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Lucy Jones

@drlucyjones.bsky.social
8.8K followers 87 following 112 posts

Seismologist in Southern California. Viol player. Founder of Tempo: Music for Climate Action

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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The small quakes this last weekend in Los Angeles were at an offset in the Newport-Inglewood fault. 110 quakes, all small 1≤M≤2.5, all deep ≥12 km, filled in the offset. A similar swarm occurred at another offset in 2021. Part of the gradual coalescing of a fault over hundreds of thousands of years.
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Outside of local triggering (eg., aftershocks), the global distribution of big earthquakes is random in time. That means there is an average rate (15 M7+ evets/yr) but the time since the last event doesn't matter. Sometimes we see clusters - if there were no clusters, it woldn't be random.
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Dr. Wendy Bohon @drwendyrocks.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Shallow magnitude 7.3 earthquake 48 km SW of Aquiles Serdán, Mexico earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...
Star shows the location of the earthquake just offshore of Mexico near the border with Guatemala
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Interesting times near the Garlock fault. A M4.1 near the western end of the Garlock on Saturday and a M4.1 near the central section a few minutes ago. But neither is actually on the Garlock fault. The first is a thrust fault (maybe the Pleito fault) and today's is in a swarm south of the Garlock.
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Caltech Seismological Laboratory @caltechseismo.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Just like it takes only 30 people to have a 50-50 chance of a shared birthday, regions with a long history of earthquakes can have a multi-earthquake anniversary. For SoCal, it’s June 28 - 1966, 1991, and 1992.
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Thoughts from a seismologist on the Venezuelan earthquakes: We are seeing the damage in Caracas and the most recent models show that Caracas was badly hit. But there are almost 1 million people who received even stronger shaking earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...
earthquake.usgs.gov
The Earthquake Event Page application supports most recent browsers, view supported browsers. Or, try our Real-time Notifications, Feeds, and Web Services.
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Caltech Seismological Laboratory @caltechseismo.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Earlier today @drlucyjones.bsky.social sat down with Dr. Kate Scharer, USGS, to discuss the paper that Kate co-authored regarding the 1000 year high stress on the San Andreas Fault! And how this is not the end of the world, but just a new understanding of its dynamics. buff.ly/u85G8w1
youtu.be
Thoughts About The Earth Ep. 0
Dr. Lucy Jones sits down with Dr. Kate Scharer to discuss recent news regarding the San Andreas Fault and it's "imminent" rupture.
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Andrea Thompson @andreatweather.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
The quake in the Philippines was objectively large, but for a subduction zone, was a bit middling. I spoke to @drlucyjones.bsky.social about why. 🧪
scientificamerican.com
The Philippines earthquake is massive, but it could’ve been bigger—here’s why
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake that hit the Philippines happened at a subduction zone. Such places are capable of producing the largest earthquakes possible
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Dr. Judith Hubbard @judithgeology.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
⚒️ 🧪 A M7.8 earthquake occurred beneath the southern Philippines today; the USGS estimates that 1 million people experienced severe shaking; footage shows collapsed buildings. The earthquake occurred within the east-dipping subducting plate that underlies the island.
earthquakeinsights.substack.com
Deadly M7.8 earthquake rocks southern Philippines
Related to eastward subduction beneath Mindanao
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
In the M7.8 earthquake near Mindanao, 22 million people received Intensity V-VIII shaking so USGS estimates losses >$100M and fatalities >10. It looks like part of the complex subduction of the Philippine plate below the Sunda plate. Tsunami warning for Mindanao. earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
The Imperial Valley has seen dozens if not hundreds of these sort of swarms over the century we have recorded. A swarm is a group of quakes (dozens to thousands) where there are many quakes close in size and no obvious mainshock. Often the size will grow like we've seen here going from M3s to M4s.
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
The Brawley swarm is continuing and getting a bit bigger. It began with a M3.5 at 4:14 pm. After 4 M3s, it gave us a M4.4 at 7:22. Then a couple more larger events M4.0 and M4.5. There is no sign of a drop off in number of events, so we shouldn't be surprised if we see at least a few more M3s.
scedc.caltech.edu
List of Earthquakes for 116-33
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
So 2 areas with swarms ongoing in Southern California. A classic Brawley seismic zone swarm today in the Imperial Valley fault. Largest so far is M4.1. These continue until they stop so we will likely see more M3s tonight and may get bigger.
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
We have an exciting event coming up to bring music and science together- a collaboration between Colburn School and Caltech. April 25. In The Name of a Warming Earth' - Dr. Lucy Jones localnewspasadena.com/2026/in-the-...
localnewspasadena.com
‘In The Name of a Warming Earth’ – Dr. Lucy Jones - Local News Pasadena
Data feels real when it's delivered as emotion Data feels real when it's delivered as emotion
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
My last anniversary is the happiest one of the week. Georg Philipp Telemann was born 345 years ago and we are celebrating with an all-Telemann concert by Los Angeles Baroque
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
The third anniversary of the week. 100 years ago today, LADWP began impounding water at the San Fransquito Dam in northern LA County. Exactly 2 years later on 3/12/1928, the dam failed suddenly and catastrophically, releasing 47million cubic meters of water, killing 430+ people.
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Another anniversary. 15 years ago today, the M9.1 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami swept through northeaster Honshu, sweeping away whole towns and killing almost 18,000 people. Five years later, this town of Otsuchi was still struggling with what to allow to be rebuilt.
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
The 1933 Long Beach earthquake occurred 93 years ago today, beginning near Huntington Beach and rupturing north for 15 miles to just north of Long Beach. It cause strong shaking through much of the Los Angeles region. with the worst damage in Long Beach and Compton.
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Caltech Seismological Laboratory @caltechseismo.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
#EQHistory: 1971 M6.6 San Fernando. The event killed 65. In the aftermath Caltech seismologist Clarence Allen went to Sacramento with a message: geologists know where active faults are and we can prevent building on them. His testimony helped the passage of the Alquist-Priolo Act. buff.ly/Yzs6NPt
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Tonight's M4.9 north of Indio is the largest quake in SoCal since the M5.2 near Julian last April.
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
A M4.9 quake occurred this evening north of Indio. It is east of the San Andreas fault, far enough away to not change the likelihood of a quake on the San Andreas. It's located very near the minor EW-striking Blue Cut fault earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
I’m releasing a few new episodes of my podcast to discuss the science around wildfires podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...
podcasts.apple.com
Getting Through It
Science Podcast · Updated Monthly · In this broadcast, Dr. Jones shares how the world works, why you might feel the way you do about a particular disaster, and how you can manage the chaos around you ...
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Again, Kyle and Judith provide a great summary of the science around this earthquake
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Sometimes, music is the only tool I have for coping with the world. youtu.be/2Xj0KSgD24k?...
youtu.be
This Land Is Your Land
YouTube video by delreyjones
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
I love xkcd
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
This was a fun interview. It ended up being quite a retrospective on how seismology has changed over the 4 decades I have been in Pasadena. making-l-a.simplecast.com/episodes/luc...
making-l-a.simplecast.com
Lucy Jones: Seismology, ShakeOuts, and String Quartets | Making Los Angeles
What do Chinese literature, medieval string instruments, and earthquake drills have in common? In Los Angeles, the answer is Lucy Jones. Often called “L.A.’s earthquake queen” — a nickname she’s not e...
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
In the last 24 hours, we have seen several M3s in 3 locations. The events near Ontario are at the western end of the Fontana trend. The Lytle Creek events are near the San Andreas & the Rialto events are where the Fontana trend intersects the San Andreas. Last week's M4.3 was at the Rialto location
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
The New York - Philadelphia - Wilmington urban corridor has felt small earthquakes roughly every 2-3 years. Moderately damaging earthquakes strike somewhere in the urban corridor roughly twice a century. So infrequent but not weird
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
On the M4.3 on the Fontana trend
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Looks like a small swarm in the Fontana trend. This M4.2 had a few foreshcoks including a M3.0. The Fontana trend is a NE-striking lineation of earthquakes under the sediments of the San Bernardino Vslley. We believe it is one of the left-lateral striking faults that are south of the San Gabriels.
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
The 7/29/2025 M8.8 looks like a repeat of an earthquake in 1952
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Dr. Wendy Bohon @drwendyrocks.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
In addition to many M7+ earthquakes, this boundary has also hosted half a dozen M8+ earthquakes. Red circles mark the epicenter above the site where fault rupture began, and yellow shows the area on the megathrust fault that ruptured.
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Even very small quakes can be felt if you are nearby (and a shallow quake is closer to people on the surface). But there is not much to be said about an M2.7 except that it happened earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...
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Jón Frímann @jonfr500.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Most births in Iceland are in the summer. www.youtube.com/shorts/oRw8d...
youtube.com
Icelandic Independence Day #nordic #comedy #denmark #iceland #history #language
YouTube video by Ólafur Waage
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
This study uses "overdue" to mean that time time since the last quake is longer than the average time between earthquakes. But that doesn't mean the next quake is more likely in the near future. The length of intervals between events is very variable even at one location.
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
This does not mean the big earthquake is more likely. Whatever is making for long intervals is happening now.
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
It is so cool to see actual fault offset, but I am also struck by how small the shaking is. This is the ultimate "near-field" site, but the shaking is not enough to topple any of the tall vases.
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Caltech Seismological Laboratory @caltechseismo.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
#FieldPhotoFriday Back from the beach and up into the mountains, sometimes the field techs need to go even higher! Atop an antenna at the peak of a mountain near Lake Arrowhead to be exact! Climbing can be a regular part of the job, they do what it takes to keep the data flowing!
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
I've partnered with OcTech, Caltech's choral octet, to create Courage To Care: a concert & discussion to process climate angst in a time of historic fires. If you're in SoCal, come build community with us! Sunday, April 27th, 7:30 PM Dabney Lounge on the Caltech campus Tickets: No tickets - free!
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Interesting to look at the detailed relocations of the aftershocks to the M5.2. It looks like they are not on the main strand of the Elsinore fault.
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Earthquake Early Warning requires estimating the magnitude from the first few seconds on just a few stations. It is always very rough but lets us get out something quickly. There is a lot of variation between locations. The final magnitude averages 100+ stations and is always more accurate
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
When my grandson's preschool teacher (in Orange County) told the children to Drop and Cover as the Julian quake happened, my grandson yelled out "And hold on!". I'm so proud
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Today's M5.2 is the largest quake near the Elsinore fault since I came to California in 1983. But there were quite a few M4s along the way. A junior sibling to the San Andreas, the Elsinore is long enough to have given us some bigger events
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
I was proud to be a federal scientist at the USGS for 33 years. "Earth science in the public service" meant I could focus on creating and explaining science for public officials and providing public education, not just educating students at one university. theconversation.com/us-earthquak...
theconversation.com
US earthquake safety relies on federal employees’ expertise
The US experiences violent earthquakes, but the damage and death toll is much lower than in many countries because of the work of federal seismologists and engineers.
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Dr. Lucy Jones Center @dljcss.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
#AirTalk with Larry Mantle celebrates 40 years on air, with leading voices joining to help listeners better understand the many facets of L.A.—from science to politics to history. Hear from guests, including seismologist @drlucyjones.bsky.social in this special episode: laist.com/shows/airtal...
laist.com
40 years of AirTalk
Today on AirTalk, we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the very first live airing of AirTalk with Larry Mantle. Join us on a journey through the ages as we look back at the show's history and ho...
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Alissa Walker @awalkerinla.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
After the fires, the only person I wanted to talk to was @drlucyjones.bsky.social. I was so thrilled to be able to sit down with her for this interview for Dwell. Our conversation about LA's future was, at times, painfully honest — but ultimately very hopeful
dwell.com
“We’re Going to Have Something Worse”: What Dr. Lucy Jones Says Will Make L.A. More Fire Resilient
The city’s seismologist turned climate disaster expert wants better building codes but isn’t waiting around for them.
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
This is an excellent post, summarizing the scientific data from the Myanmar earthquake. The long fault and close proximity to major cities indicate a high level of damage and we should expect the death toll to rise. But the ongoing civil war near Mandalay suggests we may never know.
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
This could be devastating. This is strike-slip mechanism on a plate boundary, much like the 1906 quake on the San Andreas. The rupture length is at least 300km. The capital, Yangon, is near the fault, but I can’t yet see if the fault ruptured towards Yangon or away from it
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
The Malibu quakes: There have now been 12 M≥3.0 quakes in approximately the same location north of Malibu since February 2024. In comparison, the previous 25 years had 7 M≥3s in the same location. A couple are clear aftershocks (within a few hours of a larger event), but the others are spread out
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Lucy Jones @drlucyjones.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Wow! I'm honored that KUSC wanted to include me as a woman making history - in music! I've only got one composition to my name so this is very special. www.kusc.org/articles/wom...
kusc.org
Women Who Made (Musical) History - Classical KUSC
Celebrating Women's History Month with a look at influential women in classical music, from Hildegard Von Bingen to Dr. Lucy Jones, who broke barriers and made history.
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