Susan Elizabeth Hough (born March 20, 1961) is a seismologist at the United States Geological Survey in Pasadena, California, and scientist in charge of the office. She has served as an editor and contributor for many journals and is a contributing editor to ''Geotimes Magazine''. She is the author of five books, including ''Earthshaking Science'' (Princeton).

Biography

Hough graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1982 and is a University of California, San Diego Alumna, earning her Ph.D. in geophysics from the

Scripps Institution of Oceanography The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sometimes referred to as SIO, Scripps Oceanography, or Scripps) in San Diego, California, US founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and Earth science research, public serv ...

in 1987. She has served on the board of directors of the

Seismological Society of America The Seismological Society of America (SSA) is an international scientific society devoted to the advancement of seismology and the understanding of earthquakes for the benefit of society. Founded in 1906, the society has members throughout the wor ...

from 1998 to 2004 and of the

Southern California Earthquake Center The Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) is a collaboration of more than 1,000 scientists across 100 research institutions with a mission to: conduct research on earthquakes in Southern California and elsewhere by gathering data, conductin ...

from 2006 to 2009. Subsequent to the

2010 Haiti earthquake A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's cap ...

, Hough led the United States Geological Survey team charged with the installation of seismic stations and accelerometers. The USGS are contributing to earthquake engineering efforts by improving earthquake monitoring and reporting by means of their USGS

Advanced National Seismic System The Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) is a collaboration of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and regional, state, and academic partners that collects and analyzes data on significant earthquakes to provide near real-time (generally within 10 ...

(ANSS). Hough and her team deployed portable seismometers for recording aftershocks of the earthquake,Susan Hough
www.newscientist.com and she continues to cooperate with Haitian seismologosists for setting up permanent seismic monitoring in their country. Areas at risk in future earthquakes are mapped by means of

seismic microzonation Seismic microzonation is defined as the process of subdividing a potential seismic or earthquake prone area into zones with respect to some geological and geophysical characteristics of the sites such as ground shaking, liquefaction susceptibility ...

using local geological conditions to characterize seismic hazard. Normally, the effect of sedimentary layers are considered, however local topography is not considered in this context. However, the results provided by Hough and her team highlighted that topographic amplification played a major role in causing the earthquake damage in

Pétion-Ville Pétion-Ville ( ht, Petyonvil) is a commune and a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in the hills east and separate from the city itself on the northern hills of the Massif de la Selle. Founded in 1831 by president Jean-Pierre Boyer, it was named a ...

, a suburb of

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, thereby challenging the conventional view on factors to consider when performing microzonation. Hough has written numerous articles for mainstream publications such as the '' Los Angeles Times''. Altogether she has published over 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals.AGU Council – Seismology – Secretary Candidate: Susan Hough
, American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Publications

;Books * ''Predicting the Unpredictable: The Tumultuous Science of Earthquake Prediction'' (2009), Princeton University Press, * ''Richter's Scale: Measure of an Earthquake, Measure of a Man'', a biography of famed seismologist

Charles Richter Charles Francis Richter (; April 26, 1900 – September 30, 1985) was an American seismologist and physicist. Richter is most famous as the creator of the Richter magnitude scale, which, until the development of the moment magnitude scale in 19 ...

(2007), Princeton University Press, * ''After the Earth Quakes: Elastic Rebound on an Urban Planet'' (2005), Oxford University Press, * ''Finding Fault in California: An Earthquake Tourist's Guide'' (2004),

Mountain Press Publishing Company Mountain Press Publishing Company is an American book publishing company based in Missoula, Montana. It specializes in western U.S. history, natural history, and non-technical earth science, geology, and ecology. The company began in 1948 wh ...

, * ''Earthshaking Science: What We Know (and Don't Know) about Earthquakes'' (2004), Princeton University Press, *''The Great Quake Debate: The Crusader, the Skeptic, and the Rise of Modern Seismology'' (2020),

University of Washington Press The University of Washington Press is an American academic publishing house. The organization is a division of the University of Washington, based in Seattle. Although the division functions autonomously, they have worked to assist the universit ...

, ISBN 9780295747361 ;Articles (selection) * Susan E. Hough, Alan Yong, Jean Robert Altidor, Dieuseul Anglade, Doug Given, Saint-Louis Mildor
Site Characterization and Site Response in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Earthquake Spectra, Volume 27, Issue S1 (October 2011) * Susan Hough

Washington Post, 26 August 2011 * S. Hough, J. Altidor, D. Anglade, D. Given

Nature Geoscience, 2010 * Susan E. Hough
Haiti is a reminder of how we can help other quake-prone areas
Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2010 * Susan Hough

New York Times, 11 April 2009

References

External links

USGS profile of Susan Hough
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hough, Susan American seismologists American biographers American science writers 1961 births Living people American women geologists Scientists from California United States Geological Survey personnel University of California, Berkeley alumni 20th-century American geologists 21st-century American geologists 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American women scientists 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers Women geophysicists American geophysicists 21st-century American non-fiction writers American women biographers