Project description
Paradigm shift for earthquake observation and quantification
Fault, plate tectonic and mantle motions together determine where and when large earthquakes near population centres will occur. Correctly understanding and quantifying locations, and maybe even timing, of major earthquakes can be vital in limiting the impact of large-scale disasters. Unfortunately, current satellite observations and models that track slip buildup and release from tectonics and mantle motions often overlook key mechanics and data, leading to miscalculations in subduction zones and seismic risk. The ERC-funded RESET project aims to enhance understanding of earthquake systems and processes while developing an innovative, critical approach to probabilistic seismic hazard assessment. This concept will provide scientists and engineers with the tools to interpret observations and quantify future seismic activity.
Objective
Plate tectonics and mantle convection drive motions and slip buildup along plate boundaries. The locations where slip will be released during earthquakes are inferred from satellite observations. However, inversions ignore plate tectonic and mantle mechanics and much of the available data. Recent vertical velocities suggest megathrust earthquakes in subduction zones could rupture twice closer or farther from the coast. That could make the difference between shock and world-class disaster for one third of the world’s population. To set this straight and unlock earthquake sciences, I propose a paradigm shift by imaging, quantifying and understanding processes as part of an earthquake system. This multi-scale plate tectonic concept couples novel and known interactions between subducting and overriding plates, mantle and the megathrust from milli-seconds to millions of years.
Imaging this multi-scale, visco-elasto-plastic system poses a major computational challenge that I will tackle by adapting the latest computer science advances in automatic differentiation and high-performance computing on graphical processing units to earthquake sequences. Adjoint-based slip and medium inversions and an Ensemble Kalman Smoother will assimilate all observations into physical system models. Application and validation in five natural laboratories will quantify system processes, which will be integrated into a unified theory quantifying surface velocities with time.
This integrative approach allows for the first probabilistic seismic hazard assessment based on first physical principles. RESET’s Earthquake System concept, methods and theory will equip solid Earth scientists with what is needed to explain recent observations and enable efficient, system-based quantification of future seismicity.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology mechanical engineering vehicle engineering aerospace engineering satellite technology
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geology seismology
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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(opens in new window) ERC-2024-COG
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3584 CS Utrecht
Netherlands
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