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Geophysics LaboratoryCUHK
All group members

Principal investigator

Yen Joe Tan, Ph.D.(陳衍佐)

Associate Professor

Analysing geophysical data to probe earthquake, volcanic and Earth surface processes, including those beneath the ocean.

Research

I am a marine geophysicist investigating earthquake and volcanic processes, particularly beneath the oceans and at submarine volcanoes. My research combines seismic observations, geophysical modeling, and machine-learning methods to understand how stress, magma transport, fluids, and fault properties govern earthquakes and volcanic activity.

Current projects include tracking deep long-period volcanic earthquakes, studying seismic and permeability changes at inflating submarine volcanoes, and examining earthquake and slow-slip behavior along oceanic transform faults. I am also interested in environmental seismology and the application of machine learning to seismic phase picking, event detection, and geophysical data analysis.

Background

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, where I joined as an Assistant Professor in 2020. I am also an Adjunct Associate Research Scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University.

Before joining CUHK, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Geophysics at Stanford University and a Visiting Researcher at ISTerre, Université Savoie Mont-Blanc. I received my Ph.D. in Geophysics from Columbia University in 2019, following B.S. degrees in Geology and Anthropology and Sociology from Lafayette College in 2014.

Research interests

  • Marine geophysics
  • Volcano seismology
  • Earthquake processes and slow slip
  • Environmental seismology
  • Seafloor spreading, hydrothermal systems, and submarine volcanism
  • Machine-learning applications in geophysics

Selected publications

  • Zhong, Y. and Tan, Y.J.* (2024), Deep-learning-based phase picking for volcano-tectonic and long-period earthquakes, Geophysical Research Letters, 51.
  • Zhang, Z., Liu, M., Tan, Y.J.*, Walter, F., He, S., Chmiel, M., and Su, J. (2024), Landslide hazard cascades can trigger earthquakes, Nature Communications, 15, 2878.
  • Lee, M.K., Tan, Y.J.*, Russell, J.B., Tolstoy, M., and Waldhauser, F. (2024), Relative seismic velocity variations at Axial Seamount observed with ambient seismic noise capture transition point in volcanic inflation, Geophysical Research Letters, 51, e2024GL108883.
  • Barkat, A., Tan, Y.J.*, Xu, G., Waldhauser, F., Tolstoy, M., and Wilcock, W.S.D. (2024), Permeability and seismicity rate changes at an inflating submarine volcano caused by dynamic stresses, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 632, 118625.
  • Liu, M., Tan, Y.J.*, Lei, X., Li, H., Zhang, Y., and Wang, W. (2024), Intersection between tectonic faults and magmatic systems promotes swarms with large-magnitude earthquakes around the Tengchong volcanic field, southeastern Tibetan Plateau, Geology, 52(4), 302–307.
  • Song, Z., Tan, Y.J.*, and Roman, D.C. (2023), Deep long-period earthquakes at Akutan Volcano from 2005–2017 better track magma influxes than volcano-tectonic earthquakes, Geophysical Research Letters, 50, e2022GL101987.
  • Tan, Y.J.* and Marsan, D. (2020), Connecting a broad spectrum of transient slip on the San Andreas fault, Science Advances, 6, eabb2489.
  • Scholz, C.H., Tan, Y.J.*, and Albino, F. (2019), The mechanism of tidal triggering of earthquakes at mid-ocean ridges, Nature Communications, 10(1), 2526.
  • Tan, Y.J.*, Tolstoy, M., Waldhauser, F., and Wilcock, W.S.D. (2016), Dynamics of a seafloor spreading episode at the East Pacific Rise, Nature, 540, 261–265.

Awards and grants

  • Croucher Tak Wah Mak Innovation Award, 2022
  • NSFC Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macau), 2021
  • President Macron’s Make Our Planet Great Again Fellowship, 2018
  • Chateaubriand Fellowship, 2018
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory Applied Machine Learning Research Fellowship, 2018

Current research grants include projects on deep long-period volcanic earthquakes, submarine earthquake and volcanic processes, oceanic transform faults, and caldera dynamics at Axial Seamount.

Teaching

Current courses include:

  • EESC 3320 — Hydrogeology
  • EESC 3300 — Oceanography
  • EESC 2130 — Fundamental Geoscience Fieldwork (Taiwan)
  • EESC 4150 — Volcanoes
  • EESC 3130 — Introduction to Seismic Data Processing

Professional activities

  • Handling Editor, Seismica
  • Advisory Board Member, GradMAP Philippines
  • Former Early Career Representative, IAVCEI Committee on Submarine Volcanism