Susan E. Hough
United States Geological Survey
Geophysicist
Expertise: seismology, ground motions, historic earthquakes
About Me
Publications
Dr. Susan E. Hough is a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena, California. Her research focuses on earthquake ground motions, historical earthquakes, and induced earthquakes. She has additionally led international capacity development projects in Haiti, Nepal, and Myanmar. Past leadership roles include President of the Seismological Society of America, editor in chief of Seismological Research Letters,member of the National Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council, U.S. Embassy Science Fellow, and member of the SCEC Board of Directors. She was elected Fellow of the AGU in 2009, and has been additionally honored with a number of research awards including the AGU International Award (2019) and the Jesuit Seismological Association Award (2021).
SCEC Mentor (2001)
SCEC Participation
SCEC Board of Directors, Liaison Member (2007 - 2008)SCEC Mentor (2001)
Nyi Hlaing, K., Hough, S. E., Yoon, C. E., Agrawal, A., Mousavi, S., & Blanco, S. (2025, 09). QuakeMap: An AI-Powered Multimodal Earthquake Assessment Platform for Data-Scarce Regions. Poster Presentation at 2025 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 14635
Agrawal, A., Hough, S. E., Mousavi, S., Hlaing, K. N., Yoon, C. E., & Blanco, S. (2025, 09). The digital archivist: Automating legacy macroseismic data processing using large language models. Poster Presentation at 2025 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 14630
Hough, S. E., Agrawal, A., Dengler, L., Ellsworth, W. L., Hajos, L., Hellweg, M., Hlaing, K., Mousavi, S., McPherson, R., & Yoon, C. E. (2025, 09). Did They Feel It? Improving our Understanding of Earthquakes and Earthquake Effects using Legacy Macroseismic Data. Poster Presentation at 2025 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 14473
Rockwell, T. K., Fletcher, J. M., Teran, O. J., Mueller, K. J., Salisbury, J. B., Akciz, S. O., Stepancikova, P., & Hough, S. E. (2014). Reassessment of the 1892 Laguna Salada earthquake - fault kinematics and rupture patterns. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, (submitted). SCEC Contribution 1961
Hough, S. E. (2023, 09). Characterizing Historic ShakeMaps: A Tale of Two "SC" Earthquakes. Poster Presentation at 2023 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 12902
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
Hough, S. E., Martin, S., Symithe, S. J., & Briggs, R. (2022, 09). Earthquake Ruptures on Complex Fault Systems: Insights from Haiti. Poster Presentation at 2022 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 11961
Hough, S. E. (2021, 08). The 2021 Nippes, Haiti, Earthquake. Oral Presentation at 2021 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 11607
Hough, S. E. (2021, 08). Which Earthquake Accounts Matter?. Poster Presentation at 2021 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 11595
Hauksson, E., Olson, B., Grant, A., Andrews, J. R., Chung, A. I., Hough, S. E., Kanamori, H., McBride, S. K., Michael, A. J., Page, M. T., Ross, Z. E., Smith, D. E., & Valkaniotis, S. N. (2020). The Normal-Faulting 2020 Mw 5.8 Lone Pine, Eastern California, Earthquake Sequence. Seismological Research Letters, 92(2A), 679-698. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220200324. SCEC Contribution 11888
Salditch, L., Gallahue, M., Lucas, M. C., Neely, J. S., Stein, S., & Hough, S. E. (2020, 08). Using historical intensity data to assess hazard map performance in California and beyond. Poster Presentation at 2020 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 10569
Hough, S. E. (2020, 08). Revisiting California’s Past Great Earthquakes and Long-Term Earthquake Rate. Poster Presentation at 2020 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 10275
Sleep, N. H., & Hough, S. E. (2020). Mild Displacements of Boulders during the 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquakes. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 110(4), 1579-1588. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120200029. SCEC Contribution 10060
Hough, S. E., & The Ridgecrest Response Team, .. (2019, 08). What the “L”? Unraveling (and Responding to) the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, Earthquake Sequence. Oral Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 9613
Inbal, A., Cristea-Platon, T., Ampuero, J., Hillers, G., Agnew, D., & Hough, S. E. (2018). Sources of Long‐Range Anthropogenic Noise in Southern California and Implications for Tectonic Tremor Detection. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America,. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120180130. SCEC Contribution 8204
Hough, S. E., & Graves, R. W. (2018, 07). The 1933 Long Beach, California, Earthquake. Poster Presentation at 2018 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 8199
Hough, S. E., & Bilham, R. (2017, 07). Rocking the Boat: Poro-elastic Stress Change at Seismogenic Depth Associated with Oil Production in the Los Angeles Basin in the Early 20th Century. Poster Presentation at 2017 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 7334
Walker, R. L., Hough, S. E., Jha, B., Tsai, V. C., Page, M. T., & Aminzadeh, F. (2016, 08). Using Coupled Geomechanical Modeling to Investigate Potential Production Induced Seismicity. Poster Presentation at 2016 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 6791
Hough, S. E., Tsai, V. C., Walker, R. L., Page, M. T., & Hosseini, S. M. (2016, 07). Were the 1952 Kern County and 1933 Long Beach, California, Earthquakes Induced?. Poster Presentation at 2016 SCEC Annual Meeting. SCEC Contribution 6401
Brown, J. R., Hough, S. E., & Ampuero, J. (2012, 12). Detecting Ambient Tectonic Tremor in Southern California. Oral Presentation at AGU Fall Meeting 2012. SCEC Contribution 1780
Tinsley, J. C., Hough, S. E., Yong, A., Kanamori, H., Yu, E., Appel, V., & Wills, C. J. (2004). Geotechnical Characterization of TriNet Sites: A Status Report. Seismological Research Letters, 75, 505-514. SCEC Contribution 774
Hough, S. E., Martin, S., Bilham, R., & Atkinson, G. M. (2002). The 26 January 2001 M 7.6 Bhuj, India, Earthquake: Observed and Predicted Ground Motions. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 92(6), 2061-2079. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120010260. SCEC Contribution 608
Hough, S. E. (2002). Magnitude Estimates of Two Large Aftershocks of the 16 December 1811 New Madrid Earthquake. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 92(8), 3259-3268. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120010226. SCEC Contribution 605
Hough, S. E., & Kanamori, H. (2002). Source properties of earthquakes near the Salton Sea triggered by the Hector Mine earthquake. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 92(4), 1281-1289. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120000910. SCEC Contribution 575
Field, E. H., & Hough, S. E. (1997). The Variability of PSV Response Spectra across a Dense Array Deployed during the Northridge Aftershock Sequence. Earthquake Spectra, 13(2), 243-257. https://doi.org/10.1193/1.1585944. SCEC Contribution 221
Hauksson, E., Hutton, K., Kanamori, H., Jones, L. M., Mori, J., Hough, S. E., & Roquemore, G. (1995). Preliminary Report on the 1995 Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence in Eastern California. Seismological Research Letters, 66(6), 54-60. https://doi.org/10.1785/gssrl.66.6.54 . SCEC Contribution 226
Jones, L. M., Aki, K., Celebi, M., Donnellan, A., Hall, J. F., Harris, R. A., Hauksson, E., Heaton, T. H., Hough, S. E., Hudnut, K. W., Hutton, K., Johnston, M., Joyner, W., Marshall, G., Michael, A. J., Murray, M., Ponti, D. J., Reasenberg, P., Seeber, L., Shakal, A., Mori, J., Thio, H., Todorovska, M. I., Trifunac, M. D., Wald, D. J., & Zoback, M. (1994). The Magnitude 6.7 Northridge, California, Earthquake of January 17, 1994. Science, 266(5184), 389-397. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.266.5184.389. SCEC Contribution 139
Sieh, K., Jones, L. M., Hauksson, E., Hudnut, K. W., Eberhart-Phillips, D., Heaton, T. H., Hough, S. E., Hutton, K., Kanamori, H., Lilje, A., Lindvall, S. C., McGill, S. F., Mori, J., Rubin, C. M., Spotila, J., Stock, J. M., Thio, H., Treiman, J. A., Wernicke, B. P., & Zachariasen, J. (1993). Near Field Investigations of the Landers Earthquake Sequence, April-July, 1992. Science, 260(5105), 171-176. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.260.5105.171. SCEC Contribution 25
Last updated Aug 14, 2025.
