John E. Ebel, Professor; Director, Weston Observatory
Ph.D. California Institute of Technology (1981)
A.B. Harvard University (1975)
INTERESTS:
Earthquake Seismology, Exploration Seismology, Theoretical Seismology
CONTACT INFO:
Boston College Office: 617-552-3399
Weston Observatory Office: 617-552-8319
Personal Home Page: www2.bc.edu/~ebel/
COURSES:
GE 172 - Weather, Climate, and the Environment (Fall 2008)
GE 455 - Exploration Seismology (Fall 2008)
GE 398 - Statistical Analysis of Scientific Data (Spring 2009)
CURRENT GRADUATE STUDENTS AND PROJECTS:
| Justin Hertzog | The upper-mantle seismic structure in northeastern North America. |
M.S. ALUMNI AND PROJECTS:
| Sara Dougherty | Development of a 3-D upper crustal velocity model of the Goldstream Valley, central Alaska. (2008). |
| Jia Yan | Using waveform inversion to determine local earthquake source parameters in northeastern United States. (2006). |
| Lieyuan Zhu | Seismic signal identification based on wavelet transforms and SNR spectral patterns. (2005). |
| James Britton | Microzonation of the Boston area (Massachusetts). (2003). |
| Anastasia Macherides | The development of a moment-magnitude based earthquake catalog for the northeastern United States. (2002) |
| Kristine Kummer | Microtremor measurements to obtain resonant frequencies and ground shaking amplification for soil sites in Boston, MA. (1998) |
| Chun Zhu | Crustal thickness across the Grenville Province and Northern Appalachians in New England and adjacent areas. (1996). |
| Qiuchun Feng | Determination of rupture duration and stress drop for earthquakes in New England. (1994). |
| Christopher Kulig | Shallow seismicity of arc-continent collision in Papua New Guinea. (1992) |
| Hong Zhu | Tomographic inversion for the seismic velocity structure beneath northern New England using data from seismic refraction experiements. (1991). |
| Xiaomin Zhao | Radiation pattern of crustal phases of New England earthquakes. (1990). |
| Christopher Center | NY-NEX rayleigh wave signal and noise analysis at a seismic array. (1989). |
| Charles Doll, Jr. | The crustal seismic structure beneath New England Seismic Network Station WES in Weston, Massachusetts determined from modeling short-period teleseismic p-waveforms. (1988). |
| Vivian Hussey | A three-component seismic refraction survey in northwestern Arizona. (1989). |
| Richard Spielmann | Investigation of attenuation vs. physical rock properties from borehole data. (1989). |
| Charles Taylor | Seismicity patterns precursory to circum-Pacific earthquakes. (1988). |
| Antoinette Campanella | Multipathing of rayleigh waves into northeastern United States. (1986). |
| Paul Fisk | A detailed gravity survey of the Clinton-Newbury & Wekepeke Faults in the Clinton, Massachusetts Area. (1985). |
| Eduardo Espinosa | The quaternary history of the Unare Shelf South of Cariaco Trench, Venezuela. (1984). |
| Michael Nutting | Synthetic seismograms for crustal models in New England. (1984). |
| Dennis Place | Array measurements for the lower mantle. (1982). |
| Michael Welch | A shear wave velocity interpretation of the continental crust under New England. (1982). |
| Robert Monahan | A study of p-wave travel time residuals in New England. (1981). |
| Peter Raice | Discrimination between local earthquakes and quarry blasts in New England using a O/S ground motion ratio. (1981). |
| Deborah Varano | The use of synthetic seismograms to study the propagation of crustal seismic waves in New England. (1981). |
RECENT INTERVIEWS:
• December 8, 2006:Interview for the History Channel.
• November 28, 2006: Interviews regarding the
· The
· TV Channel 4
·
· Fox Channel 25
· TV Channel 5
· TV Channel 7
• November 15, 2006: Interview on Channel 5 Boston about the
• October 22, 2006: Interviewed on the
·
· Channel 5
· Bar Harbor Times,
·
• October 20, 2006: Interview for CT Life News Magazine, with By Nancy Thompson regarding earthquakes in CT.
• October 16, 2006: Interview with Dave Sharpe from the Associated Press
• October 10, 2006: Interview on WPTC TV,
• October 2, 2006: Interview with Melissa Waterman from the Reporter in
• October 2, 2006: Interview for The
• September 22, 2006: Interviews regarding the Bar Harbor Earthquake, Mn 3.5
· The Associated Press,
· ABC 7 News,
·
·
· ABC News 7
• September 6, 2006: Interviewed for the
• July 24, 2006: Interview with Larry O’Hanlon from The Discovery Channel,
(discoverychannelnews.com) regarding earthquake hazards in the
• July 21, 2006: Interviewed by the Weston Town Crier Newspaper, for an article on the Weston
Observatory.
• July 21, 2006: Interviewed for a Channel 8 TV in
Raymond McKenna.
• June 9, 2006: Interviewed by Michael Shapiro for the Journal Inquirer Newspaper,
• May 31, 2006: Radio interview on the show “The Breakfast Club”,
• May 24, 2006: Interview for CommonWealth Magazine with Gabrielle Gurley regarding natural disasters.
• May 22, 2006: Interviewed by Sam Nejame for promotum.com, regarding Moodus, CT noises.
• May 3, 2006: Interviews by Channel 7 News and WTMJ Radio about a Tonga Earthquake, magnitude 8.0.
• April 25, 2006 : Interview for WZMY-TV,
• April 25, 2006: Interviewed for an article published in The Boston Globe Magazine May 28, 2006, p. 26-29.
• April 5, 2006: Interview in the Boston Globe Magazine by Bryan Bender regarding New
England Earthquakes and the
• March 3, 2006: Interview regarding earthquakes in
• January 27, 2006: Interviewed by students from
• January 16, 2006: Interview with the
• December 20, 2005: Interview with Jennifer Kavanaugh from the MetroWest Daily News
regarding natural disasters.
• Nov 17, 2005: Interviewed for an article in the Boston College Chronicle about 75 years of Earthquake monitoring at The Weston Observatory.
• September 9, 2005: Telephone interview with Lowel Eagle Tribune, article ran on September 12th.
• August 16, 2005: Interview with Kimberly Atkins of the Boston Herald regarding Scientists and Religion.
• July 24, 2005: Interview with WBZ radio regarding a Magnitude 7.2 earthquake in the Southern Nicobar Islands, there was a tsunami warning for
• July 21, 2005: Wayland/Weston Town Crier Newspaper interview, “Looking DEEP into the earth”
• May 6, 2005: Taped Radio interview with WLW-AM’s Jim Scott Morning Show regarding the
Violent Earth for the National Geographic Channel,
• May 6, 2005: Live Radio interview with Danny Miles from the USA Radio Network’s Daybreak News for the National Geographic Channel,
• May 6, 2005: Live Radio interview with Laura Smailes WTVN-AM Radio Network’s The Bob Conners Show for the National Geographic Channel.
• April 5, 2005: Radio interview with Will Crocker from WQRC, Cape Cod, Shaun Martin from WLVI Channel 56, and Fox 25 news regarding the 2.3 earthquake in New Bedford, MA
• March 6, 2005: Interview with WBZ radio, WRKO radio, Channel 5, Channel 7, Channel 25, Lawrence Eagle Tribune, and the Boston Globe regarding the Gaspe, Quebec Earthquake (5.2)
• February 9, 2005: Telephone interview with the Boston Globe regarding earthquakes in New England. The article was printed on Sunday, February 20, in the Globe West section.
• January 18, 2005: Interview regarding earthquakes with Pete Sigmund for the Sharp City Magazine
• January 3-14, 2005: Interviewed on the earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Sumatra by; HOT 102 FM, Caribbean Radio, Jim Pillsbury Live, Monroe, WI WETZ Radio, WBZ Radio, Philadelphia Radio, Jamaica Radio (The Breakfast Club), CNN, Newton Cable, Weston Town Crier, BC Chronicle, The Connecticut Post
• December 26-30, 2004: Interviewed on the earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Sumatra by; The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The Metro West Daily News, the New Bedford Standard Times, The Eagle Tribune, The Springfield Union News, The Nashua Telegraph, The Globe West Weekly, The Lowell Sun, Channel 4 (CBS), Channel 5 (ABC), Channel 7, (NBC), WGBH Greater Boston, Morning Edition NPR Radio, WTHE Radio, WBUR Radio News, WATD Radio
• November 30, 2004: Interviewed by Jessica Sarger from the Patriot Ledger
• November 17, 2004: Interviewed by Boston Magazine for an article to be printed at a later date, regarding Earthquake Safety of the Central Artery Project in Boston
• November 9, 2004: Interviewed by Mike Wankum from WLVI-TV (Ch. 56) regarding earthquakes on November 5th
• October 8, 2004: Interviewed by Chris Cassidy from the Beacon Villager in Stowe, Connie Page from the Boston Globe, and Channel 7 regarding the 2.1 earthquake in West Acton , MA
• October 6, 2004: Interviewed by Erika Kahn from the Keene Sentinel, the Associated Press, WZIB 95.7 in Manchester, NH, Channel 7 and the Boston Herald regarding the 2.0 earthquake in the Keene, New Hampshire area
• September 3, 2004: Interviewed by USA Weekend Magazine, for a cover story on Earthquakes
• May 26, 2004: Interviewed by the History Channel at the Weston Observatory. This will be aired in December 2004
• April 9, 2004: Interviewed by Channel 7 News regarding Earthquakes in New England, this show was aired on May 3, 2004 on the 11pm news
• February 24, 2004: Telephone interview with Jack Peterson from WBSM , John Leaning from the Cape Cod Times, and WCVB TV and WBZ regarding the 2.0 earthquake in New Bedford
• February 11, 2004: Telephone interview with Dennis McCafferty from the USA Weekend Magazine regarding the 1755 Earthquake
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
• Ebel, John E., A. Macherides Moulis, D. Smith, and M. Hagerty, The 2006-2007 Earthquake Sequence at Bar Harbor, Maine, Seismological Research Letters, Vol. 79, No. 3, 457-478.
• Ebel, John E., Daniel W. Chambers, Alan L. Kafka, and Jenny A. Baglivo, Non-Poissonian Earquake Clustering and the Hidden Markov Model as Bases for Earthquake Forecasting in California, Seismological Research Letters, Vol 78, No. 1, p. 47-55, January/February 2007.
• Kafka, Alan L., Ebel, John E. “Exaggerated Claims About Earthquake Predictions: “Amazing Success” or “Remarkably Unremarkable”?”, EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, accepted for publication, November 2006.
• Kafka, Alan L., Ebel, John E., Barnett, G.M., Macherides-Moulis, A., Campbell, Leslie, Gordon, Steve, “Classroom Seismographs and the Challenge of Encouraging a Culture of Scientific Inquiry in K-12 Schools”, Seismological Research Letters, Vol 77, No. 6, p. 734-738, November/December 2006.
• Ebel, J.E. “An Earthquake Detection, Identification and Location System for the Northeastern U.S. based on the Wavelet Transform”, Seismological Research Letters, Vol. 77, No. 2, p. 214, March/April 2006.
• Ebel, J.E. “An Earthquake detection, identification, and location system for the northeastern U.S. Based on the wavelet transform”, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 151st Meeting, Vol. 119, No. 5, Pt. 2 of 2, P. 3308, May 2006.
• Ebel, J.E., Chambers, Daniel W., Kafka, Alan L., Baglivo, Jenny A., “Short-Term Non-poissonian Temporal Clustering of Magnitude 4+ Earthquakes in California and Western Nevada,” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 151st Meeting, Vol. 119, No. 5, Pt. 2 of 2, P. 3306, May 2006.
• Ebel, John, E., Kafka, Alan L., (2006), Temporal Variations in the M>=4 Seismicity of
• Ebel, John E., Smith, D., “Mapping Predicted MMI for Earthquakes in the Northeast U.S. Using an Automated GIS”, Seismological Research Letters, Vol 77, No. 1, p.100, January/February 2006.
• Hagerty, M.T., Ebel, John E., “The New England Seismic Network (NESN)”, Seismological Research Letters, Vol 77, No. 1, p. 99-100, January/February 2006.
• Niemi, N., Ebel, John, E., (2006), Coincidence of Temporal Changes in Earthquake Clustering and Geodetic Velocity in the Basin and Range, Western United States, EOS Trans. AGU, 87(52), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract G34A-03.
• Tuttle, M.P., Moseley, C., Witkowski, A., Daniszewska, G., Efros, J., Ebel, J., “Evidence for a Tsunami Along the Northern New England Cost ~2,000 Years Ago”, Seismological Research Letters, Vol 77, No. 1, p. 108, January/February 2006.
• Ebel, J.E., Chambers, Daniel W., Kafka, Alan L., Baglivo, Jenny A., “Short-Term Non-Poissonian Temporal Clustering of Magnitude 4+ Earthquakes in California and Western Nevada,” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 151st Meeting, Vol. 119, No. 5, Pt. 2 of 2, P. 3306, May 2006,
• Ebel, J.E. “The Cape Ann,
• Urzua, A. and Ebel, J.E. WEBSHAKE: An Internet Tool to Perform Frequency Domain Level Ground Amplification Studies, Seismological Research Letters, 76, 117, 2005.
• Kafka, A., Barnett, M., Bellegrade, H., Ebel, J.E., Gruber, M., Macherides-Moulis, A., Pfitzner, A. and Smith, D., The
• Ebel, J.E., The Effect of Long-Period Energy on Expected Ground Motions of Future Earthquakes in Boston, Massachusetts, Seismological Research Letters, 76, 118, 2005.
• Ebel, J.E., Urzua, A., and Britton, J., The Effect of Local Surficial Geology on the Ground Motions of Future Earthquakes in Boston, Massachusetts: A Comparison with Seismic Codes, October 2004, 57th Canadian Geotechnical Conference, GEOQUEBEC, Session 6C, p. 10-16.
• Ebel, J.E. and Kafka, A.L., Evaluating Short-Term Probability Forecasts of M4+ Earthquakes in California and Western Nevada Since 2001, Eos Trans. AGU, 85 (47), Fall Meet. Suppl. Abstract S21B-0279, 2004.
• Kafka, A.L., Barnett, M., Ebel, J.E., Bellegarde, H. and Campbell, L., The 2004 Parkfield, CA Earthquake: A Teachable Moment for Understanding of Earthquake Processes, Probability, and Earthquake Prediction, Eos Trans. AGU, 85, (47), 2004.
• Zhu, L. and J.E. Ebel, Automated Seismic Signal Identification Algorithm for the
• Ebel, J.E., Update on a Wavelet-Based Event Detector and Identifier at Weston Observatory, Seismological Research Letters, 75, 443, 2004.
• Ebel, J.E., Spatial Variation of Short-term M 4+ Earthquake Clusters in Central and Northern California and Western Nevada, Seismological Research Letters, 75, 250, 2004.
• Ebel, J.E. and M.P. Tuttle, The Seismic Hazard from Major Earthquakes in the Central and Eastern United States, 2004 Abstracts with Programs, 39th Annual Meeting, Northeastern Section, Geological Society of America, 36, 148, 2004.
• Ebel, J.E., The Seismic Hazard from Major Earthquakes in the Central and Eastern United States, Oklahoma Geology Notes, v. 64, nos. 1-4, 2004.
• Ebel, J.E. and D. J. Wald, (2003) Bayesian Estimations of Peak Ground Acceleration and 5 % Damped Spectral Acceleration from Modified Mercalli Intensity Data, Earthquake Spectra, to appear in the August 2003 issue.
• Ebel, J.E. and Kafka, A.L., (2002) A Non-Poissonian Element in the Seismicity of the Northeastern United States, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 92, No. 5, pp. 1-, May 2002.
• Ebel, J.E. and Kafka, A.L., (2002) Nonrandom Clustering of M4+ Seismicity in Northern and Central California, (abstract) EOS, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union, 2002 Fall Meeting, Vol. 83(47).
• Ebel, J.E. and M. Tuttle, (2002) Earthquakes in the Eastern Great Lakes Basin from a Regional Perspective, Tectonophysics, vol. 353, (2002) pp. 17-30.
• Ebel, J.E., (2002) Watching the Weather Using a Seismograph, published in the Eduquakes column, Seismological Research Letters, Vol. 73, No. 6, pp. 930-932, November/December 2002.
• Ebel, J.E., (2002) Seismologists Must Begin Forecasting Earthquakes, submitted as an Opinion to Seismological Research Letters, 2002.
• Hayles, K.E., Ebel, J.E. and A. Urzua, (2001) Microtremor Measurements to Obtain Resonant Frequencies and Ground Shaking Amplification for Soil Sites in Boston, MA, Civil Engineering Practice, Vol. 16, No. 2, Fall/Winter 2001.
• Ebel, J. E. and Hart, K., (2001) Observational Evidence for Amplification of Earthquake Ground Motions in
• Ebel, J.E., Bonjer, K. and Oncescu, M., (2000) Paleoseismicity: Seismicity Evidence for Past Large Earthquakes. Seismological Research Letters, vol. 71, No. 2, pp. 283-294, March/April 2000.
• Ebel, J.E., (2000) A Reanalysis of the 1727 Earthquake at Newbury, Massachusetts, Seismological Research Letters, vol. 71, No. 3, pp. 364-374, May/June 2000.
• Gendron, P., Ebel, J.E. and D. Manolakis, (2000) Rapid Joint Detection and Classification with Wavelet Bases via Bayes Theorem, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, vol. 90, No. 3, pp. 764-774, June 2000.
• Ebel, J.E. and A. Kafka (August1999) A
• Ebel, J.E. (1999) Earthquakes in
• Ebel,. J.E., Bonjer and Oncescu, (1998), Paleoseismicity: Seismicity Evidence for Past Large Earthquakes, Seismological Research Letters, Vol. 69, No. 2, March/April 1998.
• Kummer, K. and J. E. Ebel, (1998), Microtremor Measurements to Obtain Resonant Frequencies and Ground Shaking Amplification for Soil Sites in Boston, MA, Seismological Research Letters, Vol. 69, No. 1, January/February 1998.
• Ebel,. J.E., Bonjer and Oncescu, (1998), Paleoseismicity: Seismicity Evidence for Past Large Earthquakes, Seismological Research Letters, Vol. 69, No. 1, January/February 1998.
• Ebel, J.E. and Spotila, J.A. (1998), Modern Earthquake Activity and the Norumbega Fault, Special Volume on the Norumbega Fault, (abstracts with programs) The Geological Society of America, 33rd Annual Meeting, Northeastern SEction, Portland, ME.
• Ebel, J.E. Lazarewicz, A.R. and Kafka, A.L. (1997), Investigating Seismotectonics in the Eastern U.S. Using a Geographic Information System, Fall Meeting of American Geophysical Union, (abstracts with programs), Vol. 78, No. 46, November 18, 1997, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Report NUREG/CR-6573.
• Ebel, J. E. (1996) The Seventeenth Century Seismicity of Northeastern North America, Seismological Research Letters67, No. 3, pp. 51-68.
• Feng, Q. and Ebel, J.E. (1996) Determination of Rupture Duration and Stress Drop for Earthquakes in New England, Seismological Research Letters, 67, No. 1, pp. 38-51.
• Kozak, J. and Ebel, J.E. (1996) Macroseismic Information from Historic Pictorial Sources, Pure and Applied Geophysics, 146, pp. 103-111.
• Ebel, J. E. (1994) The MLg Magnitude Scale: A Proposal for its Use for Northeastern North America, Seismological Research Letters, Vol. 65, pp. 159-166.
• Klotz, L.H. and Ebel, J.E. (1994) Earthquakes in the Eastern U.S.: How Vunerable are We? Evaluation Risks and Mitigating Losses: New Opportunities and New Challenges, • • Proceedings of the First Annual Congress on Natural Disaster Loss Reduction, Insurance Institute for Property Loss Reduction, pp. 43-49.
• Zhu, H. and Ebel, J.E. (1994) Tomographic Inversion for the Seismic Velocity Structure Beneath Northern New England Using Seismic Refraction Data, Journal Geophysical Research, 99, pp. 15:223-15:357.
• Doll, W.E., Rea, C.D., Ebel, J.E., Craven, S.J., and Cipar, J.J. (1992) Analysis of Shallow Microearthquakes in the South Sebec Seismic Zone, Maine, 1989-1990, Seismological Research Letters, 63, pp 557-566.
• Zhao, X. and Ebel, J.E. (1991) Radiation Pattern of Crustal Phases of New England Earthquakes, Geophysical Journal International, 106, pp. 647-655.
• Ebel, J.E. and Kafka, A.L. (1991) Earthquake Activity in the Northeastern United States, Neotectonics of North America, Slemmons, D.B., Engdahl, E.R., Zoback, M.D. and Blackwell, D.D., The Geological Society of America, Decade Map, Volume 1, pp. 277-290.
• Ebel, J.E., and Bonjer, K.P. (1990) Moment Tensor Inversion of Small Earthquakes in Southwestern Germany for the Fault Plane Solution, Geophysical Journal International, v. 101, pp. 133-146.
• Ebel, J.E., and K.P. Bonjer (1989) Moment Tensor Inversion of Small Earthquakes in Southwestern Germany for Fault Plane Solutions, Geophysical Journal International, vol. 101, p. 133-146.
• Ebel, J.E. (1989) A Comparison of the 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1987-1988 Microearthquake Swarms at Moodus, Connecticut, Seismological Research Letters, 60, pp. 177-183.
• Ebel, J.E. (1989) The Effect of Crustal Scattering on Observed High-Frequency Earthquake Seismograms, Geophysical Journal International, 98, pp. 329-341.
• Ebel, J.E., and B.R. Bouck (1988). Spatial and Temporal Variations of Earthquake Focal Mechanisms in New England and Adjacent Areas, Seismological Research Letters, vol. 59, p. 183-187.
RECENT BOOK REVIEWS:
Sieh, Kerry and LeVay, Simon (1998) The Earth in Turmoil: Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Their Impact on Humankind Chapter 11 features John E. Ebel, Director of Weston Observatory; Boston College; Jesuits and Science, WH Freeman, NY.