Improving Reno Earthquake Hazard Assessment Through a Ground-Motion Model Analysis and Paleoseismic Study
type: CreativeWork
description: We present the results of two complimentary methods to assess earthquake hazards around Reno, Nevada. First, we evaluate the performance of the four NGA-West2 (2014) Active Crustal models, which are trained on a global dataset of ground motion recordings, in the context of the Reno area. We compare the NGA-West2 model estimates with a new dataset of ground motion measurements derived from seismic recordings for 512 earthquakes near Reno. This comparison identifies various source, site, and path residuals between the estimated and observed ground-motions. Second, we present age constraints on two surfaces near the Mt. Rose range-bounding fault using Optically Stimulated Luminescence to date soil samples from paleoseismic pits. The age constraints are used with topographic offset to constrain the fault slip rate and earthquake recurrence interval. The two approaches can be used to conduct more accurate assessments of seismic hazard risk to Reno and facilitate future hazard mitigation.
abstract: We present the results of two complimentary methods to assess earthquake hazards around Reno, Nevada. First, we evaluate the performance of the four NGA-West2 (2014) Active Crustal models, which are trained on a global dataset of ground motion recordings, in the context of the Reno area. We compare the NGA-West2 model estimates with a new dataset of ground motion measurements derived from seismic recordings for 512 earthquakes near Reno. This comparison identifies various source, site, and path residuals between the estimated and observed ground-motions. Second, we present age constraints on two surfaces near the Mt. Rose range-bounding fault using Optically Stimulated Luminescence to date soil samples from paleoseismic pits. The age constraints are used with topographic offset to constrain the fault slip rate and earthquake recurrence interval. The two approaches can be used to conduct more accurate assessments of seismic hazard risk to Reno and facilitate future hazard mitigation.
author: Dills, Carter Wayne
language: en_US
language: English
keywords: Earthquake, Ground Motion Model, Mount Rose, NGA-West2, Paleoseismology, Reno
date published: 2026
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:47:58Z
provider: University of Nevada - Reno
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Nevada - Reno