Kate E Allstadt, Ph.D.
Biography
Kate Allstadt joined the team at the USGS Geologic Hazards Science Center in Golden, CO in June 2015. Kate uses multidisciplinary applications of seismic and geophysical techniques to study landslide, earthquake, and volcano hazards. She currently focuses on earthquake-triggered ground failure, near-real-time earthquake impacts, seismic monitoring of debris flows and lahars, and studies of massive rapid landslides using seismic methods and numerical modeling.
Kate 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.
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
Landslides Triggered by the 2020 Puerto Rico Earthquake Sequence
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake occurred near Barrio Indios, Guayanilla, Puerto Rico on January 7, 2020. A study of the triggered landslides is ongoing.
Global Earthquake-Triggered Ground Failure Inventory Database
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.
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...
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.
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...
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
Reconstructing the dynamics of the highly similar May 2016 and June 2019 Iliamna Volcano, Alaska ice–rock avalanches from seismoacoustic data
Surficial mass wasting events are a hazard worldwide. Seismic and acoustic signals from these often remote processes, combined with other geophysical observations, can provide key information for monitoring and rapid response efforts and enhance our understanding of event dynamics. Here, we present seismoacoustic data and analyses for two very...
Toney, Liam De La Hunt; Fee, David; Allstadt, Kate; Haney, Matthew M.; Matoza, Robin S.Measuring basal force fluctuations of debris flows using seismic recordings and empirical green's functions
We present a novel method for measuring the fluctuating basal normal and shear stresses of debris flows by using along‐channel seismic recordings. Our method couples a simple parameterization of a debris flow as a seismic source with direct measurements of seismic path effects using empirical Green's functions generated with a force hammer. We...
Allstadt, Kate; Farin, Maxime; Iverson, Richard M.; Obryk, Maciej; Kean, Jason W.; Tsai, Victor C.; Rapstine, Thomas D; Logan, MatthewReconstructing the velocity and deformation of a rapid landslide using multiview video
Noncontact measurements of spatially varied ground surface deformation during landslide motion can provide important constraints on landslide mechanics. Here, we present and test a new method for extracting measurements of rapid landslide surface displacement and velocity (accelerations of approximately 1 m/s2) using sequences of stereo...
Rapstine, Thomas D; Rengers, Francis K.; Allstadt, Kate; Iverson, Richard M.; Smith, Joel B.; Obryk, Maciej; Logan, M.; Olsen, M. J.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.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.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.Ground failure from the Anchorage, Alaska, earthquake of 30 November 2018
Investigation of ground failure triggered by the 2018 Mw">MwMw 7.1 Anchorage earthquake showed that landslides, liquefaction, and ground cracking all occurred and caused significant damage. Shallow rock falls and rock slides were the most abundant types of landslides, but they occurred in smaller numbers than global models that are...
Jibson, Randall W.; Grant, Alex R. R. ; Witter, Robert C.; Allstadt, Kate; Thompson, Eric M.; Bender, AdrianReal-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.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.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.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, KateEarthquake-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, RunqiuPre-USGS Publications
lsforce
lsforce is a Python-based single-force seismic inversion framework for massive landslides.
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.
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.