The OpenQuake Model Building Toolkit: A suite of tools for building components of a seismic hazard model
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26443/seismica.v5i1.1677Keywords:
earthquake hazard, Open-source softwareAbstract
Building a probabilistic seismic hazard model is a complex task, requiring the integration of disparate datasets into one cohesive and comprehensive model. To facilitate this process, we have developed the OpenQuake Model Building Toolkit (OQ-MBTK), a collection of functions for constructing probabilistic seismic hazard models. This toolkit encompasses a wide array of functions essential for hazard model development, enabling users to start from catalogue and fault data and sequentially step through the model building process to produce hazard inputs compatible with the OpenQuake (OQ) Engine. These tools allow users to build seismic source models that capture epistemic uncertainty using a logic tree, select suitable ground motions for different tectonic regions, and carry out thorough sensitivity analyses. Crucially, the toolkit ensures that data are treated consistently at all stages of the process. Using the MBTK to streamline the model building workflow can ensure it is reproducible and more robust.
References
Baker, J., Bradley, B., & Stafford, P. (2021). Seismic Hazard and Risk Analysis (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108425056
Chartier, T., Scotti, O., & Lyon-Caen, H. (2019). SHERIFS: Open-Source Code for Computing Earthquake Rates in Fault Systems and Constructing Hazard Models. Seismological Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220180332
Cornell, C. A. (1968). Engineering seismic risk analysis. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 58(5), 1583–1606. https://doi.org/10.1785/BSSA0580051583
Di Giacomo, D., Engdahl, E. R., & Storchak, D. A. (2018). The ISC-GEM Earthquake Catalogue (1904–2014): Status after The Extension Project. Earth System Science Data, 10, 1877–1899. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-1877-2018
Field, E. H., Jordan, T. H., & Cornell, C. A. (2003). OpenSHA: A developing community-modeling environment for seismic hazard analysis. Seismological Research Letters, 74(4), 406–419. https://doi.org/10.1785/gssrl.74.4.406
Frankel, A. (1995). Mapping seismic hazard in the central and eastern United States. Seismological Research Letters, 66(4), 8–21. https://doi.org/10.1785/gssrl.66.4.8
Hayes, G. P., Moore, G. L., Portner, D. E., Hearne, M., Flamme, H., Furtney, M., & Smoczyk, G. M. (2018). Slab2, a comprehensive subduction zone geometry model. Science, 362(6410), 58–61. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat4723
Helmstetter, A., Kagan, Y. Y., & Jackson, D. D. (2007). High-resolution time-independent grid-based forecast for M>= 5 earthquakes in California. Seismological Research Letters, 78(1), 78–86. https://doi.org/10.1785/gssrl.78.1.78
Johnson, K., Villani, M., Bayliss, K., Brooks, C., Chandrasekhar, S., Chartier, T., Chen, Y., Garcia-Pelaez, J., Gee, R., Styron, R., Rood, A., Simionato, M., and Pagani, M. Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Seismic Hazard Map (version 2023.1 - June 2023). Unpublished, 2023. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.8409647.
Johnson, K., Chartier, T., Pagani, M., & others. (2024). Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis for the Dominican Republic. Earthquake Spectra. 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/87552930241263618
Johnson, K. L., Pagani, M., & Styron, R. H. (2021). PSHA of the southern Pacific Islands. Geophysical Journal International, 224(3), 2149–2172. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggaa530
Johnson, K., Villani, M., Bayliss, K., Brooks, C., Chandrasekhar, S., Chartier, T., Chen, Y., Garcia-Pelaez, J., Gee, R., Styron, R., Rood, A., Simionato, M., & Pagani, M. (2023). Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Seismic Hazard Map (version 2023.1 - June 2023). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8409647
Johnston, A. C., Coppersmith, K. J., Kanter, L. R., & Cornell, C. A. (1994). The Earthquakes of Stable Continental Regions (No. TR-1022261-V1). EPRI.
Kale, O., & Akkar, S. (2013). A new procedure for selecting and ranking ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs): The Euclidean distance-based ranking (EDR) method. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 103(2A), 1069–1084. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120120134
McGuire, R. K. (2004). Seismic Hazard and Risk Analysis. Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.
Milner, K. R., & Field, E. H. (2024). A Comprehensive Fault-System Inversion Approach: Methods and Application to NSHM23. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 114(1), 486–522. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120230122
Pagani, M., Garcia-Pelaez, J., Gee, R., Johnson, K., Poggi, V., Silva, V., Simionato, M., Styron, R., Viganò, D., Danciu, L., Monelli, D., & Weatherill, G. (2020). The 2018 version of the Global Earthquake Model: Hazard component. Earthquake Spectra, 36, 226–251. https://doi.org/10.1177/8755293020931866
Pagani, M., Johnson, K., & Garcia Pelaez, J. (2021). Modelling subduction sources for probabilistic seismic hazard analysis. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 501, 225–244. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP501-2019-120
Pagani, M., Monelli, D., Weatherill, G., Danciu, L., Crowley, H., Silva, V., Henshaw, P., Butler, L., Nastasi, M., Panzeri, L., Simionato, M., & Vigano, D. (2014). OpenQuake Engine: An Open Hazard (and Risk) Software for the Global Earthquake Model. Seismological Research Letters, 85, 692–702. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220130087
Pasyanos, M. E., Masters, T. G., Laske, G., & Ma, Z. (2014). LITHO1.0: An updated crust and lithospheric model of the Earth. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 119(3), 2153–2173. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JB010626
Peñarubia, H. C., Johnson, K. L., Styron, R. H., & others. (2020). Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis model for the Philippines. Earthquake Spectra., 36(1), 44–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/8755293019900521
Rong, Y., Pagani, M., Magistrale, H., & Weatherill, G. A. (2017). Modeling Seismic Hazard by Integrating Historical Earthquake, Fault, and Strain Rate Data. Proceedings of the 16th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering.
Rong, Y., Xu, X., Cheng, J., Chen, G., Magistrale, H., & Shen, Z.-K. (2020). A probabilistic seismic hazard model for Mainland China. Earthquake Spectra, 36, 181–209. https://doi.org/10.1177/8755293020910754
Scherbaum, F., Kuehn, N. M., Ohrnberger, M., & Koelher, K. (2010). Exploring the proximity of ground-motion models using high-dimensional visualization techniques. Earthquake Spectra, 24, 1117–1138. https://doi.org/10.1193/1.3478697
Silva, V., Crowley, H., Pagani, M., Monelli, D., & Pinho, R. (2014). Development of the OpenQuake engine, the Global Earthquake Model’s open-source software for seismic risk assessment. Natural Hazards, 72, 1409–1427. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-0618-x
Silver, A. (2017). Collaborative software development made easy. Nature, 550, 143–144. https://doi.org/10.1038/550143a
Storchak, D. A., Di Giacomo, D., Bondár, I., Engdahl, E. R., Harris, J., Lee, W. H. K., Villaseñor, A., & Bormann, P. (2013). Public Release of the ISC–GEM Global Instrumental Earthquake Catalogue (1900–2009). Seismological Research Letters, 84, 810–815. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220130034
Sunny, J., DeAngelis, M., & Edwards, B. (2021). Ranking and Selection of Earthquake Ground Motion Models Using the Stochastic Area Metric. Seismological Research Letters, 93, 787–797. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220210216
van Stiphout, T., Zhuang, J., & Marsan, D. (2010). Theme V - Basic Techniques/Models and Techniques for Analysing Seismicity: Seismicity Declustering. https://doi.org/10.5078/corssa-52382934
Weatherill, G. A., Pagani, M., & Garcia, J. (2016). Exploring earthquake databases for the creation of magnitude-homogeneous catalogues: tools for application on a regional and global scale. Geophysical Journal International, 206, 1652–1676. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggw232
Weichert, D. H. (1980). Estimation of the earthquake recurrence parameters for unequal observation periods for different magnitudes. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 70(4), 1337–1346. https://doi.org/10.1785/BSSA0700041337
Wessel, P., Luis, J. F., Uieda, L., Scharroo, R., Wobbe, F., Smith, W. H. F., & Tian, D. (2019). The Generic Mapping Tools Version 6. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 20, 5556–5564. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008515
Youngs, R. R., & Coppersmith, K. J. (1985). Implications of fault slip rates and earthquake recurrence models to probabilistic seismic hazard estimates. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 75(4), 939–964. https://doi.org/10.1785/BSSA0750040939
Downloads
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Marco Pagani, Kirsty Bayliss, Christopher Brooks, Kendra Johnson, Richard Styron, Manuela Villani, Yufang Rong

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

