The Seismic Hazard Investigations of Puget Sound (SHIPS) experiments

SHIPS are a series of five major seismic experiments conducted since 1998 to study regional crustal structure, active crustal faulting, site response, and weak ground motions in the Puget Lowland. The studies are collaborative projects involving the USGS (Earthquake and Marine programs), the University of Washington, The University of Victoria, The University of Texas at El Paso, Oregon State University, and the Canadian Geological Survey. Web pages describing the experiments are available at: http://geohazards.cr.usgs.gov/pacnw/ships/index.html

Links to data descriptions (USGS Open File Reports) describing the experiments in detail are listed below with a brief description of the experiments.

1) 1998 “Wet” SHIPS, involved large airgun sources and 250 seismometers deployed onshore to obtain tomographic images, deep seismic reflection profiles, and site-response estimates. (web link – data description)

2) 1999 “Dry” SHIPS, involved 1008 seismometers and 38 dynamite shots to obtain a seismic profile, velocity and attenuation models for the Seattle basin, and site response estimates across the Seattle basin. (web link - data description)

3) 2000 “Kingdome” SHIPS, involved deploying 200 seismometers throughout the city of Seattle to obtain site response estimates and a shallow tomographic image during the Kingdome implosion. (web link - data description)

4) 2002 “Seattle” SHIPS, involved deploying 87 seismometers in a 110-km by 70 km array over the Seattle sedimentary basin to measure weak ground motions from teleseismic and local earthquakes. (web link - data description)

5) 2002 “Bellingham” SHIPS (Georgia Basin Geohazards Initiative), with our Canadian colleagues, we collected shallow tomography and high-resolution seismic reflection data using the Canadian Coast Guard Vessel Tully in the southern end of the Georgia basin (north of the San Juan Islands) of NW Washington and SW British Columbia. (web link - data description)

The results of ground motion research using the SHIPS data are described in the ground motion section of this web site.