Alan L. Kafka, Associate Professor
Ph.D. (Geophysics), Stony Brook University (1980)
M.S. (Applied Mathematics), Stony Brook University (1973)
B.A. (Mathematics), New York University (1971)
INTERESTS:
Seismology, Earthquake Hazards, Science Education, Science and Public Policy
CONTACT INFO:
phone: 617-552-3650
e-mail: kafka@bc.edu
Personal Home Page: www2.bc.edu/~kafka/
M.S. ALUMNI AND PROJECTS:
| Jill Thompson | Probabilistic analysis of earthquake losses in the Boston area. (2007). |
| Heather Wagner | Effect of tectonic environment on the extent to which seismicity delineates zones where future large earthquakes tend to occur. (2007). |
| Kristi Rasmusson | Probabilistic analysis of social and economic losses due to large earthquakes in New England. (2003). |
| Jennifer Malmstrom | The disparate impacts of earthquakes on developing versus industrialized nations. (2002). |
| Hana Baker | Prediction of capillary pressure curves using dielectric spectra. (2001). |
| Dina Smith | Signal, noise and siting analysis of New England PEPP stations. (2001). |
| Jessica Walcott | Use of the spatial distributions of small earthquakes to forecast the locations of larger earthquakes in the eastern United States. (1997). |
| Stephan Koester | Analysis of seismic phases recorded by a small-aperture seismic array syrrounding Weston Observatory: coherency & spectral amplitude ratios. (1995). |
| Pnina Miller | Investigation of the correlations between seismicity and geological and geophysical features near two mesozoic rift basins in the northeastern United States. (1995). |
| Allyn Bowers | Tomographic analysis of three-dimensional variation in the seismic velocity structure of the shallow crust underlying southern New England. (1993). |
| Susan D'Annolfo | Investigation of lateral variation in the seismic velocity structure of the shallow crust beneath eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. (1992). |
| Matthew Jacobson-Carroll | Site effects on regional seismograms recorded in the vicinity of Weston Observatory. (1992) |
| Teresa Kennedy | Methodology for the correlation of electromagnetic induction log data with hydrogeological data obtained by other methods. (1992). |
| Zhiping Tu | A study of rg wave dispersion in New Hampshire and Vermont. (1989). |
| Scot Gnewuch | Investigation of velocity and anelastic attenuation structures of the shallow crust in New England by time domain modeling of Rg waves. (1987). |
| Michael Kozuch | Spatio-temporal relationships in New England seismicity. (1987). |
| John McTigue | Modeling upper crustal structures in southern New England using short-period Rg waves. (1986) |
| Robert Fowler | Attenuation of Rg waves in southern New England. (1985). |
| Matthew Dollin | The use of Rg waves to constrain crustal velocity structure in Connecticut. (1984). |
PROFESIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Director, Boston College Educational Seismology Project (2004 - present)
Associate Professor, Geology and Geophysics, Boston College (1989 - present)
Associate Director, Weston Observatory, Boston College (2004 - present)
Department Chair, Geology and Geophysics, Boston College (2001 - 2007)
Adjunct Associate Professor, Geology and Geophysics, Boston College (1987-1989)
National Research Council Associate, AFGL, Hanscom AFB, MA (1985-1986)
Assistant Professor, Geology and Geophysics, Boston College (1983-1984)
Research Associate, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, Columbia University (1979-1982)
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences, City College of New York (1982)
Instructor, Mathematics, Suffolk County Community College, Selden, NY (1974-1975)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
• 2007 Kafka, A.L., Does seismicity delineate zones where future large earthquakes will occur in intraplate environments?, In Continental Intraplate Earthquakes: Science, Hazard, and Policy Issues, Geological Society of America volume, Geological Society of America Special Paper 425, Edited by S. Stein and S. Mazzotti, 35-48, doi: 10.1130/2007.2425(03).
• 2007 Kafka, A.L, Ebel, J.E., Exaggerated claims about earthquake predictions, EOS, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union, 88(1), 1,6.
• 2007 Ebel, J.E., D.W. Chambers, Kafka, A.L., and J.A. Baglivo, Non-poissonian earthquake clustering and hidden Markov model as bases for earthquake forecasting in California, Seismological Research Letters, 77(1), 47-55.
• 2006 Kafka, A.L., J.E. Ebel, M. Barnett, A. Macherides Moulis, L. Campbell, and S.E. Gordon, Classroom seismographs and the challenge of encouragine a culture of scientific inquiry in K-12 schools, Seismological Research Letters, 77(6), 74-86.
• 2005 Barnett, M., A.L. Kafka, A. Pfitzner, and E. Syzmanski, The Living Earth: Inviting students into the world of scientific research through seismology, Journal of College Science Teaching, .
• 2005 Kafka, A.L., The value of dialogue between scientists and theologians: A geophysicist's perspective, In The Dialogue Between Science and Religion: What We Have Learned from One Another, P. Byrne, Editor, University of Scranton Press, 143-1 56.
• 2004 Ebel, J.E. and A.L. Kafka, Evaluating short-term probability forecasts of M4+ earthquakes in California and Western Nevada since 2001, EOS, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union, 85(47),
• 2004 Kafka, A.L. and H.A. Bellegarde, Around the world with cellular seismology, Seismological Research Letters, 75(3), 451,
• 2003 Kafka, A.L. and K. Rasmusson, Using the AS1 seismograph for laboratory exercises in an introductory geophysics course: turning seismic moments into teachable moments, Seismological Research Letters, 74(5), 618-624.
• 2002 Kafka, A.L, Statistical analysis of the hypothesis that seismicity delineates areas where future large earthquakes are likely to occur in the central and eastern United States, Seismological Research Letters, 73(6), 990-1001.
• 2002 Ebel, J.E. and A.L. Kafka, A non-poissonian element in the seismicity of the northeastern United States, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 92(5), 2040-2045.
• 2001 Kafka, A.L., Not always on solid ground: Earthquake causes in Northeast still a mystery to seismologists, Natural New England Magazine, 5, 53-57.
• 2000 Kafka, A.L. and S.Z. Levin, Does the spatial distribution of smaller earthquakes delineate areas where larger earthquakes are likely to occur?, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 90(3), 724-738.
• 2000 Kafka, A.L., Public misconceptions about faults and earthquakes in the eastern United States: Is it our own fault?, Seismological Research Letters, 71(3), 311-312.
• 1999 Kafka, A.L., Dr. Quake goes to high school, Seismological Research Letters, 70(2), 179-182.
• 1999 Kafka, A.L., and E.K. Driscoll, Earthquakes in the area surrounding the Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts, Seismological Research Letters, 70(4), 446-460.
• 1999 Ebel, J.E. and A.L. Kafka, A Monte Carlo approach to seismic hazard analysis, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 89(4), 854-866.
• 1998 Kafka, A.L. and Walcott, J.R., How well does the spatial distribution of smaller earthquakes forecast the locations of larger earthquakes in the northeastern United States?, Seismological Research Letters, 69(5), 428-439.
• 1997 Ebel, J.E., A.R. Lazarewicz, A.L. Kafka, A geographic information system approach to investigating the correlation of seismicity with tectonic features in the central and eastern United States, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Report NUREG/CR-6573.
• 1996 Kafka, A.L. and P.E. Miller, Seismicity in the area surrounding two Mesozoic rift basins in the northeastern United States, Seismological Research Letters, 67(3), 69-86.
• 1995 Kafka, A.L., The October 1994 earthquake in central Massachusetts: Was it reservoir induced?, Seismological Research Letters, 66(2), 37, Abstract.
• 1991 Ebel, J.E. and A.L. Kafka, Earthquake activity in the northeastern United States, in Decade of North American Geology, vol. GSMV-1, Neotectonics of North America, D.B. Slemmons, E.R. Engdahl, D. Blackwell, D. Schwartz and M. Zoback, Edit ors, Chapter 15, 277-290, 1991.
• 1990 Kafka, A.L., Rg as a depth discriminant for earthquakes and explosions: a case study in New England, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 80(2), 373-394.
• 1990 Saikia, C.K., A.L. Kafka, S.C. Gne wuch, and J.M. McTigue, Shear wave velocity and attenuation structure of the shallow crust in southeastern New England from dispersion of Rg waves, Journal of Geophysical Research, 95(B6), 8527-8541.
• 1989 Kafka, A.L., M.A. Winslow and N.L. Barstow, Earthquake activity in the greater New York City area: a faultfinder's guide, in Field Trip Guidebook, 61st Annual Meeting, N.Y. State Geological Association, D. Weiss, ed., p. 177-205, 1989.
• 1987 Kafka, A. L., and E.C. Reiter, Dispersion of Rg waves in southeastern Maine: Evidence for lateral anisotropy in the shallow crust, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 77(3), 925-941.
• 1985 Kafka, A.L., E.A. Schlesinger-Miller and N.L. Barstow, Earthquake activity in the greater New York City area: magnitudes, seismicity and geologic structures, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 75(5), 1285-1300.
• 1982 Nishenko, S.P., and A.L. Kafka, Earthquake focal mechanisms and the intraplate setting of the Bermuda Rise, Journal of Geophysical Research, 87(B5), 3929-3941.
• 1981 Kafka, A.L., and D.J. Weidner, Earthquake focal mechanisms and tectonic processes along the southern boundary of the Caribbean plate, Journal of Geophysical Research, 86(B4), 2877-2888.
• 1979 Kafka, A.L., and D.J. Weidner, The focal mechanisms and depths of small earthquakes as determined from Rayleigh wave radiation patterns, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 69(5), 1379-1390.