Active tectonics and crustal rheology. Using the Global Positioning System and Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry to measure crustal deformation near active faults, volcanoes and landslides. Models of crustal deformation through the earthquake cycle along major fault zones. Utilizing such measurements and models to better understand the rheology and deformation mechanisms in the Earth's lithosphere. 
Recent research projects focus on the active earthquake cycle and post-earthquake deformation in California and along the Denali fault, Alaska; studies of deformation associated with the subduction zone earthquakes and the distribution of asperities along subduction zones in Japan, Chile and Sumatra; and integration of GPS, InSAR and identically repeating micro-earthquake data towards an improved understanding of interseismic deformation and active faults in the San Francisco Bay area that slip both in seismic events and by aseismic creep.

Link to the Active Tectonics research group page at http://www.seismo.berkeley.edu/~burgmann for more information on research projects, publications and courses taught.

Follow this link to a complete list of publications and electronic reprints of recent papers.

 2018 - 2021 Publications:

 2018

Ramírez-Herrera, M. T., K. Gaidzik, S. Forman, V. Kostoglodov, R. Bürgmann, and C. W. Johnson (2018), Relating the long-term and short-term vertical deformation across a transect of the forearc in the central Mexican subduction zone, Geosphere, 14(2), doi:10.1130/GES01446.1. 

Thomas, A. M., N. M. Beeler, Q. Bletery, R. Bürgmann, and D. R. Shelly (2018), Using low frequency earthquake families on the San Andreas fault as deep creepmeters, J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 123, doi:10.1002/2017JB014404. 

Materna, K., T. Taira, and R. Bürgmann (2018), Aseismic Transform Fault Slip at the Mendocino Triple Junction from Characteristically Repeating Earthquakes, Geophys. Res. Lett., 45, doi:10.1002/2017GL075899.

Beeler, N. M., A. M. Thomas, R. Bürgmann, and D. R. Shelly (2018), Constraints on friction, dilatancy, diffusivity, and effective stress from low-frequency earthquake rates on the deep San Andreas Fault, J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 123, doi:10.1002/2017JB015052. 

Cohen-Waeber, J., R. Bürgmann, E. Chaussard, C. Giannico, and A. Ferretti (2018), Spatiotemporal patterns of precipitation-modulated landslide deformation from independent component analysis of InSAR time series, Geophy Res Lett., 45, 6, doi:10.1002/2017GL075950.

Xue, L., R. Bürgmann, D. R. Shelly, C. W. Johnson, and T. a. Taira (2018), Kinematics of the 2015 San Ramon, California earthquake swarm: Implications for fault zone structure and driving mechanisms, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 489, 135-144, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2018.02.018. 

Shirzaei, M., and R. Bürgmann (2018), Global climate change and local land subsidence exacerbate inundation risk to the San Francisco Bay Area, Sci. Adv., 4(3), doi:10.1126/sciadv.aap9234. 

Xu, W., G. Feng, L. Meng, A. Zhang, J. P. Ampuero, R. Bürgmann, and L. Fang (2018), Transpressional Rupture Cascade of the 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikoura Earthquake, New Zealand, J. Geophys. Res., 123 (3), doi:10.1002/2017JB015168. 

Liang, C., Z. Liu, E. J. Fielding, and R. Bürgmann (2018), InSAR Time Series Analysis of L-band Wide-Swath SAR Data Acquired by ALOS-2, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 56(8), 4492-4506, doi:10.1109/TGRS.2018.2821150.

Wang, T., Q. Shi, M. Nikkhoo, S. Wei, S. Barbot, D. Dreger, R. Bürgmann, M. Motagh, and Q.-F. Chen (2018), The rise, collapse, and compaction of Mt. Mantap from the 3 September 2017 North Korean nuclear test, Science, doi: 10.1126/science.aar7230. 

Bürgmann, R. (2018), The Geophysics, Geology and Mechanics of Slow Fault Slip, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 495, 112–134, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2018.04.062. 

Lindsey, E. O., R. Almeida, R. Mallick, J. Hubbard, K. Bradley, L. L. H. Tsang, Y. Liu, R. Burgmann, and E. M. Hill (2017), Structural control on down-dip locking extent of the Himalayan megathrust, J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 123, 5265–5278, doi:10.1029/2018JB015868. 

Milliner, C., K. Materna, R. Bürgmann, Y. Fu, A. W. Moore, D. Bekaert, S. Adhikari, and D. F. Argus (2018), Tracking the weight of Hurricane Harvey’s stormwater using GPS data, Science Advances, 4(9), doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aau2477.

Xu, W., Wu, S., Materna, K., Nadeau, R., Floyd, M., Funning, G., Chaussard, E., Johnson, C., Murray, J., Ding, X., and R. Bürgmann (2018), Interseismic ground deformation and fault slip rates in the greater San Francisco Bay Area from two decades of space geodetic data, J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 123, doi:10.1029/2018JB016004. 

Panda, D., B. Kundu, V. K. Gahalaut, R. Bürgmann, B. Jha, R. Asaithambi, R. K. Yadav, N. K. Vissa, and A. K. Bansal (2018), Seasonal modulation of deep slow-slip and earthquakes on the Main Himalayan Thrust, Nature Communications, 9(1), 4140, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-06371-2.

Materna, K., W. Shengji, X. Wang, L. Heng, T. Wang, R. Salman, and R. Bürgmann (2018), Source characteristics of the 2017 Mw 6.4 Moijabana, Botswana earthquake, a rare lower-crustal event within an ancient zone of weakness, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 506, 348-359, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2018.11.007. 

Zhao, D., C. Qu, X. Shan, R. Bürgmann, W. Gong, and G. Zhang (2018), Spatiotemporal evolution of postseismic deformation following the 2001 Mw7.8 Kokoxili, China, earthquake from 7 years of InSAR observations, Remote Sensing, 10(12), doi:10.3390/rs10121988. 

2019:

Handwerger, A. L., M.-H. Huang, E. J. Fielding, A. M. Booth, and R. Bürgmann (2019), A shift from drought to extreme rainfall drives a stable landslide to catastrophic failure, Scientific Reports, 9(1), 1569, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-38300-0.

Rousset, B., R. Bürgmann, and M. Campillo (2018), Slow slip events in the roots of the San Andreas fault, Sci. Adv., 5(2), doi:10.1126/sciadv.aav3274.

Uchida, N., and R. Bürgmann (2019), Repeating Earthquakes, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 47, 305–332, doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-053018-060119.

Wang, S., W. Xu, C. Xu, Z. Yin, R. Bürgmann, L. Liu, and G. Jiang (2019), Changes in groundwater level possibly encourage shallow earthquakes in central Australia: The 2016 Petermann Ranges earthquake, Geophy Res Lett, 46, 3189-3198, doi:10.1029/2018GL080510.

Shi, G., H. Lin, R. Bürgmann, P. Ma, J. Wang, and Y. Liu (2019), Early soil consolidation from magnetic extensometers and full resolution SAR interferometry over highly decorrelated reclaimed lands, Remote Sensing of Environment, 231, doi:10.1016/j.rse.2019.111231. 

Malagnini, L., D. S. Dreger, R. Bürgmann, I. Munafò, and G. Sebastiani (2019), Modulation of seismic attenuation at Parkfield, before and after the 2004 M6 earthquake, J. Geophys. Res., 124, doi:10.1029/2019JB017372.

Wang, L., and R. Bürgmann (2019), Statistical significance of precursory gravity changes before the 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake, Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, doi:10.1029/2019GL082682.

Hu, X., R. Bürgmann, Z. Lu, A. L. Handwerger, T. Wang, and R. Miao (2019), Mobility, thickness, and hydraulic diffusivity of the slow-moving Monroe landslide in California revealed by L-band satellite radar interferometry, J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 124, doi:10.1002/2019JB017560. 

Ariyoshi, K., J.-P. Ampuero, R. Bürgmann, T. Matsuzawa, A. Hasegawa, R. Hino, and T. Hori (2019), Quantitative relationship between aseismic slip propagation speed and frictional properties, Tectonophysics,767, doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2019.06.021.

Gupta, S., P. N. Singharoy, R. K. Yadav, J. K. Catherine, R. Burgmann, and V. K. Gahalaut (2019), Anomalous transients in GPS measurements due to induced changes in local site conditions, Journal of Earth System Science, 128(7), 186, doi:10.1007/s12040-019-1213-7.

Wang, K., H. S. MacArthur, I. Johanson, E. K. Montgomery-Brown, M. P. Poland, E. C. Cannon, M. d’Alessio, and R. Bürgmann (2019), Interseismic quiescence and triggered slip of active normal faults of Kīlauea Volcano’s south flank during 2001-2018, J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 124, doi:10.1029/2019JB017419.

Bilham, R., N. U. Kakar, D. M. Kakar, K. Wang, R. Bürgmann, and W. D. Barnhart (2019), The 1892 Chaman, Pakistan, Earthquake, Seismological Research Letters, doi:10.1785/0220190148.

Yan, J., D. Dong, R. Bürgmann, K. Materna, W. Tan, Y. Peng, and J. Chen (2019), Separation of sources of seasonal uplift in China using independent component analysis of GNSS time series, J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 124, doi:10.1029/2019JB018139.

Materna, K., N. Bartlow, A. Wech, C. Williams, and R. Bürgmann (2019), Dynamically Triggered Changes of Plate Interface Coupling in Southern Cascadia, Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, doi:10.1029/2019GL084395.

Rousset, B., Y. Fu, N. Bartlow, and R. Bürgmann (2019), Weeks-long and years-long slow slip and tectonic tremor episodes on the south-central Alaska megathrust, J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 124, 13,392-313,403, doi:10.1029/2019JB018724.

2020:

Li, Y., R. Bürgmann, and B. Zhao (2020), Evidence of Fault Immaturity from Shallow Slip Deficit and Lack of Postseismic Deformation of the 2017 Mw 6.5 Jiuzhaigou Earthquake, Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am., 110, 154–165, doi:10.1785/ 0120190162.

Dai, K., et al. (2020), Entering the Era of Earth Observation-Based Landslide Warning Systems: A novel and exciting framework, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine, doi:10.1109/MGRS.2019.2954395.

Johnson, C. W., Y. Fu, and R. Bürgmann (2020), Hydrospheric modulation of stress and seismicity on shallow faults in southern Alaska, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 530, 115904, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2019.115904.

Wang, K., and R. Bürgmann (2020), Co‐ and Early Postseismic Deformation Due to the 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence Constrained by Sentinel‐1 and COSMO‐SkyMed SAR Data, Seismological Research Letters, 91(4), 1998–2009, doi:10.1785/0220190299.

Panda, D., B. Kundu, V. K. Gahalaut, R. Bürgmann, B. Jha, R. Asaithambi, R. K. Yadav, N. K. Vissa, and A. K. Bansal (2020), Reply to “A warning against over-interpretation of seasonal signals measured by the Global Navigation Satellite System”, Nature Communications, 11(1), 1376, doi:10.1038/s41467-020-15103-4. 

Xue, L., C. W. Johnson, Y. Fu, and R. Bürgmann (2020), Seasonal seismicity in the Western Branch of the East African Rift System, Geophys. Res. Lett., 47, doi:10.1029/2019GL085882.

Delbridge, B. G., J. D. Carmichael, R. M. Nadeau, D. R. Shelly, and R. Bürgmann (2020), Geodetic Measurements of Slow Slip Events Southeast of Parkfield, CA, J. Geophys. Res., 125, doi:10.1029/2019JB019059. 

Hu, X., and R. Bürgmann (2020), Rheology of a Debris Slide From the Joint Analysis of UAVSAR and LiDAR Data, Geophys. Res. Lett., 47(8), e2020GL087452, doi:10.1029/2020GL087452.

Kundu, B., R. K. Yadav, R. Bürgmann, K. Wang, D. Panda, and V. K. Gahalaut (2020), Triggering relationships between magmatic and faulting processes in the May 2018 eruptive sequence at Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii, Geophys. J. Int., 222(1), 461-473, doi:10.1093/gji/ggaa178.

Brooks, B. A., et al. (2020), Rapid Geodetic Observations of Spatiotemporally Varying Postseismic Deformation Following the Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence: The U.S. Geological Survey Response, Seismological Research Letters, 91, 2108–2123, doi:10.1785/0220200007.

Hu, X., R. Bürgmann, W. H. Schulz, and E. J. Fielding (2020), Four-dimensional surface motions of the Slumgullion landslide and quantification of hydrometeorological forcing, Nature Communications, 11(1), 2792, doi:10.1038/s41467-020-16617-7.

Wang, K., D. Dreger, E. Tinti, R. Bürgmann, and T. Taira (2020), Rupture process of the 2019 Ridgecrest, California M6.4 Foreshock and M7.1 Earthquake Constrained by Seismic and Geodetic Data, Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am., 1-24, doi:10.1785/0120200108.

Pritchard, M. E., et al. (2020), New Opportunities to Study Earthquake Precursors, Seismological Research Letters, doi:10.1785/0220200089. 

Hu, X., and R. Bürgmann (2020), Aquifer deformation and active faulting in Salt Lake Valley, Utah, USA, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 547, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116471.

Hu, X., R. Bürgmann, E. J. Fielding, and H. Lee (2020), Internal kinematics of the Slumgullion landslide (USA) from high-resolution UAVSAR InSAR data, Remote Sensing of Environment, 251, 112057, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.112057.

Milliner, C., R. Bürgmann, A. Inbal, T. Wang, and C. Liang (2020), Resolving the Kinematics and Moment Release of Early Afterslip within the First Hours following the 2016 Mw 7.1 Kumamoto Earthquake: Implications for the Shallow Slip Deficit and Frictional Behavior of Aseismic Creep, J. Geophys. Res., 125, e2019JB018928, doi:10.1029/2019JB018928.

Hsu, Y.-J., Y. Fu, R. Bürgmann, S.-Y. Hsu, C.-C. Lin, C.-H. Tang, and Y.-M. Wu (2020), Assessing seasonal and interannual water storage variations in Taiwan using geodetic and hydrological data, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 550, 116532, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116532.

Huang, H., L. Meng, R. Bürgmann, W. Wang, and K. Wang (2020), Spatio-temporal foreshock evolution of the 2019 M 6.4 and M 7.1 Ridgecrest, California earthquakes, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 551, 116582, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116582.

Liu, S., Z.-K. Shen, R. Bürgmann, and S. Jónsson (2020), Thin crème brûlée rheological structure for the Eastern California Shear Zone, Geology, doi:10.1130/G47729.1.

Wang, K., and R. Bürgmann (2020), Probing fault frictional properties during afterslip up- and downdip of the 2017 Mw 7.3 Sarpol-e Zahab earthquake with space geodesy, J. Geophys. Res., 125, e2020JB020319, doi:10.1029/2020JB020319.

Dutilleul, P., C. W. Johnson, and R. Bürgmann (2020), Marked spatio-temporal point patterns, periodicity analysis and earthquakes: an analytical extension including hypocenter depth, Environmental and Ecological Statistics, doi:10.1007/s10651-020-00470-4.

Zhao, D., C. Qu, X. Shan, R. Bürgmann, W. Gong, H. Tung, G. Zhang, X. Song, and X. Qiao (2020), Multifault complex rupture and afterslip associated with the 2018 Mw 6.4 Hualien earthquake in northeastern Taiwan, Geophys. J. Int., 224(1), 416-434, doi:10.1093/gji/ggaa474.

2021:

Materna, K., Feng, L., Lindsey, E.O., Hill, E.M., Ahsan, A., Alam, A.K.M.K., Oo, K.M., Than, O., Aung, T., Khaing, S.N., Bürgmann, R., (2021), GNSS characterization of hydrological loading in South and Southeast Asia, Geophys. J. Int., 224(3), 1742-1752, doi:10.1093/gji/ggaa500. 

Dutilleul, P., C. W. Johnson, and R. Bürgmann (2021), Periodicity Analysis of Earthquake Occurrence and Hypocenter Depth near Parkfield, California, 1994-2002 versus 2006-2014, Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, e2020GL089673, doi:10.1029/2020GL089673.

Behr, W. M., and R. Bürgmann (2021), What’s down there? The structures, materials and environment of deep-seated slow slip and tremor, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. , A 379(20200218), doi:https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2020.0218.

Milliner, C., A. Donnellan, S. Aati, J.-P. Avouac, R. Zinke, J. F. Dolan, K. Wang, and R. Bürgmann (2021), Bookshelf Kinematics and the Effect of Dilatation on Fault Zone Inelastic Deformation: Examples from Optical Image Correlation Measurements of the 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence, J. Geophys. Res., 126, e2020JB020551, doi:10.1029/2020JB020551.

Zhao, D., C. Qu, R. Bürgmann, W. Gong, and X. Shan (2021), Relaxation of Tibetan Lower Crust and Afterslip Driven by the 2001 Mw7.8 Kokoxili, China, Earthquake Constrained by a Decade of Geodetic Measurements, J. Geophys. Res., 126, e2020JB021314, doi:https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JB021314.

Blisniuk, K., K. Scharer, W. D. Sharp, R. Burgmann, C. Amos, and M. Rymer (2021), A revised position for the primary strand of the Pleistocene-Holocene San Andreas fault in southern California, Science Advances, 7(13), eaaz5691, doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz5691.

Hsu, Y.-J., H. Kao, R. Bürgmann, Y.-T. Lee, H.-H. Huang, Y.-F. Hsu, Y.-M. Wu, and J. Zhuang (2021), Synchronized and asynchronous modulation of seismicity by hydrological loading: A case study in Taiwan, Science Advances, 7(16), eabf7282, doi:10.1126/sciadv.abf7282.

Lindsey, E. O., R. Mallick, J. A. Hubbard, K. E. Bradley, R. V. Almeida, J. D. P. Moore, R. Bürgmann, and E. M. Hill (2021), Slip rate deficit and earthquake potential on shallow megathrusts, Nature Geoscience, doi:10.1038/s41561-021-00736-x.

Uchida, N., and R. Bürgmann (2021), A Decade of Lessons Learned from the 2011 Tohoku-oki Earthquake, Reviews of Geophysics, 59, e2020RG000713, doi:10.1029/2020RG000713.

*Uchida, N., and R. Bürgmann (2021), Learning from a disastrous megathrust earthquake, Eos, 102, doi:10.1029/2021EO159741.

In Fall 2021, I will be teaching the graduate level course EPS216 - Active Tectonics. If you are an advanced undergraduate student interested in this course, please contact me. 

• EPS020 - Earthquakes in Your Backyard
• EPS 116 - Structural Geology and Tectonics
• EPS 150 - Case Studies in Earth Systems
• EPS 216 - Active Tectonics
• EPS290 - Active Tectonics Journal Club and Research Updates

I am hoping to find a Ph.D. student to join my active tectonics research group this coming year (applications due December, 2021). Please contact me if interested. See here for information about the department and application process.  

I am also looking for a Postdoc with strong modeling skills interested in joining my group.  Research topics include subduction zone deformation transients and modeling of phase shifts in the Earth's response to periodic surface loading aimed at resolving viscoelastic deformation processes.