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6th Kenji Ishihara Colloquium Series on Earthquake Engineering

USGS Software Tools for Site-Specific Ground Motion Hazard Analysis
A Three-Quarter Day Short Course

Nicolas Luco, Supervisory Research Structural Engineer, U.S. Geological Survey
Peter Powers, Research Geophysicist, U.S. Geological Survey
Jorge F. Meneses, Senior Principal Geotechnical Engineer, Worley Consulting

Friday, September 13th, 2024, 8am-2:30pm
University of California, San Diego

This short course will demonstrate software tools from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for site-specific ground motion hazard analysis and will provide an opportunity for feedback from earthquake engineering users. The 2022 edition of the ASCE 7 Standard (Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures) includes changes to the site-specific ground motion procedures of Chapter 21. For example, the deterministic ground motions that cap the otherwise probabilistic (risk-targeted) values are now calculated via “scenario earthquakes” from hazard disaggregations. The new site-specific procedures are expected to be part of the 2025 California Building Code. Many of the USGS software tools are also useful for the AASHTO bridge design specifications.


MEET THE INSTRUCTORS

Dr. Nicolas Luco

Nico is a Supervisory Research Civil Engineer with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at its Geologic Hazards Science Center in Golden, Colorado. There he serves as the Project Lead for the National Seismic Hazard Model, as of 2024. He also serves as a USGS Liaison on numerous external engineering committees that develop the seismic provisions of U.S. building codes, including the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Seismic Subcommittees for the ASCE 7 and 41 Standards. Prior to joining the USGS in 2004, he was a Senior Analysis Engineer with the insurance risk modeling company AIR Worldwide Corporation. He earned his PhD and BS in civil/structural engineering, and an MS in statistics, from Stanford University; his MS in civil/structural engineering is from the University of California, Berkeley.

 

 

Dr. Peter Powers

Peter Powers is a research and development geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey. Peter started his career as a geologist and worked in both the mining and tech sectors before attending the University of Southern California, from which he received a PhD in geophysics and seismology. He began his time at the USGS in 2008 as a Global Earthquake Model (GEM) post-doc and developer of OpenSHA and the Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast version 3 (UCERF3). He now develops software and tools to support updates to USGS national hazard models and related research.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Jorge F. Meneses

Dr. Jorge F. Meneses is a Senior Principal Geotechnical Engineer with Worley Consulting and has more than 30 years of consultancy, project management, research, and teaching experience, in both private industry and research institutions in the field of geotechnical and earthquake engineering. He has been involved in numerous projects serving as a technical lead in geotechnical earthquake engineering and foundation engineering across the country and various markets including water, nuclear, transportation, high rise buildings, energy, schools, hospitals, commercial and industrial. Dr. Meneses frequently acts as a peer reviewer for technical conferences and technical journal publications, is a guest speaker for domestic and international conferences, and has published more than 60 technical publications. He is currently a part-time faculty member in the graduate school of San Diego State University. He was the President and Founder of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) San Diego Chapter, California Seismic Safety Commissioner, Member of the EERI Board of Directors, Honorary Chair of the ASCE Geo-Institute San Diego Chapter, ex-Member of the ASCE 7-16 (Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures), member of the ASCE 1 (Geotechnical Analysis, Design, Construction, Inspection and Monitoring of Nuclear Safety-Related Structures) and ASCE 7-28 Committees, member of the Academy of Geo-Professionals, member of the Academy of Geo-Professionals, and a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

 

PROGRAM

TimeTopic/Speaker
8:00am9:00amRegistration and Breakfast
9:00am9:15amWelcome and Overview of Program
9:15am9:45amASCE 7-22 Chapter 21 Site-Specific Ground Motion Procedures
Jorge F. Meneses
9:45am10:30amUSGS Application of Site-Specific Procedures for ASCE 7-22 Chapter 222 Ground Motion Maps
Nicolas Luco
10:30am10:45amBreak
10:45am11:30amSite-Specific Hazard Curves from USGS Earthquake Hazard Toolbox
Peter Powers
11:30am12:00pmUpdated USGS Risk-Targeted Ground Motion Calculator
Nicolas Luco
12:00pm1:00pmLunch
1:00pm1:30pmSite-Specific Disaggregations from USGS Earthquake Hazard Toolbox
Peter Powers
1:30pm2:00pmDeterministic Response Spectra from USGS Earthquake Hazard Toolbox
Peter Powers
2:00pm2:30pmOther Current and Future USGS Software Tools
Peter Powers and Nicolas Luco

VENUE
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA 92093

REGISTRATION
Coming soon!

LODGING
Click here for a list of hotels near UCSD.

6th Kenji Ishihara Colloquium Series on Earthquake Engineering

Punctuated Resilience, Climate Change and Bio-Geotechnics | Next-Generation Liquefaction Modeling of Liquefaction Triggering and Surface Manifestation

Thursday, September 12th, 2024, 8am-5pm
University of California, San Diego

This year’s Kenji Ishihara Colloquium will include an update of the 2023 USGS National Seismic Hazard Map and USGS ToolBox for ground motions (Dr. Nicolas Luco, Dr. Peter Powers), the Next Generation Liquefaction (NGL) project (Steve Kramer, Jonathan Stewart, Scott Brandenberg, Ken Hudson, and Kristin Ulmer) and the topic of Punctuated Resilience, Climate Change and Bio-Geotechnics (Christopher Wills, Thomas O’Rourke, J. Carlos Santamarina, and Alejandro Martinez).

PROGRAM

Session 1: Punctuated Resilience, Climate Change and Bio-Geotechnics

8:00am9:00amRegistration and Breakfast
9:00am9:05amWelcome and Overview of Program
9:05am9:35amChristopher Wills
9:35am10:05amThomas O'Rourke
10:05am10:25amDiscussion
10:25am10:40amBreak
10:40am11:10amAlejandro Martinez
11:10am11:40amJ. Carlos Santamarina
11:40am12:00pmDiscussion
12:00pm1:00pmLunch

Session 2: Next-Generation Liquefaction Modeling of Liquefaction Triggering and Surface Manifestation

1:00pm1:15pmProject Overview and Database Overview
John Stamatakos, Jonathan Stewart
1:15pm1:40pmModel Development Philosophy - Bayesian Framework
Steven Kramer (Video)
1:40pm2:05pmLaboratory-Based Triggering Model
Kristin Ulmer
2:05pm2:30pmDiscussion
2:30pm2:45pmBreak
2:45pm3:20pmCase History Processing
Kenneth Hudson
3:20pm3:45pmCritique of Critical Layer Approach to Model Development
Jonathan Stewart
3:45pm4:00pmProfile-Based Model Development Approach
Scott Brandenberg
4:00pm4:35pmProposed Manifestation and Triggering Models
Kenneth Hudson
4:35pm5:00pmDiscussion


VENUE
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA 92093

REGISTRATION
Coming soon!

LODGING
Click here for a list of hotels near UCSD.