Contemporary geodetic slip rates are observed to be approximately two times greater than late Pleistocene geologic slip rates across the southern Walker Lane. Using a dense GPS network, we compare the present‐day crustal velocities to observed geologic slip rates in the region. We find that the Walker Lane is characterized by a smooth transition from westward extension in the Basin and Range to northwestward motion of the Sierra Nevada block. The GPS velocity field indicates that (1) plate parallel (N37°W) velocities define a velocity differential of 10.6 ± 0.5 mm/yr between the western Basin and Range and the Sierra Nevada block, (2) there is ~2 mm/yr of contemporary extension perpendicular to the normal faults of the Silver Peak‐Lone Mountain extensional complex, and (3) most of the observed discrepancy in long‐ and short‐term slip rates occurs across Owens Valley. We believe the discrepancy is due to distributed strain and underestimated geologic slip rates.

SUMMARY On 2010 January 3 a moment magnitude MW 7.1 earthquake struck the Solomon Islands very near the San Cristobal trench, causing extensive landslides and surprisingly large tsunami waves. Because of the unique proximity of islands to the trench (<20 km) and earthquake, a post‐seismic survey successfully identified unexpected widespread coseismic subsidence towards the trench (up to 80 cm), with no discernable post‐seismic deformation. Approximately 1000 km from the earthquake ocean‐bottom pressure sensors measured 1–2 cm open‐ocean tsunami waves. Though spatially limited, the local tsunami wave heights up to 7 m were comparable to the much larger adjacent 2007 MW 8.1 earthquake. The seismically determined focal mechanism, broad‐scale subsidence, tsunami amplitude and open ocean wave heights are all explained by an extremely shallow low‐angle thrust adjacent to the impinging subduction of the two seamounts near the trench. This event belongs to a potentially new class of shallow ‘tsunami earthquakes’ that is not identified as deficient in radiated seismic energy.

[1] The eastern California shear zone (ECSZ)-Walker Lane belt represents an important, evolving component of the Pacific-North America plate boundary. Geodetic data suggest the northern ECSZ is accumulating dextral shear at a rate of $9.3 mm/a, more than double the total measured late Pleistocene rate at $37.5 N. At this latitude, the Silver Peak-Lone Mountain (SPLM) extensional complex plays an important role in accommodating and transferring slip among the strike-slip and normal faults of the ECSZ and Walker Lane. To better understand the recent geodynamic evolution of this region, we determined late Pleistocene extension rates for the Clayton Valley fault zone, one of a series of down-to-the-northwest normal faults comprising the SPLM, using geologic mapping, differential GPS fault scarp surveys, and cosmogenic nuclide geochronology. Extension rates along the Clayton Valley fault zone are time-invariant at 0.1 AE 0.1 to 0.3 AE 0.1 mm/a (depending on fault dip) since $137 ka. When combined with other published fault slip rates at this latitude, the cumulative late Pleistocene geologic slip rate is $3.3 to 5.2 mm/a. This rate is lower than both the geodetic rate of dextral shear and other long-term slip rate budgets in the northern ECSZ. Our results suggest that deformation in Clayton Valley is spread across a diffuse set of normal faults and that not all of the deformation is recorded in the surficial geology. We suggest that the low cumulative geologic slip rate in the northern ECSZ may be a result of this distributed extension, which can cause long-term rates of deformation to be significantly underestimated.

As part of the U.S. National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) update planned for 2023, two databases were prepared to more completely represent Quaternary-active faulting across the western United States: the NSHM23 fault sections database (FSD) and earthquake geology database (EQGeoDB). In prior iterations of NSHM, fault sections were included only if a field-measurement-derived slip rate was estimated along a given fault. By expanding this inclusion criteria, we were able to assess a larger set of faults for use in NSHM23. The USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database served as a guide for assessing possible additions to the NSHM23 FSD. Reevaluating available data from published sources yielded an increase of fault sections from ~650 faults in NSHM18 to ~1,000 faults proposed for use in NSHM23. EQGeoDB, a companion dataset linked to NSHM23 FSD, contains geologic slip rate estimates for fault sections included in FSD. Together, these databases serve as common input data used in deformation modeling, earthquake rupture forecasting, and additional downstream uses in NSHM development.

Alluvial fans displaced by normal faults of the Black Mountains fault zone at Badwater and Mormon Point in Death Valley were mapped, surveyed, and dated using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and 10 Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) methods. Applying TCN methods to Holocene geomorphic surfaces in Death Valley is challenging because sediment flux is slow and complex. However, OSL dating produces consistent surface ages, yielding ages for a regionally recognized surface (Qg3a) of 4.5 ± 1.2 ka at Badwater and 7.0 ± 1.0 ka at Mormon Point. Holocene faults offsetting Qg3a yield horizontal slip rates directed toward 323° of 0.8 +0.3/-0.2 mm/yr and 1.0 ± 0.2 mm/yr for Badwater and Mormon Point, respectively. These slip rates are slower than the ~2 mm/yr dextral slip rate of the southern end of the northern Death Valley fault zone and are half as fast as NNW-oriented horizontal rates documented for the Panamint Valley fault zone. This indicates that additional strain is transferred southwestward from northern Death Valley and Black Mountains fault zones onto the oblique-normal dextral faults of the Panamint Valley fault zone, which is consistent with published geodetic modeling showing that current opening rates of central Death Valley along the Black Mountains fault zone are about three times slower than for Panamint Valley. This suggests that less than half of the geodetically determined ~9-12 mm/yr of right-lateral shear across the region at the latitude of central Death Valley is accommodated by slip on well-defined faults and that distributed deformational processes take up the remainder of this slip transferred between the major faults north of the Garlock fault. GEOLOGIC CONTEXTDeath Valley is the hottest place on Earth (maximum recorded temperatures of 56.7 °C at Furnace Creek on 13 July 1913; average annual temperature of 24.8 °C) and the lowest point in North America (85.5 m below sea level at Badwater). Within the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada, Inyo Mountains, and Panamint Mountains, the average annual precipitation of 48 mm produces a hyperarid climate (geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/deva