The Rupture and Fault Zone Observatory (RuFZO) is a community-driven effort that aims to collect geophysical data within rupture zones of significant earthquakes before, during, and after major events, and develop the workforce needed to design, build, and operate future geoscience facilities. Focusing on in-situ observations in the immediate vicinity of fault zones where earthquakes pose major hazards and cause permanent rock deformation could transform the understanding of earthquake physics, improve ground motion prediction estimates, and contribute to engineering efforts to mitigate earthquake impacts. For more information, please go to: www.iris.edu/hq/initiatives/near_fault.

This workshop will be held in the Palm Canyon room of the Hilton Palm Springs Resort on September 10th from 9am-11:45am PT in Palm Springs, California, just before the annual SCEC meeting. It will serve to gather key contributors and inform the community for a focused half-day program. Participation will be limited to 40 attendees.

Registration is now closed. The recordings from this workshop are available on YouTube.

RuFZO Workshop Organizing Committee: Ahmed Elbanna (University of Illinois Urbana Champaign), Gail Atkinson (University of Western Ontario), Pieter-Ewald Share (Oregon State University)

left) Map of proposed focus area arrays along major southern California faults, with a diagram of each array’s instrumentation. right) Responses from attendees of October 2022 virtual breakout sessions by career stage, institution type, and their prior involvement in RuFZO/Near-Fault activities.

The recordings from this workshop are available on YouTube.

This workshop will be held in the Palm Canyon room, upstairs from the main Hilton lobby. Registration for the Annual Meeting attendees will open at 10:00 am in the main lobby; you will be able to check-in and pick up programs/badges after the workshop.

08:30 – 09:00 Coffee/Tea

09:00 – 09:15 Icebreaker

09:15 – 09:30 Introduction to RuFZO – Yehuda Ben-Zion (University of Southern California)

09:30 – 09:55 Alice Gabriel (University of California San Diego)

09:55 – 10:20 Annemarie Baltay (U.S. Geological Survey)

10:20 – 10:45 A Brief History of Setting Traps for the Big One in California – William L. Ellsworth (Stanford University)

10:45 – 11:10 Norman A. Abrahamson (University of California at Berkeley)

11:10 – 11:45 Discussion

11:45 Adjourn

We will be following the SCEC meeting COVID protocols for this workshop. Air purifiers will be added to the meeting rooms to supplement the high-quality filters the hotel is using and some masks and hand sanitizer will be available. Please review and adhere to the following:

In 2022, we observed strict COVID protocols, requiring masking in all indoor public spaces (plenary sessions and poster sessions) and providing additional ventilation at the venue. The reported infection rate for that meeting was very low at 0.75%. 

For SCEC2023, it is still strongly recommended that people continue to wear masks that fit and filter well in all indoor public places. High-efficacy masks (N95, KN95 or KF94) will be preferred in plenary and poster sessions. 

Attendees should be free from recent close exposure to COVID-19, and free from COVID-19 symptoms. Participants should be prepared to “mask when asked” to keep our community safe and comfortable. Up-to-date travel guidance is available from the CDC. If official guidance changes due to increased community spread or new variants, masking may become required.