GPS velocity field of the Western United States for the 2023 National Seismic Hazard Model update

Abstract

Global Positioning System (GPS) velocity solutions of the western United States (WUS) are compiled from several sources of field networks and data processing centers for the 2023 U.S. Geological Survey National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM). These solutions include both survey and continuous‐mode GPS velocity measurements. I follow the data processing procedure of Parsons et al. (2013) for the Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast, version 3 and McCaffrey, Bird, et al. (2013) and Zeng and Shen (2013) for their WUS deformation models in support of the 2014 NSHM update. All GPS velocity vectors are first rotated to a common North American reference frame. I edit the velocities to remove outliers and data with significant influence from volcanism. The solutions are then combined into a final GPS velocity field consisting of 4979 horizontal velocity vectors. I compute strain rates based on these GPS velocities using the method of Shen et al. (2015) . These strain rates correlate closely with seismicity rates in the WUS. The results are used for WUS geodetic and geologic deformation modeling in support of the 2023 NSHM update.