Center Operations: The Coupled Evolution of Earthquakes, Faults, and Geohazards of the San Andreas Fault System

在加利福尼亚，快速变形的太平洋-北美板块边界包含了一个由数百个活动断层组成的不断演变的网络，这些断层围绕着主要的圣安德烈亚斯断层。许多断层的规模大到足以引发危险的地震。圣安德烈亚斯断层系统有一个很好的实地访问，可以详细研究地震和断层过程的性质和动力学。加州地震中心（SCEC）是一个多学科合作机构，能够开发地震及其危害的系统级模型。该中心通过五大活动推进地震研究和灾害分析的前沿，以及相关的STEM教育和参与：(1)系统科学研究，(2)研究计算，(3)社区参与，(4)劳动力发展，以及(5)协作规划和项目评估。该地质灾害中心的重点是地震和断层的耦合演化，促进了各种特征之间定量关系的发展，这些特征可用于验证和改进危害评估。用于构建和测试软件和模型的先进研究计算用于验证结果，改进不确定性估计，并评估研究活动的有效性，以改善地震科学和对社会的影响。该项目由地球科学理事会共同资助，以支持地球科学领域的人工智能/机器学习进步。该中心旨在利用圣安德烈亚斯板块边界系统作为自然实验室，确定地震和断层的新兴现象和未来行为。研究主要涉及5个关键问题：1)断层的载荷；2)断层和地壳物质对载荷的响应；3)活动断层网的演化；4)演化性质如何影响持续变形和地面运动；5)强地面运动和大地震的预测。解决这些问题可以彻底改变地震科学和灾害评估。该中心的共享研究计算活动和社区模型为地震及其产生的地面运动的物理建模提供了独特的途径。SCEC与联邦和州机构合作，支持减少地震风险和提高社区恢复能力。该中心的工作组、讲习班、实地活动和年会使不同的科学家群体能够在持续的时期内进行互动，建立深入的科学合作和人际网络。此外，中心促进智力交流，加大对学生和早期职业科学家的支持，同时扩大他们在STEM领域的参与。在SCEC的组织结构内开展研究、社区参与和教育活动，有利于生产活动，这些活动往往比单个部分的总和产生更大的影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The rapidly deforming Pacific-North America plate boundary in California contains an evolving network of hundreds of active faults organized around the main San Andreas Fault. Many of these faults have dimensions large enough to generate hazardous earthquakes. The San Andreas fault system has an excellent field access that allows detailed studies of properties and dynamics of earthquakes and faulting processes. The Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC) is a multi-disciplinary collaboration that enables the development of system-level models of earthquakes and their hazards. The Center advances the frontiers of earthquake research and hazard analysis, and related STEM education and engagement, through five Major Activities: (1) System Science Research, (2) Research Computing, (3) Community Engagement (4) Workforce Development, and (5) Collaboration Planning and Program Evaluation. The focus of this Geohazard Center on coupled evolution of earthquakes and faults facilitates the development of quantitative relations between diverse features that can be used for validation and improved hazard assessment. Advanced research computing for building and testing software and models is used to validate results, improve uncertainty estimates, and assess the efficacy of research activities toward improving earthquake science and impacts on society. This project is co-funded by the Directorate for Geosciences to support AI/ML advancement in the Geosciences.The Center aims to identify emergent phenomena and future behavior of earthquakes and faults using the San Andreas plate-boundary system as a natural laboratory. The research addresses five key questions on i) the loading of faults, ii) the response of fault and crustal materials to loading, iii) the evolution of the active fault network, iv) how the evolving properties affect ongoing deformation and ground motion, and v) the forecasting of strong ground motion and large earthquakes. Addressing these questions could revolutionize earthquake science and hazard estimation. The Center’s shared research computing activities and community models provide unique pathways for physics-based modeling of earthquakes and the ground motions they generate. SCEC interacts with federal and state agencies to support seismic risk reduction and promote community resilience. The Center’s working groups, workshops, field activities, and annual meetings enable a diverse group of scientists to interact over sustained periods, building deep scientific collaborations and interpersonal networks. In addition, the Center promotes intellectual exchange and amplify the support for students and early-career scientists, while broadening their participation in STEM fields. Conducting the research, community engagement and education activities within the organizational structure of SCEC facilitates productive activities that often lead to a larger impact than the sum of individual parts.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.