Hiroo Kanamori

Hiroo Kanamori
Born	October 17, 1936
Residence	USA
Fields	Geophysics
Institutions	Research Associate, Geophysics Institute, Tokyo University, 1962-65 Research Fellow, California Institute of Technology, 1965-66 Professor, Earthquake Research Institute, Tokyo University, 1966-72 Professor, California Institute of Technology, 1972-05
Alma mater	M. S. (Geophysics), Tokyo University, 1961 Ph.D. (Geophysics), Tokyo University, 1964
Known for	Moment magnitude scale
Notable awards	Kyoto Prize (2007)

Hiroo Kanamori (金森 博雄 Kanamori Hiroo, born October 17, 1936) is a Japanese seismologist who has made fundamental contributions to understanding the physics of earthquakes and the tectonic processes that cause them.

Kanamori and American seismologist Thomas C. Hanks developed the moment magnitude scale which replaced the Richter magnitude scale as a measurement of the relative strength of earthquakes.^[1][2]

Kanamori invented the method for calculating slip distribution on the fault plane by teleseismic waveform with Masayuki Kikuchi. In addition, they studied realtime seismology.^[3][4][5][6]

In 2007 he was awarded the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences.^[7]

Kanamori developed a new method of earthquake early warning detection by rapid analysis of the P-wave by a robust network. The algorithm is currently being tested with the Southern California Seismic Network "ShakeAlert" Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system, and is one of three algorithms that is used by the system.^[8]

Honours

• 1993 Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship
• 1994 Asahi Prize
• 1996 Walter H. Bucher Medal
• 2004 Japan Academy Prize
• 2006 Person of Cultural Merit
• 2007 Kyoto Prize
• 2014 William Bowie Medal

Selected Publications

• Kanamori, H. (1977). "The energy release in great earthquakes" (PDF). J. Geophys. Res. 82 (20): 2981–2876. Bibcode:1977JGR....82.2981K. doi:10.1029/JB082i020p02981.
• S. Uyeda, H. Kanamori (1979). "Back-arc opening and the mode of subduction" (PDF). Journal of Geophysical Research 84: 1049–1061. Bibcode:1979JGR....84.1049U. doi:10.1029/JB084iB03p01049.
• Hanks, Thomas C.; Kanamori, Hiroo (May 1979). "Moment magnitude scale" (PDF). Journal of Geophysical Research 84 (B5): 2348–2350. Bibcode:1979JGR....84.2348H. doi:10.1029/JB084iB05p02348.
• L. Ruff and H. Kanamori (1980). "Seismicity and the subduction process" (PDF). Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 23 (3): 240–252. Bibcode:1980PEPI...23..240R. doi:10.1016/0031-9201(80)90117-X.
• Kikuchi, M., and Kanamori, H. (1982). "Inversion of complex body waves" (PDF). Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 72: 491–506.
• Vassiliou, Marius; Kanamori, Hiroo (1982). "The Energy Release in Earthquakes" (PDF). Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 72: 371–387.
• Kanamori, H.; Hauksson, E.; Heaton, T. (1997). "Real-time seismology and earthquake hazard mitigation" (PDF). Nature 390 (6659): 461–464. Bibcode:1997Natur.390..461K. doi:10.1038/37280.
• Allen, R.M. and H. Kanamori (2001). "Rapid determination of event source parameters in southern California for earthquake early warning". AGU 2001 fall meeting.
• Allen RM, Kanamori H. (2 May 2003). "The potential for earthquake early warning in southern California" (PDF). Science 300 (5620): 786–9. Bibcode:2003Sci...300..786A. doi:10.1126/science.1080912. PMID 12730599.
• Zollo A, Amoroso O, Lancieri M,Wu Y, Kanamori H (24 July 2010). "A threshold-based earthquake early warning using dense accelerometer networks" (PDF). Geophysics Journal International 183: 963–974. Bibcode:2010GeoJI.183..963Z. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2010.04765.x.

See also

• List of geophysicists

References

1. Kanamori, H., (1977)
2. Utsu, T., 2001, The Seismology 3rd edition: Kyoritsu, p.138
3. Kikuchi, M., and Kanamori, H. (1982)
4. Allen RM, Kanamori H. (2003)
5. Allen, R.M. and H. Kanamori (2001)
6. Allen, Richard (2004). "Rapid magnitude determination for earthquake early warning". In G. Manfredi, M.R. Pecce, and A. Zollo. The Many Facets of Seismic Risk (PDF). Proceedings of the "Workshop on Multidisciplinary Approach to Seismic Risk Problems", hold in Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, September 22, 2003. pp. 15–24.
7. Hiroo Kanamori, Kyoto Laureate
8. http://www.gps.caltech.edu/uploads/File/People/kanamori/Zollo_et_al_EEW_GJI.pdf

• Kanamori, Hiroo. "Profile". Caltech.