Earthquakes and their secondary effects such as soil liquefaction, tsunamis ,and landslides cause loss of lives and property. I thrive to understand the physics behind such natural phenomena to reduce their risk. In my research, I build theoretical models and perform numerical simulations to explain observations of such phenomena to develop fundamental understanding of the governing processes and their effects.

In particular, I work on understanding the “multi-physics” of earthquake rupture and seismic wave propagation, and their effects on the seismic wavefields and resulting ground-shaking.Specifically, I analyze various effects that influence earthquake rupture and seismic radiation (e.g. thermal-pressurization of pore fluid, rupture directivity, supershear rupture propagation, geometric fault complexity). In addition, I study seismic wavefield scattering due to 3D Earth heterogeneities at various scales to quantify its effect on earthquake ground-motion and its variability. My research interests also extend to other areas such as earthquake induced landslides and reservoir induced seismicity.

• Vyas, J. C., Galis, M., & Mai, P. M. (2021). Characterizing seismic scattering in 3D heterogeneous Earth by a single parameter. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, doi:10.1785/0120200153.
• Vyas, J. C., Mai, P. M., Galis, M., Dunham, E. M., & Imperatori, W. (2018). Mach wave properties in the presence of source and medium heterogeneity. Geophysical Journal International, 214(3), 2035-2052.
• Mai, P. M., Galis, M., Thingbaijam, K. K., Vyas, J. C. , & Dunham, E. M. (2017). Accounting for Fault Roughness in Pseudo-Dynamic Ground-Motion Simulations. Pure and Applied Geophysics, 1-32.
• Vyas, J. C.,  Mai, P. M., & Galis, M. (2016). Distance and Azimuthal Dependence of Ground‐Motion Variability for Unilateral Strike‐Slip Ruptures. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America Vol. 106, No. 4 (doi: 10.1785/0120150298).
• Mai, P. M., Schorlemmer, D., Page, M., Ampuero, J. P., Asano, K., Causse, M.,... Vyas J. C. ,... & Zielke O., (2016). The earthquake‐source inversion validation (SIV) project. Seismological Research Letters Volume 87, Number 3 (doi: 10.1785/0220150231).
• Nath, S. K., Thingbaijam, K. K. S., Vyas, J. C. , Sengupta, P., & Dev, S. M. S. P. (2010). Macroseismic-driven site effects in the southern territory of West Bengal, India. Seismological Research Letters, 81(3), 480-487.

• 2017 Ph.D. (Seismology), KAUST, KSA
• 2010 M. Tech. (Seismology), IIT Kharagpur, India
• 2007 M. Sc. (Physics), MLSU, Udaipur, India​

• 2019 – present: Postdoctoral researcher, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
• 2017 – 2019: Postdoctoral researcher, University of Canterbury, New Zealand 

Student Presentation Award at Seismological Society of America (SSA), 2017​

Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) award at European Geosciences Union (EGU), 2016