Abstract Title: Basin and Range Seismicty: Distribution, regional and local 
occurrence rates, moment release and comparison with geodesy.

Abstract Author(s): Pancha, Aasha - Anderson, John G.  

Abstract: Scalar moment rates estimated from a 146-year seismicity catalog 
agree, within uncertainties, with the deformation rate of the Basin and Range 
province determined using space geodesy. Seismic moment rates have been 
estimated from a new catalog of earthquakes intended to be complete for ≥ 
5. The catalog was compiled from 15 preexisting catalogs, supplemented by the 
review of 42 published journal articles. Throughout the catalog compilation, 
care was taken to obtain the moment magnitude or a reasonable, and not 
inflated, equivalent. 80% of the moment release occurred during 10 earthquakes 
of magnitude ≥ 6.79. The spatial pattern of earthquakes matches the 
geodetic pattern of deformation. About 75% of the seismic moment release, and 
70% of the geodetic deformation, takes place in a 200 km zone along the western 
edge of the province, matching the pattern of the cumulative earthquake 
numbers. Several techniques, ultimately traceable to Kostrov and Brune, are 
used to translate the geodetic strain rates into rates of seismic moment 
release. The geodetic moment rates compare well with rates determined from 
seismicity, within error bounds. This agreement suggests that within 
uncertainties, the rate of historic earthquakes within the Basin and Range 
province, taken as a whole, provides a reasonable estimate for the future rate 
of seismicity. These results support the hypothesis that even a few years of 
detailed geodetic monitoring can provide a good constraint on seismic hazard 
estimates. b-values for the Basin and Range as a whole and localized regions 
are determined.