Visiting Researchers
Matthew A. D'ALESSIO
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Self Introduction
I am pleased to be a visitor at the University of Tokyo's Earthquake Research Institute. My research addresses a broad range of problems in the science of earthquake faults, including how fault geometry affects fault behavior, frictional heat generation along faults, and surface deformation related to the earthquake cycle. While here at ERI, I collaborate with KATO Naoyuki on understanding the recurrence intervals of small repeating earthquakes. These earthquakes, which rupture the same patch of fault at somewhat regular intervals, can give insight into the dimensions and frictional properties of asperities at depth. This information is crucial to understanding earthquake rupture dynamics.
I attended two rival American schools, both located within the Pacific-North American plate boundary -- Stanford University as an undergraduate (which has the San Andreas fault along the edge of campus), and the University of California at Berkeley for my PhD in Geology. There, I studied deformation along the Hayward fault, which cuts right through the campus football stadium. I worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the U.S. Geological Survey for two years before coming to Japan.
Other earth science highlights include working for Geomatrix Consultants doing geologic hazard assessment for major civic projects, appearing in a PBS television (the American equivalent of NHK) special program on earthquakes, editing a series of articles on earthquake science in the San Francisco Chronicle Newspaper (the local equivalent of the Yomiuri Shimbun) to mark the 100th anniversary of the Great 1906 Earthquake, designing inquiry-based curriculum with teachers, and teaching math and earth science to inmates at San Quentin State Prison.
Seminar
ERI Friday Seminar on 9th February, 2007: "Repeating microearthquakes on the San Andreas fault: Stress drop, asperity dimensions, and frictional properties of the SAFOD target earthquakes"