The Mw 6.4 and Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence occurred on 4 and 5 July 2019
within the eastern California shear zone of southern California. Both events produced
extensive surface faulting and ground deformation within Indian Wells Valley and
Searles Valley. In the weeks following the earthquakes, more than six dozen scientists
from government, academia, and the private sector carefully documented the surface
faulting and ground-deformation features. As of December 2019, we have compiled a
total of more than 6000 ground observations; approximately 1500 of these simply note
the presence or absence of fault rupture or ground failure, but the remainder include
detailed descriptions and other documentation, including tens of thousands of
photographs. More than 1100 of these observations also include quantitative field measurements
of displacement sense and magnitude. These field observations were supplemented
bymapping of fault rupture and ground-deformation features directly in the field
as well as by interpreting the location and extent of surface faulting and ground deformation
from optical imagery and geodetic image products. We identified greater than
68 km of fault rupture produced by both earthquakes aswell as numerous sites of ground
deformation resulting from liquefaction or slope failure. These observations comprise a
dataset that is fundamental to understanding the processes that controlled this earthquake
sequence and for improving earthquake hazard estimates in the region. This article
documents the types of data collected during postearthquake field investigations, the
compilation effort, and the digital data products resulting from these efforts.