Southern California Earthquake Center

What Southern California Earthquake Center does

The Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC), formerly the Southern California Earthquake Center, is a collaborative research center headquartered at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Founded in 1991 and rebranded in 2024 to reflect its expanded scope across the entire San Andreas Fault System, SCEC develops and disseminates earthquake system science for academic, government, industry, and public audiences. Its core products include CyberShake (a physics-based probabilistic seismic hazard analysis platform), the Community Fault Model and Community Earth Models (3D representations of California's fault geometries and crustal structure), the Broadband Platform for ground motion simulations, the open-source UCVM velocity model framework, and the Tandem HPC SEAS earthquake cycle code. SCEC also runs the international ShakeOut earthquake preparedness program, which engaged 10.4 million+ participants in California and 58 million+ worldwide in 2025.

SCEC is governed as an academic research consortium rather than a commercial enterprise. The center is funded primarily by federal grants from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Geological Survey, with additional support from the Department of Energy, NASA, FEMA, the California Office of Emergency Services, and industry partners including PG&E. Research outputs, software tools, publications (5,900+ in the community database), and educational resources are distributed to the public at no charge. The center coordinates a network of 100+ research institutions, convenes an annual meeting of 400-500 participants, runs internship and research travel award programs that constitute a next-generation scientist pipeline (with early-career attendees comprising over 40% of the annual meeting), and operates workshops, training programs, and technical activity groups as part of its science plan. Revenue mechanics are grant-cycle based, with no commercial pricing or subscription model applied to its research outputs.

Name

Southern California Earthquake Center

Legal name

Statewide California Earthquake Center

Website

https://scec.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Statewide California Earthquake Center is a USC-headquartered research consortium that develops physics-based earthquake system science, community fault and ground motion models, and the ShakeOut preparedness program for federal agencies, 100+ research institutions, and the global public, funded primarily by NSF and USGS grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government Research Grants: Primary funding from National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), with additional support from DOE, NASA, FEMA, and other government sources to conduct earthquake science research and education programs

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SCEC is a collaborative earthquake science research center that develops and operates physics-based seismic hazard analysis platforms, community earth models, and ground motion simulation tools. It coordinates multi-institution research on earthquake processes across California's plate boundary and runs public preparedness programs, internships, and annual scientific meetings to advance earthquake resilience and train the next generation of seismologists.

Product overview

The Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC) is a collaborative research hub that operates as a platform-plus-services model, combining core scientific infrastructure products with community engagement programs. The center's primary products include CyberShake (probabilistic seismic hazard analysis platform), the Community Fault Model and Community Earth Models (3D structural representations), and the Broadband Platform for ground motion simulations. These are supported by the UCVM software framework for velocity model distribution and the Tandem open-source SEAS simulation code. SCEC complements its research infrastructure with public-facing programs including the annual ShakeOut earthquake preparedness drills engaging over 10 million participants, the SCEC Annual Meeting convening hundreds of researchers, and educational initiatives including internships and research travel awards for emerging scientists.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ShakeOut: An annual earthquake drill and preparedness program with millions of participants in California and worldwide.
• CyberShake
• Community Fault Model (CFM)
• Community Rheology Model (CRM)

Products and services

• CyberShake A probabilistic seismic hazard analysis platform that uses physics-based ground motion simulations to calculate hazard curves for specific sites, enabling detailed seismic risk assessments for infrastructure planning. Used by researchers, agencies, and engineers.
• Community Fault Model (CFM) A comprehensive three-dimensional representation of fault geometries across California, linking real-time earthquake notifications to interactive 3D visualizations of hypocenters and fault structures using CFM 7.0. Used by researchers and agencies.
• Community Earth Models Integrated earth models that synthesize geological, geophysical, and seismological data to provide system-level understanding of crustal structure and earthquake processes across California's plate boundary. Used by the research community.
• Broadband Platform A software platform for generating broadband ground motion simulations, enabling researchers to produce realistic synthetic seismograms for engineering applications and seismic hazard analysis.
• SCEC UCVM (Unified Community Velocity Model) Software An open-source software framework for distributing and querying seismic velocity models, enabling researchers to access standardized subsurface velocity data for ground motion simulations.
• Tandem An open-source HPC SEAS (Sequences of Earthquakes and Aseismic Slip) code for modeling earthquake cycles with realistic fault geometry, material heterogeneity, and frictional behavior, available on GitHub.
• Great California ShakeOut An annual statewide earthquake drill program engaging millions of participants in earthquake preparedness activities, including safety demonstrations and educational outreach to enhance public resilience.
• SCEC Annual Meeting An annual gathering convening 400-500 global participants to share earthquake science breakthroughs, assess progress, and chart collaborative priorities for earthquake research and preparedness.
• SCEC Internships Research internship opportunities for students providing hands-on experience in earthquake science, preparing the next generation of seismologists and earthquake engineers.
• Research Travel Awards Financial support programs for students and early-career researchers to present earthquake research at professional conferences, promoting workforce development in seismology.

Quantifiable outcome

• 10.4 million+ participants engaged in annual ShakeOut earthquake preparedness drills
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• NASAmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating on geodetic observations, remote sensing data, and advanced modeling techniques for earthquake science
• FEMAmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupporting earthquake preparedness and resilience initiatives, emergency planning resources, and public safety programs
• California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerState agency partner for coordinating earthquake preparedness activities, emergency response planning, and public safety initiatives in California
• PG&EmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUtility company partner supporting infrastructure-focused earthquake research and resilience planning for critical utility systems
• University of Southern California (USC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost institution providing administrative infrastructure, research facilities, and academic partnership for SCEC headquarters and programs
• 100+ Research InstitutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of universities and research organizations participating in SCEC collaborative research programs, contributing expertise across seismology, geology, engineering, and social sciences

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• NEHRP (National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program): Multi-agency federal program coordinating U.S. earthquake risk reduction across NIST, FEMA, USGS, and NSF; broader in scope than SCEC but directly relevant as the policy and funding umbrella in which SCEC operates.

Others

• RMS (Moody's): Catastrophe modeling firm producing earthquake risk analytics for insurers and reinsurers; adjacent to SCEC as a commercial counterpart that translates its public hazard science into financial risk products.
• AIR Worldwide (Verisk): Catastrophe risk modeling firm that consumes earthquake science (much of it derived from SCEC-style research) to produce commercial risk models; comparable as a downstream user of SCEC's hazard products and a potential commercial partner.

Direct peers

• EarthScope Consortium: NSF-funded consortium (incorporating the former IRIS and UNAVCO) that operates geophysical networks and provides open data for seismology and geodesy; closely comparable to SCEC in mission, funding model, and academic community role.
• Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI): National nonprofit focused on earthquake risk reduction, bringing together researchers and practitioners; directly comparable to SCEC's role convening the earthquake science and engineering community.
• Caltech Seismological Laboratory: Caltech-operated lab developing seismic networks and earthquake research; comparable to SCEC in mission, academic setting, and use of physics-based and observational earthquake science.
• Berkeley Seismological Laboratory: University of California research lab conducting earthquake and Earth structure research in Northern California; comparable to SCEC in academic, federally funded earthquake science but with a Northern California focus.
• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program: Federal program that monitors earthquakes and produces national seismic hazard maps; directly comparable to SCEC as a primary producer of earthquake science and hazard products in the U.S., and a co-funder of SCEC research.

Regional players

• Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup (CREW): Regional nonprofit coordinating earthquake risk reduction across the Pacific Northwest; comparable to SCEC's ShakeOut-style preparedness coordination but for a different U.S. region.
• Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN): Regional seismic network for the Pacific Northwest operated by the University of Washington; comparable to SCEC as a regionally focused earthquake monitoring and research organization, but serving a different U.S. region.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/scec
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/SCECmovies
• Facebookfacebook.com/scec
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/southern-california-earthquake-center-scec-
• Instagraminstagram.com/scec

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Southern California Earthquake Center