Coe, J.A., Baum, R. L., Allstadt, K.E., Kochevar, B.F., Schmitt, R.G., Morgan, M.L., White, J.L., Stratton, B.T., Hayashi, T.A., Kean, J.W., 2016, Rock-avalanche dynamics revealed by large-scale field mapping and seismic signals at a highly mobile avalanche in the West Salt Creek valley, western Colorado, Geosphere, 12, 25p., doi:10.1130/GES01265.1
Kate E Allstadt, Ph.D.
Biography
I joined the team at the USGS Geologic Hazards Science Center in Golden, CO in June 2015 and split my time between the Landslide Hazards Program and the Earthquake Hazards Program. I focus on multidisciplinary applications of seismic and geophysical techniques to landslide and earthquake hazards. I work on a variety of topics including seismically-induced landslide and liquefaction, near-real-time earthquake products, and seismic monitoring and geophysical investigations of landslides and debris flows.
As a postdoc at the Cascades Volcano Observatory, I cofounded the ongoing GeoGirls at Mount St. Helens field camp designed to keep middle school girls interested in science through hands-on field experiences and interactions with strong science role models. I continue to stay involved with the program.
Research Interests
Multidisciplinary Applications of Seismology, Hazard and Disaster mitigation, Seismically Induced Landslides, Landslide Seismology, Earthquake and Volcano monitoring, Real-time products, Engineering seismology and Site Effects
Education
2009 – 2013 University of Washington, PhD, Seismology/Geophysics
2008 – 2009 Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France and ROSE School, Pavia, Italy, M.S., Engineering Seismology
2003 - 2008 Northeastern University, B.S., Environmental Geology
Research and Professional Experience
2015 – present Research Geophysicst, USGS Geologic Hazards Science Center, Golden CO
2014 – 2015 National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory: Toward early detection and tracking of mass movements at volcanoes using seismic methods.
2013 – 2014 Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Washington: M9 Cascadia megaquakes: reducing risk through science, engineering, and planning.
2009 – 2013 Duty Seismologist for Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and Research Assistant & Teaching Assistant, University of Washington
Science and Products
Date published: September 25, 2019
Status: Active Earthquake-Triggered Ground-Failure
Earthquake-triggered ground-failure, such as landsliding and liquefaction, can contribute significantly to losses, but our current ability to accurately include them in earthquake hazard analyses is limited.
Contacts: Kate E Allstadt, Ph.D.
Attribution: Natural Hazards, Landslide Hazards Program
Date published: June 28, 2018
Status: Active Preliminary Analysis of Satellite Imagery and Seismic Observations of the Nuugaatsiaq Landslide and Tsunami, Greenland
Disclaimer
This information is preliminary or provisional and is subject to revision. It is being provided to meet the need for timely science to assess ongoing hazards. The information has not received final approval by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and is provided on the condition that neither the USGS nor the U.S. Government shall be held liable for any damages...
Date published: June 25, 2018
Status: Completed Near Realtime Maps of Possible Earthquake-Triggered Landslides
Release Date: JUNE 25, 2018
USGS scientists have been developing a system to quickly identify areas where landslides may have been triggered by a significant earthquake.
Contacts: Kate E Allstadt, Ph.D., Lisa A Wald
Attribution: Natural Hazards, Landslide Hazards Program
Date published: April 1, 2018
Status: Active An Interactive Web-based Application for Earthquake-triggered Ground Failure Inventories
Inventories of landslides and liquefaction triggered by major earthquakes are key research tools that can be used to develop and test hazard models. To eliminate redundant effort, we created a centralized and interactive repository of ground failure inventories that currently hosts 32 inventories generated by USGS and non-USGS authors and designed a pipeline for adding more as they become...
Attribution: Community for Data Integration (CDI)
Date published: May 25, 2016
Status: Completed Reconstruction of an Avalanche: The West Salt Creek Rock Avalanche
Release Date: MAY 25, 2016
The West Salt Creek Rock Avalanche, Colorado, May 25, 2014
Year Published: 2020
Ground failure triggered by shaking during the November 30, 2018, magnitude 7.1 Anchorage, Alaska, earthquake
We developed an initial inventory of ground failure features from the November 30, 2018, magnitude 7.1 Anchorage earthquake. This inventory of 153 features is from ground-based observations soon after the earthquake (December 5–10) that include the presence or absence of liquefaction, landslides, and individual crack traces of lateral spreads and...
Grant, Alex R. R. ; Jibson, Randall W.; Witter, Robert C.; Allstadt, Kate E.; Thompson, Eric M.; Bender, Adrian M.Attribution: Natural Hazards, Alaska Science Center, Earthquake Science Center, Natural Hazards, Earthquake Hazards Program, Region 11: Alaska, Alaska, United States of America
View Citation
Grant, A.R.R., Jibson, R.W., Witter, R.C., Allstadt, K.E., Thompson, E.M., and Bender, A.M., 2020, Ground failure triggered by shaking during the November 30, 2018, magnitude 7.1 Anchorage, Alaska, earthquake: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020–1043, 21 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20201043.
Year Published: 2020
Observations on the May 2019 Joffre Peak landslides, British Columbia
Two catastrophic landslides occurred in quick succession on 13 and 16 May 2019, from the north face of Joffre Peak, Cerise Creek, southern Coast Mountains, British Columbia. With headscarps at 2560 m and 2690 m elevation, both began as rock avalanches, rapidly transforming into debris flows along middle Cerise Creek, and finally into debris floods...
Friele, Pierre; Millard, Tom; Mitchell, Andrew; Allstadt, Kate; Menounos, Brian; Geertsema, Marten; Clague, John J.
Year Published: 2020
USGS near-real-time products-and their use-for the 2018 Anchorage earthquake
In the minutes to hours after a major earthquake, such as the recent 2018 Mw">Mw 7.1 Anchorage event, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) produces a suite of interconnected earthquake products that provides diverse information ranging from basic earthquake source parameters to loss estimates. The 2018 Anchorage earthquake is the first...
Thompson, Eric M.; McBride, Sara; Hayes, Gavin P.; Allstadt, Kate; Wald, Lisa; Wald, David J.; Knudsen, Keith L.; Worden, Charles; Marano, Kristin; Jibson, Randall W.; Grant, Alex R. R.
Year Published: 2019
Real-time monitoring of debris-flow velocity and mass deformation from field experiments with high sample rate lidar and video
Debris flows evolve in both time and space in complex ways, commonly starting as coherent failures but then quickly developing structures such as roll waves and surges. This process is readily observed, but difficult to study or quantify because of the speed at which it occurs. Many methods for studying debris flows consist of point measurements (...
Rengers, Francis K.; Rapstine, Thomas; Allstadt, Kate E.; Olsen, Michael; Bunn, Michael; Iverson, Richard M.; Kean, Jason W.; Leshchinsky, Ben; Logan, Matthew; Sharifi-Mood, Mahyar; Obryk, Maciej; Smith, Joel B.
Year Published: 2019
Taking the pulse of debris flows: Extracting debris-flow dynamics from good vibrations in southern California and central Colorado
The destructive nature of debris flows makes it difficult to quantify flow dynamics with direct instrumentation. For this reason, seismic sensors placed safely away from the flow path are often used to identify the timing and speed of debris flows. While seismic sensors have proven to be a valuable tool for event detection and early warning, their...
Michel, A.; Kean, Jason W.; Smith, Joel B.; Allstadt, Kate E.; Coe, Jeffrey A.Attribution: Natural Hazards, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Landslide Hazards Program, Earthquake Hazards Program, , Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin, California, Colorado, United States of America, Wildland Fire Science
View Citation
Michel, A., Kean, J.W., Smith, J.B., Allstadt, K., and Coe, J.A. (2019), Taking the pulse of debris flows: extracting debris-flow dynamics from good vibrations in southern California and central Colorado, in Debris-Flow Hazards Mitigation: Mechanics, Monitoring, Modeling, and Assessment, edited by Kean, J.W., Coe, J.A., Santi, P.M., and Guillen, B.K., Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists, Special Publication #28, p. 154-161.
Year Published: 2019
Inundation, flow dynamics, and damage in the 9 January 2018 Montecito Debris-Flow Event, California, USA: Opportunities and challenges for post-wildfire risk assessment
Shortly before the beginning of the winter rainy season, one of the largest fires in California history (Thomas Fire) substantially increased the susceptibility of steep slopes in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties to debris flows. On January 9, 2018, before the fire was fully contained, an intense burst of rain fell on the portion of the burn...
Kean, Jason W.; Staley, Dennis M.; Lancaster, Jeremy T.; Rengers, Francis K.; Swanson, Brian J.; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Hernandez, Janis; Sigman, Aaron; Allstadt, Kate E.; Lindsay, Donald N.
Year Published: 2019
A physical model of the high-frequency seismic signal generated by debris flows
We propose a physical model for the high‐frequency (>1 Hz) spectral distribution of seismic power generated by debris flows. The modeled debris flow is assumed to have four regions where the impact rate and impulses are controlled by different mechanisms: the flow body, a coarser‐grained snout, a snout lip where particles fall from the snout on...
Farin, Maxime; Tsai, Victor C.; Lamb, Michael P.; Allstadt, Kate
Year Published: 2019
Earthquake-induced chains of geologic hazards: Patterns, mechanisms, and impacts
Large earthquakes initiate chains of surface processes that last much longer than the brief moments of strong shaking. Most moderate- and large-magnitude earthquakes trigger landslides, ranging from small failures in the soil cover to massive, devastating rock avalanches. Some landslides dam rivers and impound lakes, which can collapse days to...
Fan, Xuanmei; Scaringi, Gianvito; Korup, Oliver; West, A. Joshua; Westen, Cees J. van; Tanyas, Hakan; Hovius, Niels; Hales, Tristram C; Jibson, Randall W.; Allstadt, Kate E.; Zhang, Limin; Evans, Stephen G.; Xu, Chong; Li, Gen; Pei, Xiangjun; Xu, Qiang; Huang, RunqiuAttribution: Natural Hazards, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Earthquake Hazards Program, Landslide Hazards Program, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin, United States of America
View Citation
Fan, X., Scaringi, G. Korup, O., West, A.J., van Westen, C.J., Tanyaş, H., Hovius, N., Hales, T.C., Jibson, R.W., Allstadt, K.E., Zhang, L., Evans, S.G., Xu, C., Li, G., Pei, X., Xu, Q., Huang, R., 2019, Earthquake-induced chains of geologic hazards—Patterns, mechanisms, and impacts: Reviews of Geophysics, v. 57, p. 421-503
Year Published: 2019
Exotic Seismic Events Catalog (ESEC) Data Product
Nonearthquake seismic events from sources such as landslides, debris flows, dam collapses, floods, glaciers, and avalanches are rarely included in traditional earthquake catalogs. The new Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Management Center Exotic Seismic Events Catalog data product provides information on such events to...
Bahavar, Manoch; Allstadt, Kate E.; Fossen, Mick Van; Malone, Stephen; Trabant, Chad
Year Published: 2019
Factors controlling landslide frequency-area distributions
A power‐law relation for the frequency–area distribution (FAD) of medium and large landslides (e.g. tens to millions of square meters) has been observed by numerous authors. But the FAD of small landslides diverges from the power‐law distribution, with a rollover point below which frequencies decrease for smaller landslides. Some studies conclude...
Tanyaş, Hakan; van Westen, Cees J.; Allstadt, Kate E.; Jibson, Randall W.
Year Published: 2019
Seismic and acoustic signatures of surficial mass movements at volcanoes
Surficial mass movements, such as debris avalanches, rock falls, lahars, pyroclastic flows, and outburst floods, are a dominant hazard at many volcanoes worldwide. Understanding these processes, cataloging their spatio-temporal occurrence, and detecting, tracking, and characterizing these events would advance the science of volcano monitoring and...
Allstadt, Kate E.; Matoza, Robin S; Lockhart, Andrew; Moran, Seth C.; Caplan-Auerbach, Jacqueline; Haney, Matthew M.; Thelen, Weston; Malone, Stephen D.
Year Published: 2019
A global empirical model for near real-time assessment of seismically induced landslides
Earthquake-triggered landslides are a significant hazard in seismically active regions, but our ability to assess the hazard they pose in near real-time is limited. In this study, we present a new globally applicable model for seismically induced landslides based on the most comprehensive global dataset available; we use 23 landslide inventories...
Nowicki Jessee, M. Anna; Hamburger, M.W.; Allstadt, Kate E.; Wald, David J.; Tanyas, H.; Hearne, Mike; Thompson, E.M.Pre-USGS Publications
Allstadt, K. E., Shean, D. E., Campbell, A., Fahnestock, M., and Malone, S. D., 2015, Observations of seasonal and diurnal glacier velocities at Mount Rainier, Washington, using terrestrial radar interferometry, The Cryosphere, 9, 2219-2235, doi:10.5194/tc-9-2219-2015.
Moretti, L, Allstadt, K., Mangeney, A., Capdeville, Y., Stutzmann, E. and Bouchut, F., 2015, Numerical modeling of the Mount Meager landslide constrained by its force history derived from seismic data, J. Geophs. Res., 120, 2578-2599, doi: 10.1002/2014JB011426
Allstadt, K., and Malone, S.M., 2014, Swarms of repeating stick-slip icequakes triggered by snow loading at Mount Rainier volcano, J. Geophys. Res. Earth Surf. 119, doi: 10.1002/2014JF003086
Allstadt, K., 2013, Surficial Seismology: Landslides, Glaciers and Volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest through a Seismic Lens, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Washington.
Allstadt, K., Vidale, J.E., and Frankel, A., 2013, A scenario study of seismically induced landsliding in Seattle using broadband synthetic seismograms, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am., 103(6), 2971-2992.
Allstadt, K., 2013, Extracting Source Characteristics and Dynamics of the August 2010 Mount Meager Landslide from Broadband Seismograms, J. Geophys. Res. Earth Surface, 118(3), 1472-1490.
Guthrie, R.H., Friele, P., Allstadt, K., Roberts, N., Evans, S.G., Delaney, K.B., Roche, D., Clague, J.J., and Jakob, M., 2012, The 6 August 2010 Mount Meager rock slide-debris flow, Coast Mountains, British Columbia: characteristics, dynamics, and implications for hazard and risk assessment: Nat.Haz. Earth. Syst. Sci., 12, 1277-1294.
Allstadt, K., 2009, Study of Site Effects in Landslides using Weak Ground Motion, Avignonet and Séchilienne Landslides, French Alps, M.S. Thesis, Université Joseph Fourier and ROSE School. 87p.
Date published: August 4, 2016
GeoGirls Dig Geology at Mount St. Helens
MEDIA ADVISORY
Twenty middle-school girls from Washington and Oregon are participating in the second annual “GeoGirls” outdoor volcano science program at Mount St. Helens, jointly organized by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Mount St. Helens Institute.
Date published: July 30, 2015
Media Advisory: GeoGirls Dig Geology at Mount St. Helens
Twenty middle school girls from Washington and Oregon are participating in “GeoGirls,” an outdoor program jointly organized by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Mount St. Helens Institute.