Welcome to EQSci@MIT! We are part of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT.

We are two research groups focused on earthquake science, covering everything from observational seismology and geodesy to numerical and analytical modeling:
Fault Mechanics, led by Assistant Professor Camilla Cattania, and
Tectonophysics, led by Assistant Professor William Frank.

Prospective students and postdoctoral researchers: if interested in joining us, please reach out to us with a description of your research interests and your CV.



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Camilla Cattania

Assistant Professor

Fault mechanics, Earthquake physics

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William B. Frank

Associate Professor

Earthquakes, Tectonics, Volcanoes

Recent Publications

Geodetic resolution of the interplay between earthquakes and slow slip in the Hikurangi margin

Louise Maubant, Laura M. Wallace, Charles A. Williams, Sylvain Michel, Emilie Klein, William B. Frank
May 2026 Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
DOI

Temperature controls the episodic dynamics of deep slow slip

April 2026 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI

Crustal stresses and damage evolve throughout the seismic cycle of the Ridgecrest fault zone

Jared Bryan, William B. Frank, Pascal Audet
September 2025 Science
DOI

A systematic search for tectonic tremor and low‐frequency earthquakes in the Atacama segment of the Chilean subduction zone turns up empty

Jannes Münchmeyer, William B. Frank, Sophie Giffard-Roisin, David Marsan, Frederik Tilmann, Marcos Moreno, Anne Socquet
September 2025 Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
DOI

Rheological and tectonic implications of eastern Tibet: Insights from early aftershock sequences driven by afterslip following three 2021–2022 moderate-large events

Xiaoge Liu, Wenbin Xu, William B. Frank, Yijian Zhou, Guoqiang Zhao, Ligua Fang, Hui Huang, Lijia He, Weijun Gan
September 2025 International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
DOI
See all Fault Mechanics Group publications
See all Tectonophysics Group publications

Research Topics

aftershocks afterslip Chile clustering Coulomb stress changes detection earthquake forecasting earthquake source earthquake triggering high-performance computing Japan low-frequency earthquakes Mexico postseismic rate-state friction seismo-geodesy slow slip statistics subduction triggering