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Updated Compilation of VS30 Data for the United States

Metadata Updated: January 5, 2026

VS30, the time-averaged shear-wave velocity (VS) to a depth of 30 meters, is a key index adopted by the earthquake engineering community to account for seismic site conditions. VS30 is typically based on geophysical measurements of VS derived from invasive and noninvasive techniques at sites of interest. Owing to cost considerations, as well as logistical and environmental concerns, VS30 data are sparse or not readily available for most areas. Where data are available, VS30 values are often assembled in assorted formats that are accessible from disparate and (or) impermanent Websites. To help remedy this situation, we compiled VS30 measurements obtained by studies funded by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other governmental agencies. Thus far, we have compiled VS30 values for 4,369 sites in the United States, along with metadata for each measurement from government-sponsored reports, online databases, and scientific and engineering journals. Most of the data in our VS30 compilation originated from publications directly reporting the work of field investigators. A subset consisting of 20 percent of VS30 values was previously compiled by the USGS and other research institutions. VS30 originating from these earlier compilations were crosschecked against published reports when clarification was needed. Both downhole and surface-based VS30 estimates are represented in our VS30 compilation. Most of the VS30 data are for sites in the western contiguous United States (3,128 sites); 682 VS30 values are for sites in the Central United States; 267 VS30 values are for sites in the Eastern United States and Puerto Rico; 15 VS30 values are for sites in Alaska; 30 VS30 values are for sites in Hawaii. The remaining 247 sites are in the vicinity of Vancouver, Canada.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date January 5, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date January 5, 2026
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-5f44290282ce4c3d1222da63
Data Last Modified 2020-09-08T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id b0cc842b-b330-4057-a62b-50695d207ad1
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 30a52e4f7da740e17c078f6c7dce31fcf556ee3be65df2db4b801fc41f205de7
Source Schema Version 1.1

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