Elizabeth S. Cochran
United States Geological Survey
Research Geophysicist
Expertise: Seismology
About Me
Publications
Dr. Elizabeth S. Cochran is an observational seismologist at the United States Geological Survey in Pasadena, California. Elizabeth serves as Project Chief of the Induced Seismicity project in the Earthquake Science Center. Her research interests include investigating the link between increased earthquake rates in the Central and Eastern U.S. and energy production activities, specifically disposal of large volumes of wastewater. She also conducts research on earthquake early warning, earthquake triggering, rupture processes, and seismic wave propagation, and has led several large seismic deployments following significant earthquakes in the United States. Elizabeth previously served as Chief Scientist of the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning project working to develop a system to warn of incoming ground shaking from moderate to large earthquakes. She was also the co-founder of the Quake Catcher Network, a crowd-sourced seismic network that uses low cost sensors connected to desktop or inside of laptops and phones located in homes, offices and schools to detect earthquakes. Elizabeth received a B.S. in geophysics from University of California, Santa Barbara and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in geophysics and space physics from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 2010, she was recognized with a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), which is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers.
SCEC Mentor (2007)
SCEC Participation
SCEC Science Planning Committee, Group Co-Leader (2009 - 2016)SCEC Mentor (2007)
Abercrombie, R. E., Baltay, A. S., Chu, S., Taira, T., Bindi, D., Boyd, O. S., Chen, X., Cochran, E. S., Devin, E. G., Dreger, D. S., Ellsworth, W. L., Fan, W., Harrington, R. M., Huang, Y., Kemna, K., Liu, M., Oth, A., Parker, G. A., Pennington, C. N., Picozzi, M., Ruhl, C. J., Shearer, P. M., Spallarossa, D., Trugman, D. T., Vandevert, I., Wu, Q., Yoon, C. E., & Yu, E. (2024). Overview of The SCEC/USGS Community Stress Drop Validation Study Using the 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, (submitted). SCEC Contribution 13471
Fan, W., Meng, H., Trugman, D. T., McGuire, J. J., & Cochran, E. S. (2022, 12). Finite-source Attributes of M4 to 5.5 Ridgecrest, California Earthquakes. Poster Presentation at AGU Fall Meeting 2022. SCEC Contribution 12876
Meng, H., Fan, W., McGuire, J. J., & Cochran, E. S. (2021). Finite-source attributes of 39 M3.8 to M5.5 Ridgecrest earthquakes. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, (in preparation). SCEC Contribution 10958
Clements, T., Cochran, E. S., Minson, S. E., van der Elst, N. J., Yoon, C. E., Baltay, A. S., & Page, M. T. (2024, 09). Beyond Magnitudes and Catalogs: Application of Gutenberg-Richter and Omori Laws to Continuous Seismograms. Poster Presentation at 2024 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13965
Glasgow, M. E., Liang, R., Cochran, E. S., Jamalreyhani, M., & Wang, R. (2024, 09). Spatiotemporal variability of b-values in regions of induced seismicity in the Central United States . Poster Presentation at 2024 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13940
Baxter, A., Bunn, J., Cochran, E. S., & Yoon, C. E. (2024, 09). Comparing the efficacy of deep learning phase pickers and associations for developing earthquake catalogs. Poster Presentation at 2024 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13927
Morioka, T., Brenguier, F., Cochran, E. S., Fan, W., Higueret, Q., Hollis, D. D., Shearer, P. M., Vernon, F. L., Vidale, J. E., Wang, R., & Zhang, H. (2024, 09). Probing Seismicity Secrets with Five Nodal Arrays around the San Jacinto Fault. Poster Presentation at 2024 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13751
Okamoto, K. K., Savage, H. M., Brodsky, E. E., Cochran, E. S., Abercrombie, R. E., & Carpenter, B. M. (2023, 09). To heal or not to heal?: The moment-recurrence time behavior of repeating earthquakes in the 2011 Prague, Oklahoma aftershock sequence is consistent with laboratory healing rates. Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13110
Clements, T., Cochran, E. S., Baltay, A. S., Minson, S. E., & Yoon, C. (2023, 09). Performance of the GRAPES EEW Algorithm on the 2019 M7.1 Ridgecrest Earthquake. Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 13071
Cochran, E. S., Brooks, B. A., Bunn, J., Clements, T., Duncan, C., Ericksen, T., Kent, G. M., Ringler, A., & Saltiel, S. (2023, 09). Densifying station coverage in remote locations with low-cost sensors. Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12977
Saunders, J. K., Cochran, E. S., Bunn, J. J., Baltay, A. S., Minson, S. E., & O'Rourke, C. T. (2023, 09). Incorporating intensity distance attenuation into PLUM ground-motion-based earthquake early warning in the United States: The APPLES configuration. Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12957
Kroll, K., Cochran, E. S., & Sherman, C. S. (2023, 09). Exploring the Impact of Operational Management Strategies on the Evolution of Induced Seismicity. Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12922
Pennington, C. N., Chang, H., Rubinstein, J. L., Abercrombie, R. E., Nakata, N., Uchide, T., & Cochran, E. S. (2022). Quantifying the Sensitivity of Microearthquake Slip Inversions to Station Distribution Using a Dense Nodal Array. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 112(3), 1252-1270. doi: 10.1785/0120210279. SCEC Contribution 12742
Fan, W., Meng, H., Trugman, D., McGuire, J. J., & Cochran, E. S. (2022, 09). Finite-source attributes of M 4 to 5.5 Ridgecrest, California earthquakes. Poster Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12317
Clements, T., Cochran, E. S., Minson, S. E., Baltay, A. S., & Yoon, C. (2022, 09). Earthquake Early Warning with Graph Learning. Poster Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12131
Cochran, E. S. (2022, 09). Recent progress in illuminating fault structure and behavior using seismology. Oral Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12130
Page, M. T., Cochran, E. S., van der Elst, N. J., Ross, Z. E., & Trugman, D. (2022, 09). Linking fault roughness and earthquake behavior. Poster Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12126
Chaffeur, J. M., Minson, S. E., Saunders, J. K., Baltay, A. S., Hough, S. E., Cochran, E. S., McBride, S. K., Quitoriano, V., & Blair, L. (2022, 09). Which earthquakes are the most damaging? An examination of community-collected ‘Did You Feel It’ data in California, USA. Poster Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12122
Sirorattanakul, K., Ross, Z. E., Khoshmanesh, M., Cochran, E. S., Acosta, M., & Avouac, J. (2022, 09). The 2020 Westmorland, California earthquake swarm as aftershocks of a slow slip event sustained by fluid flow. Poster Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12106
Cochran, E. S., Saunders, J. K., Baltay, A. S., Bunn, J., Clements, T., Kilb, D., Minson, S. E., O'Rourke, C., & Yoon, C. (2022, 09). Real-time performance and new developments of the Propagation of Local Undamped Motion (PLUM) earthquake early warning algorithm for the West Coast, U.S.A.. Poster Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 11896
Liu, Y., Ross, Z. E., Cochran, E. S., & Lapusta, N. (2021, 08). A unified perspective of seismicity and fault coupling along the San Andreas Fault. Poster Presentation at 2021 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 11496
Cochran, E. S., Saunders, J. K., Minson, S. E., Bunn, J., Kilb, D., Baltay, A. S., O'Rourke, C., Hoshiba, M., & Kodera, Y. (2021, 08). Optimizing alerts by tuning the PLUM prediction radius for the ShakeAlert System. Poster Presentation at 2021 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 11385
Saunders, J. K., Minson, S. E., Cochran, E. S., Bunn, J., Baltay, A. S., Kilb, D., & O'Rourke, C. (2021, 08). A Twist of PLUM: Low-Magnitude Earthquakes and Ground-Motion-Based Early Warning. Poster Presentation at 2021 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 11360
Meng, H., Fan, W., McGuire, J. J., & Cochran, E. S. (2021, 08). Finite-source attributes of 39 M 3.9 to 5.5 Ridgecrest, California earthquakes. Poster Presentation at 2021 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 11250
Chang, H., Abercrombie, R. E., Nakata, N., Pennington, C. N., Kemna, K. B., Cochran, E. S., & Harrington, R. M. (2021, 08). Quantifying earthquake source parameter uncertainties associated with local site effects using a dense array. Poster Presentation at 2021 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 11244
Pennington, C. N., Chang, H., Rubinstein, J. L., Abercrombie, R. E., Nakata, N., Uchide, T., & Cochran, E. S. (2021, 08). Quantifying the Sensitivity of Microearthquake Slip Inversions to Station Distribution Using the LASSO Nodal Array in Oklahoma. Poster Presentation at 2021 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 11163
Ross, Z. E., & Cochran, E. S. (2021, 07). Evidence for Latent Crustal Fluid Injection Transients in Southern California From Long-Duration Earthquake Swarms. Poster Presentation at 2021 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 11047
Skoumal, R., Cochran, E. S., Kroll, K., Rubinstein, J. L., & McPhillips, D. (2020, 08). Characterizing Stress Orientations in Southern Kansas. Poster Presentation at 2020 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 10401
Cochran, E. S., Skoumal, R., McPhillips, D., Ross, Z. E., & Keranen, K. M. (2020, 08). Varied Fault Orientations in a Uniform Stress Field: The 2011 M5.7 Prague Earthquake Sequence. Poster Presentation at 2020 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 10400
Kilb, D., Bunn, J., Saunders, J. K., Cochran, E. S., Minson, S. E., Baltay, A. S., & O'Rourke, C. (2020, 08). The Plum Earthquake Early Warning Algorithm: A Case Study of Two West Coast, USA, Datasets. Poster Presentation at 2020 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 10305
Cochran, E. S., Wolin, E., McNamara, D., Yong, A., Wilson, D., Alvarez, M., van der Elst, N., McClain, A., & Steidl, J. (2020). The U.S. Geological Survey’s Rapid Seismic Array Deployment for the 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence. Seismological Research Letters, 91(4), 1952-1960. doi: 10.1785/0220190296. SCEC Contribution 10117
Ross, Z. E., Cochran, E. S., Trugman, D. T., & Smith, J. D. (2020). 3D fault architecture controls the dynamism of earthquake swarms. Science, 368(6497), 1357-1361. doi: 10.1126/science.abb0779. SCEC Contribution 10109
Taira, T., Kaven, J., Rubinstein, J. L., & Cochran, E. S. (2019, 08). Search for seismic velocity changes associated with CO2 injections at the carbon capture and storage site in Decatur, Illinois. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 9660
Fan, W., Barbour, A. J., & Cochran, E. S. (2019, 08). Teleseismic dynamic triggering of microearthquakes in the Anza area, California: the role of dynamic strain and pore pressure. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 9627
Aagaard, B. T., Minson, S. E., Baltay, A. S., Cochran, E. S., & Hanks, T. C. (2019, 08). ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning Performance for the 2019 Ridgecrest Sequence. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 9605
Cochran, E. S., Kilb, D., Bunn, J., Minson, S. E., Baltay, A. S., Hoshiba, M., & Kodera, Y. (2019, 08). Retrospective and real-time event-based performance of the PLUM earthquake early warning algorithm for the West Coast, USA. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 9432
Hauksson, E., Ross, Z. E., & Cochran, E. S. (2018, 08). Sudden Surges of Seismicity within Natural Slow Growing and Long Duration Seismicity Swarms near Cahuilla Valley in the Central Peninsular Ranges, Southern California. Poster Presentation at 2018 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 8765
Dougherty, S. L., Cochran, E. S., Harrington, R. M., & Ross, Z. E. (2018, 08). Tracking thousands of microearthquakes for a month in northern Oklahoma: What a large-N array can reveal about induced seismicity. Poster Presentation at 2018 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 8569
Yu, C., Hauksson, E., Zhan, Z., Cochran, E. S., & Helmberger, D. V. (2018, 08). Absolute and relative focal depth determination of moderate-sized earthquakes: An example from the 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake sequence. Poster Presentation at 2018 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 8520
Trugman, D. T., Dougherty, S. L., Cochran, E. S., & Shearer, P. M. (2017). Source Spectral Properties of Small to Moderate Earthquakes in Southern Kansas. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 122(10), 8021-8034. doi: 10.1002/2017JB014649. SCEC Contribution 8932
Yu, C., Zhan, Z., Hauksson, E., & Cochran, E. S. (2017). Strong SH‐to‐Love Wave Scattering off the Southern California Continental Borderland. Geophysical Research Letters, 44(20), 10,208-10,215. doi: 10.1002/2017GL075213. SCEC Contribution 7972
Zhan, Z., Yu, C., Hauksson, E., & Cochran, E. S. (2017, 08). Strong SH-to-Love Wave Scattering off the Southern California Continental Borderland. Poster Presentation at 2017 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 7714
Dougherty, S. L., Cochran, E. S., & Harrington, R. M. (2017, 08). Large-N array observations of injection-induced seismicity in northern Oklahoma: the LASSO experiment. Poster Presentation at 2017 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 7654
Yu, C., Hauksson, E., Zhan, Z., & Cochran, E. S. (2017, 08). Depth Distribution of the 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah Earthquake Sequence (M>=4) Determined from Regional Waveform Modeling. Poster Presentation at 2017 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 7614
Minson, S. E., Baltay, A. S., Cochran, E. S., Hanks, T. C., & Meier, M. (2017, 08). The Limits of Earthquake Early Warning. Oral Presentation at 2017 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 7607
Cochran, E. S., Kroll, K. A., Richards-Dinger, K. B., & Murray, K. D. (2017, 07). Permeability Changes Observed in the Arbuckle Group Coincident with Nearby Earthquake Occurrence. Poster Presentation at 2017 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 7351
Shaughnessy, L. J., Sumy, D. F., Cochran, E. S., Neighbors, C. J., & de Groot, R. (2016, 08). Exploring the suitability of the Quake-Catcher Network in the USGS ShakeMap: Case studies from aftershocks of the 2010-2011 Darfield and Christchurch, New Zealand earthquakes. Poster Presentation at 2016 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 6843
Dougherty, S. L., Cochran, E. S., & Harrington, R. M. (2016, 08). LArge-n Seismic Survey in Oklahoma (LASSO): Probing injection-induced seismicity with a dense array. Poster Presentation at 2016 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 6633
Minson, S. E., Brooks, B. A., Barrientos, S., Baez, J., Boese, M., Ericksen, T. L., Guillemot, C., Cochran, E. S., Murray, J. R., Langbein, J. O., Glennie, C. L., & Duncan, C. (2016, 08). Smartphone-Based Earthquake Early Warning in Chile. Poster Presentation at 2016 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 6607
Cochran, E. S., Kohler, M. D., Given, D. D., Andrews, J., Meier, M., Hauksson, E., Minson, S. E., Ahmad, M., DeLeon, J., & Guiwits, S. (2016, 08). ShakeAlert Testing and Certification Platform: Point Source and Ground Motion Based Evaluations. Poster Presentation at 2016 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 6559
Zeng, X., Thurber, C. H., Shelly, D. R., Harrington, R. M., Cochran, E. S., Bennington, N. L., Peterson, D., Guo, B., & McClement, K. D. (2016). 3-D P- and S-wave velocity structure and low-frequency earthquake locations in the Parkfield, California region. Geophysical Journal International, 206(3), 1574-1585. SCEC Contribution 6293
Hauksson, E., Goebel, T. H., Ampuero, J., & Cochran, E. S. (2015). A century of oilfield operations and earthquakes in the greater Los Angeles basin, southern California. The Leading Edge, 34(6), 650-652,654-656. doi: 10.1190/tle34060650.1. SCEC Contribution 2072
Dominguez Ramirez, L. A., Yildirim, B., Husker, A. L., Cochran, E. S., Christensen, C., Cruz-Atienza, V. M., & Lawrence, J. F. (2015). The Red Atrapa Sismos (Quake-Catcher Network in Mexico): Assessing Performance during Large and Damaging Earthquakes. Seismological Research Letters, 86(3), 848-855. doi: 10.1785/0220140171. SCEC Contribution 11768
McClement, K. D., Thurber, C. H., Shelly, D. R., Sumy, D. F., Bennington, N. L., Peterson, D. E., Cochran, E. S., & Harrington, R. M. (2013, 12). Extending seismic tomography along the San Andreas fault to the lower crust with low frequency earthquakes. Oral Presentation at 2013 AGU Fall Meeting. SCEC Contribution 2056
Horstmann, T., Harrington, R. M., & Cochran, E. S. (2013). Semi-automated tremor detection using a combined cross-correlation and neural network approach. Journal of Geophysical Research, 118(9), 4827-4846. doi: 10.1002/jgrb.50345. SCEC Contribution 1639
Li, Y., Malin, P. E., & Cochran, E. S. (2012). Fault-zone trapped waves: High-Resolution Characterization of the Damage Zone on the Parkfield San Andreas Fault at Depth. In Y. Li (Eds.), Imaging, Modeling and Assimilation in Seismology, (Series in Global Change and Earth System Science, pp. 43) Boston, : DeGruyter SCEC Contribution 1321
Cochran, E. S., Li, Y., Shearer, P. M., Barbot, S. D., Fialko, Y., & Vidale, J. E. (2009). Seismic and Geodetic Evidence for Extensive, Long-Lived Fault Damage Zones. Geology, 37(4), 315-318. doi: 10.1130/G25306A.1. SCEC Contribution 1185
Li, Y., Chen, P., Cochran, E. S., & Vidale, J. E. (2007). Seismic Velocity Variations on the San Andreas Fault Caused by the 2004 M6 Parkfield Earthquake and Their Implications. Earth, Planets and Space, 59(1), 21-31. SCEC Contribution 962
Li, Y., Chen, P., Cochran, E. S., Vidale, J. E., & Burdette, T. (2006). Seismic Evidence for Rock Damage and Healing on the San Andreas Fault Associated with the 2004 M 6.0 Parkfield Earthquake. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 96(4B), S349-S363. doi: 10.1785/0120050803. SCEC Contribution 924
Cochran, E. S., Li, Y., Vidale, J. E., & Burdette, T. (2006). Anisotropy in the Shallow Crust Observed around the San Andreas Fault Before and After the 2004 M 6.0 Parkfield Earthquake. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 96(4B), S364-S375. doi: 10.1785/0120050804. SCEC Contribution 1080
Cochran, E. S., & Shearer, P. M. (2006). Infrasound Events Detected with the Southern California Seismic Network. Geophysical Research Letters, 33, L19803. doi: 10.1029/2006GL026951. SCEC Contribution 1027
Li, Y., Vidale, J. E., & Cochran, E. S. (2004). Low-Velocity Damaged Structure of the San Andreas Fault at Parkfield from Fault-Zone Trapped Waves. Geophysical Research Letters, 31(12), L12S06, 1-5. doi: 10.1029/2003GL019044. SCEC Contribution 762
Li, Y., Vidale, J. E., Day, S. M., Oglesby, D. D., Cochran, E. S., & Field Working Group, . (2003). Postseismic Fault Healing on the Rupture Zone of the 1999 M 7.1 Hector Mine, California, Earthquake. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 93(2), 854-869. doi: 10.1785/0120020131. SCEC Contribution 685
Li, Y., Vidale, J. E., Oglesby, D. D., Day, S. M., & Cochran, E. S. (2003). Multiple-Fault Rupture of the M7.1 Hector Mine, California, Earthquake from Fault Zone Trapped Waves. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108(B3), 2165. doi: 10.1029/2001JB001456. SCEC Contribution 596
Cochran, E. S., Vidale, J. E., & Li, Y. (2003). Near-fault anisotropy following the Hector Mine earthquake. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108(B9), 2436. doi: 10.1029/2002JB002352. SCEC Contribution 1081
Last updated Nov 07, 2024.
