Geologic Hazards Science Center
Publications
Hazard analysis of landslides triggered by Typhoon Chata'an on July 2, 2002, in Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia
More than 250 landslides were triggered across the eastern volcanic islands of Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia by torrential rainfall from tropical storm Chata’an on July 2, 2002. Landslides triggered during nearly 20 inches of rainfall in less than 24 hours caused 43 fatalities and the destruction or damage of 231 structures,...
Harp, Edwin L.; Reid, Mark E.; Michael, John A.
Preliminary assessment of the wave generating potential from landslides at Barry Arm, Prince William Sound, Alaska
We simulated the concurrent rapid motion of landslides on an unstable slope at Barry Arm, Alaska. Movement of landslides into the adjacent fjord displaced fjord water and generated a tsunami, which propagated out of Barry Arm. Rather than assuming an initial sea surface height, velocity, and location for the tsunami, we generated the tsunami...
Barnhart, Katherine R.; Jones, Ryan P.; George, David L.; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Staley, Dennis M.
HydroMet: A new code for automated objective optimization of hydrometeorological thresholds for landslide initiation
Landslide detection and warning systems are important tools for mitigation of potential hazards in landslide prone areas. Traditionally, warning systems for shallow landslides have been informed by rainfall intensity-duration thresholds. More recent advances have introduced the concept of hydrometeorological thresholds that are informed not only...
Conrad, Jacob Lawrence; Morphew, Michael D.; Baum, Rex L.; Mirus, Benjamin B. Evaluation of techniques for mitigating snowmelt infiltration-induced landsliding in a highway embankment
Infiltration-induced landslides threaten transportation infrastructure around the world, and impose both direct costs through repair and remediation work and indirect costs through lost economic activity. Therefore, finding the most cost-effective techniques to mitigate slope failures that can impact critical infrastructure links is desirable. The...
Hinds, Eric; Lu, Ning; Mirus, Benjamin B.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Wayllace, Alexandra Magnetotelluric sampling and geoelectric hazard estimation: Are national-scale surveys sufficient?
At present, the most reliable information for inferring storm-time ground electric fields along electrical transmission lines comes from coarsely sampled, national-scale magnetotelluric (MT) data sets, such as that provided by the EarthScope USArray program. An underlying assumption in the use of such data is that they adequately sample the...
Murphy, Benjamin Scott; Lucas, Greg M.; Love, Jeffrey J.; Kelbert, Anna; Bedrosian, Paul A.; Rigler, E. Joshua Short‐period surface‐wave tomography in the continental United States—A resource for research
grid for the four independent tomographic inversions (Love and Rayleigh and phase and group velocity). One reason for trying to obtain short‐period dispersion was to have a data set capable of constraining upper crust velocity models for use in determining regional moment tensors. The benefit of focusing on short‐period dispersion is...
Herrmann, R. B.; Ammon, C. J.; Benz, Harley M.; Aziz-Zanjani, A.; Boschelli, J. Material properties and triggering mechanisms of an andesitic lava dome collapse at Shiveluch Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia, revealed using the finite element method
Shiveluch volcano (Kamchatka, Russia) is an active andesitic volcano with a history of explosive activity, dome extrusion, and structural collapse during the Holocene. The most recent major (> 1 km3) dome collapse occurred in November 1964, producing a ~ 1.5 km3 debris avalanche that traveled over 15 km from the vent and...
Wallace, Cory S; Schaefer, Lauren Nicole; Villeneuve, Marlène C. Seismic wave propagation and basin amplification in the Wasatch Front, Utah
Ground‐motion analysis of more than 3000 records from 59 earthquakes, including records from the March 2020 Mw">MwMw 5.7 Magna earthquake sequence, was carried out to investigate site response and basin amplification in the Wasatch Front, Utah. We compare ground motions with the Bayless and Abrahamson (2019; hereafter, BA18)...
Moschetti, Morgan P.; Churchwell, David Henry; Thompson, Eric M.; Rekoske, John; Wolin, Emily; Boyd, Oliver S. Postwildfire soil‐hydraulic recovery and the persistence of debris flow hazards
Deadly and destructive debris flows often follow wildfire, but understanding of changes in the hazard potential with time since fire is poor. We develop a simulation‐based framework to quantify changes in the hydrologic triggering conditions for debris flows as postwildfire infiltration properties evolve through time. Our approach produces time‐...
Thomas, Matthew A.; Rengers, Francis K.; Kean, Jason W.; McGuire, Luke A.; Staley, Dennis M.; Barnhart, Katherine R.; Ebel, Brian A.
U.S. Geological Survey wildland fire science strategic plan, 2021–26
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Wildland Fire Science Strategic Plan defines critical, core fire science capabilities for understanding fire-related and fire-responsive earth system processes and patterns, and informing management decision making. Developed by USGS fire scientists and executive leadership, and informed by conversations with...
Steblein, Paul F.; Loehman, Rachel A.; Miller, Mark P.; Holomuzki, Joseph R.; Soileau, Suzanna C.; Brooks, Matthew L.; Drane-Maury, Mia; Hamilton, Hannah M.; Kean, Jason W.; Keeley, Jon E.; Mason, Robert R.; McKerrow, Alexa J.; Meldrum, James R.; Molder, Edmund B.; Murphy, Sheila F.; Peterson, Birgit; Plumlee, Geoffrey S.; Shinneman, Douglas J.; van Mantgem, Phillip J.; York, Alison A maximum rupture model for the central and southern Cascadia subduction zone—reassessing ages for coastal evidence of megathrust earthquakes and tsunamis
A new history of great earthquakes (and their tsunamis) for the central and southern Cascadia subduction zone shows more frequent (17 in the past 6700 yr) megathrust ruptures than previous coastal chronologies. The history is based on along-strike correlations of Bayesian age models derived from evaluation of 554 radiocarbon ages that date...
Nelson, Alan; Duross, Christopher; Witter, Robert C.; Kelsey, Harvey M.; Engelhart, Simon E.; Mahan, Shannon A.; Gray, Harrison J.; Hawkes, Andrea D.; Horton, Benjamin P.; Padgett, Jason S. Shear-wave velocity site characterization in Oklahoma from joint inversion of multi-method surface seismic measurements: Implications for central U.S. Ground Motion Prediction
We analyze multi-method shear-wave velocity (Vs) site characterization data acquired at three permanent and 25 temporary seismograph stations in Oklahoma that recorded M4+ earthquakes within 50 km hypocentral distance of at least one of the 2016 M5.1 Fairview, M5.8 Pawnee or M5.0 Cushing earthquakes, to better constrain earthquake ground motion...
Stephenson, William J.; Odum, Jackson K.; Hartzell, Stephen H.; Leeds, Alena L.; Williams, Robert