Published and unpublished in situ stress measurements and studies of earthquake focal mechanisms in the southeastern United States are reviewed. These data, which provide information on the relative magnitude and orientation of existing stress fields, are analyzed in relation to the geologic characteristics of the Southeast and are compared with data for other areas in the United States. The relation of the stress fields to observed geology and present-day tectonic processes is reviewed. Stress measurements reveal the existence of high horizontal stresses in the Appalachian complex. Different in situ stress states in the Appalachian complex, the Coastal Plain, and the stable interior region indicate different faulting mechanisms. Various techniques for determining in situ stress are consistent. 6 figures, 1 table.

“This report presents documentation for the development of seismicity parameters to be used as input for probabilistic seismic hazard analyses at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The hazard analysis is to be conducted by personnel at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the author was one of several parameters of seismic zonation, maximum magnitude estimates.”

New determinations of hypocenters and magnitudes of instrumentally recorded earthquakes, 1931-1980, in the central United States, and an investigation of the association of seismicity with geologic structure in the region.