Mexico Subduction Zone. Poster Presentation at 2026 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 15193
Johnson, C. W., Fu, Y., & Bürgmann, R. (2016, 10). Seasonal stress modulation on active California fault structures. Oral Presentation at State of stress in the Earth. SCEC Contribution 7290
Lindsay, D., Taira, T., & Bürgmann, R. (2025, 09). Seasonal to Multiannual Creep Rate Changes Along the Hayward, Rodgers Creek, and Maacama Faults. Poster Presentation at 2025 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 14951
Rong, B., Zhu, W., & Bürgmann, R. (2025, 09). Conjugate faulting in the Gorda plate and its influence on the southern Cascadia subduction thrust. Poster Presentation at 2025 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 14722
Smith, Z. D., Yan, R., Nevitt, J. M., Griffith, W. A., Materna, K., Bürgmann, R., & Waligora, F. (2025, 09). Impacts of Hydrothermal Alteration on Coseismic Slip and Fault Zone Properties at Ridgecrest, California. Poster Presentation at 2025 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 14591
Mohanna, S. Y., Kawamoto, G., Meng, L., Liu, M., Wellik, J., & Bürgmann, R. (2025, 09). Long-term repeating earthquakes and physical drivers of the 2022 Ferndale and 2024 Offshore Cape Mendocino earthquake sequences. Poster Presentation at 2025 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 14247
Dascher-Cousineau, K., & Bürgmann, R. (2024, 09). Synchronization among characteristic earthquakes. Poster Presentation at 2024 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 14023
Lindsay, D., Taira, T., & Bürgmann, R. (2024, 09). On decadal changes in fault behavior in Northern California . Poster Presentation at 2024 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13910
Smith, Z. D., Bürgmann, R., Griffith, W. A., Nevitt, J. M., Waligora, F., & Materna, K. (2024, 09). Coseismic rock pulverization inhibited by exhumation of mechanically anisotropic rock: Insights from Ridgecrest, California. Poster Presentation at 2024 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13623
Liu, M., Mohanna, S. Y., Meng, L., & Bürgmann, R. (2023, 09). Analysis of aftershock migration following the 2022 Ferndale sequence . Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13242
Lindsay, D., & Bürgmann, R. (2023, 09). 8 years of ALOS-2 observations across Central and Northern California: Distributed plate-boundary deformation, creeping faults, slow-moving landslides.. Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13234
Materna, K., Minson, S. E., Lindsay, D., Bürgmann, R., Crowell, B. W., & Bilham, R. (2023, 09). Propagating creep events on the Superstition Hills and Imperial faults measured by InSAR, GNSS, and creepmeters. Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13130
Dascher-Cousineau, K., & Bürgmann, R. (2023, 09). A global survey of short term slow slip events and its influence on crustal earthquakes . Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13087
Smith, Z. D., Bürgmann, R., Grifith, W. A., Hu, M., & Manga, M. (2023, 09). Off-fault damage accumulation and evolution in distributed fault systems near Ridgecrest, CA. Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13007
Mohanna, S. Y., Liu, M., Meng, L., Bürgmann, R., & Taymaz, T. (2023, 09). Analysis of aftershock migration following the 2023 Türkiye-Syria earthquakes. Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12926
Antoine, S. L., Klinger, Y., Wang, K., & Bürgmann, R. (2023). Coseismic shallow slip deficit accounted for by diffuse off-fault deformation. Geophysical Research Letters, 51. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110798. SCEC Contribution 12709
Wang, K., Dreger, D. S., Bürgmann, R., & Taira, T. (2023). Finite-Source Model of the 8 July 2021 M 6.0 Antelope Valley, California, Earthquake. Seismological Research Letters,. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220220262. SCEC Contribution 12708
Li, Y., Bürgmann, R., & Taira, T. (2023). Spatiotemporal Variations of Surface Deformation, Shallow Creep Rate, and Slip Partitioning Between the San Andreas and Southern Calaveras Fault. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 128(1). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JB025363. SCEC Contribution 12701
Wang, K., Bürgmann, R., Zhen, L., Fielding, E. J., Brooks, B. A., & Svarc, J. (2022). Complex postseismic relaxation following the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence illuminated by high-resolution geodetic observations. Poster Presentation at NASA Solid Earth Team Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12707
Baden, C. W., Shuster, D. L., Aron, F., Fosdick, J. C., Bürgmann, R., & Hilley, G. E. (2022, 09). A Few Good Bends: Bridging earthquakes and mountain building along the Santa Cruz Mountains Restraining Bend in northern California. Oral Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12594
Baden, C. W., Rousset, B., Chanard, K., Fleitout, L., & Bürgmann, R. (2022, 09). Constraining the SCEC community rheology model with seasonal hydrologic loading and surface deformation phase shifts. Poster Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12572
Cheng, Y., Bürgmann, R., & Allen, R. M. (2022, 09). Fine-scale complex fault structure and slip along the San Andreas Fault: Contrasting seismic behaviors in localized and diffuse fault zones. Poster Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12417
Li, Y., Bürgmann, R., & Funning, G. J. (2022, 09). Detecting creep transients in InSAR timeseries using deep neural networks. Poster Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12414
Magen, Y., Inbal, A., Ziv, A., Baer, G., Bürgmann, R., Periollat, A., & Sagiya, T. (2022, 09). The indirect triggering of a normal faulting earthquake sequence in the Ibaraki-Fukushima prefectural border, Japan by Mw9.0 Tohoku-Oki megathrust: the elusive role of low-angle normal fault slow-slip. Poster Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12215
Wang, K., Bürgmann, R., Liu, Z., Fielding, E. J., Brooks, B. A., & Svarc, J. (2022, 09). Complex postseismic relaxation following the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence illuminated by high-resolution geodetic observations . Poster Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12136
Li, Y., & Bürgmann, R. (2021, 08). Spatiotemporal variations of surface deformation, shallow creep rate and slip partitioning between the San Andreas and southern Calaveras faults constrained by InSAR. Poster Presentation at 2021 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 11617
Hu, X., Bürgmann, R., Xue, L., Fu, Y., & Wang, T. (2020, 08). Interplay between seismicity and hydrological and industrial processes in Salt Lake Valley, Utah. Poster Presentation at 2020 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 10640
Wang, K., & Bürgmann, R. (2020, 08). Modeling of postseismic deformation following the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence. Poster Presentation at 2020 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 10423
Tsuchiyama, A., Taira, T., Nakajima, J., & Bürgmann, R. (2020, 08). Spatio-temporal variations of low-frequency aftershocks of the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence. Poster Presentation at 2020 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 10323
Wang, K., & Bürgmann, R. (2020). Co- and Early Postseismic Deformation Due to the 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence Constrained by Sentinel-1 and COSMO-SkyMed SAR Data. Seismological Research Letters, 91(4), 1998-2009. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220190299. SCEC Contribution 10067
Wang, K., & Bürgmann, R. (2019, 08). Modeling of co- and early postseismic deformation due to the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 9887
Huang, H., Bürgmann, R., Meng, L., Wang, K., & Rousset, B. (2019, 08). Spatio-temporal foreshock evolution of the 2019 M 6.4 and M 7.1 Ridgecrest, California Earthquakes. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 9723
Li, Y., & Bürgmann, R. (2019, 08). Characterizing creeping faults using InSAR: a case study of the Xianshuihe Fault. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 9687
Materna, K., Bartlow, N. M., Wech, A., Williams, C. A., & Bürgmann, R. (2019, 08). Dynamically Triggered Changes in Interface Coupling in Southern Cascadia. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 9579
Rousset, B., Fu, Y., Bartlow, N. M., & Bürgmann, R. (2019, 08). Episodic tremor and slip dynamics in south-central Alaska. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 9519
Maneerat, P., Dreger, D. S., & Bürgmann, R. (2019, 08). Intra-slab stress field and waveform modeling to determine velocity structure of the Indoburman Range. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 9444
Ariyoshi, K., Ampuero, J., Bürgmann, R., Matsuzawa, T., Hasegawa, A., Hino, R., & Hori, T. (2019, 07). Quantitative relationship between aseismic slip propagation speed and frictional properties. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 9258
Milliner, C. W., Materna, K., Bürgmann, R., Fu, Y., Bekaert, D., Moore, A. W., Adhikari, S., & Argus, D. F. (2018). Tracking the weight of Hurricane Harvey’s stormwater using GPS data. Science Advances, 4(9). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau2477. SCEC Contribution 8918
Li, Y., & Bürgmann, R. (2018, 08). Present day interseismic slip rates of the Xianshuihe Fault observed by InSAR. Poster Presentation at 2018 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 8412
Wang, K., & Bürgmann, R. (2018, 08). Probing fault frictional properties during afterslip up- and down-dip of the 2017 Mw 7.3 Iran-Iraq earthquake. Poster Presentation at 2018 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 8393
Thomas, A., Beeler, N. M., Bletery, Q., Bürgmann, R., & Shelly, D. R. (2018). Using Low-Frequency Earthquake Families on the San Andreas Fault as Deep Creepmeters. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 123(1), 457-475. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JB014404. SCEC Contribution 7965
Bürgmann, R., Fu, Y., & Johnson, C. W. (2017). Stress Models of the Annual Hydrospheric, Atmospheric, Thermal, and Tidal Loading Cycles on California Faults: Perturbation of Background Stress and Changes in Seismicity. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 122(12), 10,605-10,625. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JB014778. SCEC Contribution 8081
Materna, K., Taira, T., & Bürgmann, R. (2017, 08). Measuring Aseismic Slip through Characteristically Repeating Earthquakes at the Mendocino Triple Junction . Poster Presentation at 2017 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 7703
Li, Y., Bürgmann, R., Yang, H., & Zhou, S. (2017, 08). Dynamic triggering of earthquakes north of Xiaojiang Fault, Yunnan. Poster Presentation at 2017 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 7683
Johnson, C. W., Fu, Y., & Bürgmann, R. (2017, 08). Stress models of the annual hydrospheric, atmospheric, thermal, and tidal loading cycles on California faults: Perturbation of background stress and changes in seismicity. Poster Presentation at 2017 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 7395
Milliner, C. W., Bürgmann, R., Wang, T., Inbal, A., Bekaert, D., Liang, C., & Fielding, E. J. (2017, 08). Capturing Postseismic Processes of the 2016 Mw 7.1 Kumamoto Earthquake, Japan, Using Dense, Continuous GPS and Short-repeat Time ALOS-2 InSAR Data: Implications for the Shallow Slip Deficit Problem . Poster Presentation at 2017 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 7392
Xue, L., Bürgmann, R., & Shelly, D. R. (2017, 08). Frequency-Dependent Tidal Triggering of Low Frequency Earthquakes Near Parkfield, California. Poster Presentation at 2017 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 7376
Johnson, C. W., Fu, Y., & Bürgmann, R. (2017). Seasonal water storage, stress modulation, and California seismicity. Science, 356(6343), 1161-1164. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aak9547. SCEC Contribution 7289
Floyd, M. A., Walters, R. J., Elliott, J. R., Funning, G. J., Svarc, J. L., Murray, J. R., Hooper, A. J., Larsen, Y., Marinkovic, P., Bürgmann, R., Johanson, I. A., & Wright, T. J. (2016). Spatial variations in fault friction related to lithology from rupture and afterslip of the 2014 South Napa, California, earthquake. Geophysical Research Letters, 43(13), 6808-6816. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069428. SCEC Contribution 7126
Delbridge, B. G., Bürgmann, R., & Nadeau, R. M. (2016, 08). Geodetic Measurements of Slow Slip and Tremor in Parkfield, CA. Poster Presentation at 2016 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 7033
Materna, K., Taira, T., & Bürgmann, R. (2016, 08). Measuring aseismic slip through characteristically repeating earthquakes at the Mendocino Triple Junction, Northern California . Poster Presentation at 2016 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 6883
Huang, M., Dickinson, H., Freed, A., Fielding, E. J., Bürgmann, R., & Gonzalez-Ortega, A. A. (2016, 08). Coseismic and postseismic deformation from the 2010 Mw 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah Earthquake in Baja California: Lithospheric structure and deformation in the Salton Trough. Poster Presentation at 2016 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 6563
Johnson, C. W., Fu, Y., & Bürgmann, R. (2016, 08). Seasonal water storage modulating seismicity on California faults. Poster Presentation at 2016 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 6417
Houlié, N., Funning, G. J., & Bürgmann, R. (2016). Use of a GPS-derived troposphere model to improve InSAR deformation estimates in the San Gabriel Valley, California. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 54(9), 5365-5374. SCEC Contribution 6263
Dutilleul, P., Johnson, C. W., Bürgmann, R., Wan, Y., & Shen, Z. (2015). Multifrequential periodogram analysis of earthquake occurrence: An alternative approach to the Schuster spectrum, with two examples in central California. Journal of Geophysical Research, 120(12), 8494-8515. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JB012467. SCEC Contribution 6160
Liu, S., Shen, Z., & Bürgmann, R. (2015). Recovery of secular deformation field of Mojave Shear Zone in Southern California from historical terrestrial and GPS measurements. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 120(5), 3965-3990. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JB011941. SCEC Contribution 2087
Beeler, N. M., Hirth, G. H., Thomas, A. M., & Bürgmann, R. (2015). Effective stress, friction and deep crustal faulting. Journal of Geophysical Research,. SCEC Contribution 1971
Guilhem, A., Bürgmann, R., & Freed, A. (2013). Testing the Accelerating Moment Release (AMR) Hypothesis in Areas of High Stress. Geophysical Journal International, 195(2), 785-798. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggt298. SCEC Contribution 1695
Chen, K. H., Bürgmann, R., & Nadeau, R. M. (2013). Do earthquakes talk to each other?: Triggering and interaction of repeating sequences at Parkfield. Journal of Geophysical Research, 118(1), 165-182. https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JB009486. SCEC Contribution 1687
Freed, A., Herring, T. A., & Bürgmann, R. (2010). Steady-state laboratory flow laws alone fail to explain postseismic observations. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 300(1-2), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2010.10.005. SCEC Contribution 1547
Chen, K. H., Bürgmann, R., Nadeau, R. M., Chen, T., & Lapusta, N. (2010). Postseismic variations in seismic moment and recurrence interval of repeating earthquakes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 299, 118-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2010.08.027. SCEC Contribution 1448
Chen, K. H., Bürgmann, R., & Nadeau, R. M. (2010). Triggering Effect of M 4-5 Earthquakes on the Earthquake Cycle of Repeating Events at Parkfield, California . Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 100. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120080369. SCEC Contribution 1338
Freed, A., Bürgmann, R., & Herring, T. A. (2007). Far-reaching transient motions after Mojave earthquakes require broad mantle flow beneath a strong crust. Geophysical Research Letters, 34, L19302. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL030959. SCEC Contribution 1546
Tullis, T. E., Bürgmann, R., Cocco, M., Hirth, G. H., King, G. C., Oncken, O., Otsuki, K., Rice, J. R., Rubin, A. M., Segall, P., Shapiro, S., & Wibberley, C. A. (2007). Group Report: Rheology of Fault Rocks and Their Surroundings. In M. Handy, G. H. Hirth, & N. Hovius (Eds.), Tectonic Faults: Agents of Change on a Dynamic Earth, (, pp. 183-204) Cambridge, USA: MIT Press SCEC Contribution 1392
Tullis, T. E., Bürgmann, R., Cocco, M., Hirth, G. H., King, G. C., Oncken, O., Otsuki, K., Rice, J. R., Rubin, A. M., Segall, P., Shapiro, S., & Wibberley, C. A. (2007). Rheology of fault rocks and their surroundings. Cambridge, USA: MIT Press. SCEC Contribution 1054
Johanson, I. A., Fielding, E. J., Rolandone, F., & Bürgmann, R. (2006). Coseismic and Postseismic Slip of the 2004 Parkfield Earthquake from Space-Geodetic Data. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 96(4B), S269-S282. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120050818. SCEC Contribution 990
Hearn, E. H., & Bürgmann, R. (2005). The Effect of Elastic Layering on Inversions of GPS Data for Coseismic Slip and Resulting Stress Changes: Strike-Slip Earthquakes. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 95(5), 1637-1653. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120040158. SCEC Contribution 850
Rolandone, F., Bürgmann, R., & Nadeau, R. M. (2004). The evolution of the seismic-aseismic transition during the earthquake cycle: Constraints from the time-dependent depth distribution of aftershocks. Geophysical Research Letters, 31, L23610. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL021379. SCEC Contribution 807
Freed, A., & Bürgmann, R. (2004). Evidence of power-law flow in the Mojave desert mantle. Nature, 430, 548-551. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02784. SCEC Contribution 789
Price, E., & Bürgmann, R. (2002). Interactions Between the Landers and Hector Mine, California Earthquakes from Space Geodesy, Boundary Element Modeling, and Time-Dependent Friction. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 92(4), 1450-1469. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120000924. SCEC Contribution 571
Last updated Jul 27, 2026.
