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Krittanon (Pond) Sirorattanakul
Welcome to my homepage!
My name is Krittanon Sirorattanakul, but you can call me "Pond".
I am a geophysicist studying how faults and shear interfaces evolve, heal, and fail across spatial and temporal scales, from frictional processes at microscopic contacts to earthquake sequences in nature. My research combines laboratory experiments, geodetic and seismological observations, and mechanics-based modeling to understand how faults respond to transient stresses. My work bridges fundamental fault mechanics and applied earthquake science, with the goal of advancing our understanding of earthquake processes and enabling safer, more sustainable use of the subsurface during the energy transition.
Currently, I am a Geomechanics Specialist at Chevron U.S.A. Inc. in Houston, Texas. I earned my Ph.D. in Geophysics from Caltech in 2024. Learn more about my background and professional experience on the About Me page.
Explore my Research page or check out the recording of my Ph.D. defense to learn more about my work on laboratory fault friction and healing, natural earthquakes, and induced seismicity.
For peer-review, seminar invitations, or research inquiries, please contact me at [email protected].
Selected Publications
- Sirorattanakul, K. and Avouac, J.-P. (2026), Seismic Rhythms: Earthquake Response to Tectonic, Hydrological, and Tidal Forcing in California, Science Advances, 12(13), adz5711.
- Sirorattanakul, K., Larochelle, S., Rubino, V., Lapusta, N., and Rosakis, A. J. (2025), Sliding and Healing of Shear Interfaces that Appear Stationary, Nature, 639(8056), 947-953.
- Sirorattanakul, K., Ross, Z. E., Khoshmanesh, M., Cochran, E. S., Acosta, M. A., and Avouac, J.-P. (2022), The 2020 Westmorland, California earthquake swarm as aftershocks of a slow slip event sustained by fluid flow, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127(11), e2022JB024693.
News
June 2026: Our conference paper, "InSAR Characterization of Fluid Movement and Fault Slip Near a Saltwater Disposal Site in the Permian Basin", presented by Zhishuai Zhang at the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC), received the Best of Paper Award.
May 2026: I joined the editorial board of Seismica, a community-driven Diamond Open Access journal, as a Handling Editor.
March 2026: Caltech News, Phys.org, and earth.com featured our Science Advances paper, "Seismic Rhythms: Earthquake Response to Tectonic, Hydrological, and Tidal Forcing in California".
March 2026: I represented Chevron at the Caltech's Center for Geomechanics and Mitigation of Geohazards Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) Spring Meeting.
November 2025: I was invited to give a seminar at Texas A&M University's ARMA R&D Series.
April 2025: I gave a talk on our work "Modeling and Forecasting Wastewater Disposal Induced Seismicity in the Delaware Basin" at the Seismological Society of America Annual Meeting.
March 2025: Our article "Geodetic Monitoring of Elastic and Inelastic Deformation in Compacting Reservoirs Due to Subsurface Operations" led by Yuexin Li, was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.
March 2025: Caltech News, Phys.org, and Pasadena Now featured our Nature paper, "Sliding and Healing of Frictional Interfaces that Appear Stationary".
October 2024: I was invited to give an online seminar at the Interdisciplinary Thematic Institutes on Geosciences for the Energy System Transition (ITI-GeoT), University of Strasbourg.
September 2024: Our article "Bursts of Fast Propagating Swarms of Induced Earthquakes at the Groningen Gas Field" was published in Seismological Research Letters.
August 2024: I joined Chevron U.S.A. Inc. as a Geomechanics Specialist at the Geomechanics Center of Excellence in Houston, Texas.
June 2024: I graduated with a Ph.D. in Geophysics from Caltech and received the GPS Award for Academic Excellence in Research from the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences.
November 2023: I was invited to give a talk at Lithospheric Dynamics Seminar, University of Southern California (USC).
October 2023: Our article "Earthquake Nucleation Characteristics Revealed by Seismicity Response to Seasonal Stress Variations Induced by Gas Production at Groningen" led by Mateo Acosta, was published in Geophysical Research Letters.
November 2022: Our article "The 2020 Westmorland, California Earthquake Swarm as Aftershocks of a Slow Slip Event Sustained by Fluid Flow" was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.
April 2022: I was invited to give a talk at Geophysics seminar, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
February 2020: Our article "Near‐Field Ground Motions from the July 2019 Ridgecrest, California, Earthquake Sequence" led by Susan Hough, was published in Seismological Research Letters. I contributed to the reconnaissance fieldwork documenting overturned rocks near the ruptures.