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Stéphane Baize, geologist at French Nuclear Safety Institute (IRSN).

Here is my research webpage.

My research focuses on seismic hazard analysis, with a specialization in earthquake geology. At ASNR (formerly IRSN), I work as an earthquake geologist in the Seismic Hazard Division. 

In this role, I:

• Conduct paleoseismological investigations to characterize fault activity, including the magnitude and recurrence of past earthquakes, and to determine long-term slip rates.

• Collaborate with seismologists to model earthquake sources and assess seismic (ground-shaking) hazard.

• Study historical earthquakes with surface ruptures, with applications to Fault Displacement Hazard.

• Work in diverse global settings, examining both fast-slipping (e.g., New Zealand) and slow-slipping faults in interplate areas (e.g., Italy, Croatia, Ecuador), as well as fast-slipping (e.g., Spain) and slow-slipping intraplate faults (e.g., France, Kazakhstan, Morocco).

• Contribute to the compilation of tectonic data at the national scale (Epos-France/FACT network).

For more details on my research, please visit the projects page.

Seismic hazard assessment extends beyond the study of surface-active faults—it requires a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach that integrates subsurface geology, seismology, geodesy, and historical earthquake records to evaluate potential seismic sources, ground motion characteristics, and long-term deformation patterns. 

In Metropolitan France, as in many intraplate regions, earthquakes that drive seismic hazard are often not associated with known or outcropping fault sources. A common approach to address this challenge is to define seismotectonic zones—areas with similar seismotectonic characteristics—which are later treated as homogeneous sources in seismic hazard analyses. These zones are delineated based on geological, geophysical, and geodetic data.

Translating geological information into parameters relevant for seismic hazard assessment (SHA) is not straightforward. Many challenges arise when converting research findings into actionable data for SHA, particularly in regions where fault sources are poorly expressed or hidden.

To advance my research, I maintain collaborations with geologists, geophysicists, seismologists, and geodesists. I have contributed to multiple research projects in France and internationally, including in Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, the USA, Italy, Spain, and New Zealand.

I regularly share information, ideas, data, and interpretations—drawing on both my own field experience and published scientific literature. My work primarily focuses on the surface expression of historical and recent earthquakes, with a particular emphasis on understanding fault displacement hazards and improving seismic hazard models. At the national scale, I supervise with Jeff Ritz (Géosciences Montpellier) and Laurence Audin (ISTERRE Grenoble) the FACT group of Epos-France -see https://sismicite.epos-france.fr/axes/axe-5-failles-actives-france/ for more information.

Links to my Blog page:

Most of the material presented in these pages could not have been so without the (direct or indirect) contribution of my colleagues, especially in my institute (IRSN) (Oona Scotti, Marc Cushing, Hervé Jomard) but also the ones crossed all along my field and conference experiences.