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Topic · Geophysics

earthquake and tectonic studies

earthquake and tectonic studies is a research topic within Geophysics. Science Explorer counts 87k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the study of seismic activity, tectonic plate interactions, and the geodetic measurements used to understand earthquake mechanisms, fault zones, subduction processes, and seismic hazard assessment. It covers topics such as slow slip events, fault frictional properties, seismic deformation, and the impact of geodetic measurements on understanding tectonic motion.

  • Earthquakes
  • Subduction
  • Plate Boundaries
  • Fault Zones
  • Seismic Deformation
  • Tectonic Motion
  • Geodetic Measurements
  • Seismic Hazard
  • Slow Slip Events
  • Frictional Properties
Research works
87k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
8.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-15%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
33% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
earthquake and tectonic studies

Which countries lead earthquake and tectonic studies research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (3.3k and 1.7k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 3.3k works
  2. 2 United States 1.7k works
  3. 3 Japan 817 works
  4. 4 India 772 works
  5. 5 Italy 736 works
  6. 6 France 691 works
  7. 7 Russia 668 works
  8. 8 Germany 480 works
  9. 9 United Kingdom 404 works
  10. 10 Türkiye 376 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 32.9%United States: 17.4%Japan: 8.2%India: 7.8%6 others listed: 33.7%33%largest
China3,275 · 32.9%United States1,736 · 17.4%Japan817 · 8.2%India772 · 7.8%6 others listed3,356 · 33.7%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead earthquake and tectonic studies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Russian Academy of Sciences publishes the most earthquake and tectonic studies research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Earthquake Administration.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 532 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 447 works
  3. 3 China Earthquake AdministrationChina 385 works
  4. 4 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 323 works
  5. 5 Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e VulcanologiaItaly 185 works
  6. 6 China University of Geosciences (Beijing)China 159 works
  7. 7 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 148 works
  8. 8 China University of GeosciencesChina 138 works
  9. 9 United States Geological SurveyUnited States 128 works
  10. 10 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 118 works

Who are the leading researchers in earthquake and tectonic studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on earthquake and tectonic studies include Wei Huang, P. Jackson and Kai You Wang.

  1. 1 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  2. 2 P. Jackson France 230k citations
  3. 3 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  4. 4 Ian W Harry Germany 189k citations
  5. 5 R. W. L. Jones United Kingdom 189k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in earthquake and tectonic studies?

The most cited paper in earthquake and tectonic studies is "Chemical and isotopic systematics of oceanic basalts: implications for mantle composition and processes" (Shen‐Su Sun, W. F. McDonough, 1989), with 25,720 citations. Next come "Preliminary reference Earth model" (10,479) and "Trace Element Discrimination Diagrams for the Tectonic Interpretation of Granitic Rocks" (8,648).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Chemical and isotopic systematics of oceanic basalts: implications for mantle composition and processes Shen‐Su Sun, W. F. McDonough · Geological Society London Special Publications 1989 25,720
2 Preliminary reference Earth model Adam M. Dziewoński, Don L. Anderson · Physics of The Earth and Planetary Interiors Jun 1981 10,479
3 Trace Element Discrimination Diagrams for the Tectonic Interpretation of Granitic Rocks Julian A. Pearce, Nigel Harris, A. G. Tindle · Journal of Petrology Open access Nov 1984 8,648
4 New empirical relationships among magnitude, rupture length, rupture width, rupture area, and surface displacement Donald L. Wells, Kevin J. Coppersmith · Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America Aug 1994 7,875
5 New, improved version of generic mapping tools released Paul Wessel, Walter H. F. Smith · Eos Open access 24 Nov 1998 7,475
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is earthquake and tectonic studies research done?

The largest centres of earthquake and tectonic studies research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Moscow (Russia), Rome (Italy) and Paris (France). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Lower Hutt, Obninsk and Helwan.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 1.4k works
  2. 2 MoscowRussia 329 works
  3. 3 RomeItaly 271 works
  4. 4 ParisFrance 256 works
  5. 5 TokyoJapan 214 works
  6. 6 WuhanChina 206 works
  7. 7 GuangzhouChina 136 works
  8. 8 PotsdamGermany 120 works
  9. 9 ChengduChina 117 works
  10. 10 TsukubaJapan 113 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Lower HuttNZ · 45.2 works126×
  2. ObninskRU · 57.7 works93×
  3. HelwanEG · 26.0 works91×
  4. YokosukaJP · 56.4 works41×
  5. RestonUS · 106.0 works35×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in earthquake and tectonic studies than the world average.

See earthquake and tectonic studies on the map

Where is the best place to study earthquake and tectonic studies?

Among universities, judged by research, ETH Zurich, Southern University of Science and Technology and China University of Mining and Technology score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 16.55%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →China University of …ETH ZurichSouthern University …China University of …
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1ETH ZurichSwitzerland 69.121.1%8.6×71 -35.8%
2Southern University of Science and TechnologyChina 65.116.3%8.4×53 +102.2%
3China University of Mining and TechnologyChina 61.821.2%3.8×36 +56.3%
4China University of Geosciences (Beijing)China 61.79.2%46.2×159 -0.7%
5University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 61.212.5%6.1×118 +7.0%
6California Institute of TechnologyUnited States 61.120.1%11.4×49 -37.6%
7China University of GeosciencesChina 60.211.6%25.6×138 -10.8%
8Central South UniversityChina 59.817.4%2.3×52 +66.5%
9Chinese University of Hong KongChina 58.522.4%1.2×11 +17.0%
10University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 58.413.7%5.3×74 +3.2%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in earthquake and tectonic studies, country by country

Is earthquake and tectonic studies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 15% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2020.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is earthquake and tectonic studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.054% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%0.15%earthquake and tectonic studies0.047% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of earthquake and tectonic studies over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%earthquake and tectonic studies9.7% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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