Abstract
This work describes the data used to characterize boulders and their pedestals at the Peaks of Otter, southwest Virginia, which are used to calculate maximum plausible earthquake magnitudes in the surrounding region as well as scaling factors for the 2023 time-independent National Seismic Hazard Model site-specific hazard curves (Petersen et al., 2024). The work presents several new methods for analyzing precariously balanced rocks, and the scale factors represent the current best-practice for validating hazard curves using precariously balanced rocks (e.g., Rood et al., 2020).
Pratt, T. L., Stirling, M. W., McPhillips, D., & Figueiredo, P. M. (2026). Characterizing Precariously Balanced Rocks (PBRs) in the Eastern United States for Estimating Maximum Past Earthquake Ground Motions. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, https://doi.org/10.1785/0120250131 contains a more detailed description of the project, methods, and results.