The magnitude 5.8 earthquake that struck central Virginia on August 23rd, 2011 was among the largest to occur along the eastern seaboard and the largest in the Commonwealth in 114 years.  The earthquake caused extensive damage in central Virginia, damaged the National Cathedral and Washington Monument over 100 km away, and was very widely felt, likely by more people than any other quake in U.S. history. The earthquake struck in an area known to have elevated seismic hazard, but with substantial uncertainties in the underlying geology, faults and seismic potential -- features common to all seismic zones in the eastern U.S. In this talk I will describe the occurrence and seismo-tectonic setting of the earthquake and its aftershocks, and immediate and ongoing work of the USGS and partner universities and agencies to document and understand the cause and impacts of this earthquake, and by extension to improve our assessment of earthquake hazards in the central and eastern U.S. I will also describe the role of the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program in monitoring the Nation's earthquakes, providing rapid post-earthquake information, and providing quantitative seismic hazard assessments that underlie modern building codes and risk-mitigation strategies.

Short bio:

Dr. Blanpied serves as Associate Coordinator of the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program. His duties include oversight of the Program's earthquake hazards assessments, its research on earthquake physics and occurrence, and research activities abroad. He serves as executive secretary to the National Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council (NEPEC), an expert group that advises USGS on earthquake predictions and forecasting methods.