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: 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: 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)
Year Published: 2018
An updated method for estimating landslide‐event magnitude
Summary statistics derived from the frequency–area distribution (FAD) of inventories of triggered landslides allows for direct comparison of landslides triggered by one event (e.g. earthquake, rainstorm) with another. Such comparisons are vital to understand links between the landslide‐event and the environmental characteristics of the area...
Tanyas, Hakan; Allstadt, Kate E.; van Weston, Cees J.Attribution: Natural Hazards, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Landslide Hazards, United States of America
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Tanyas, H., Allstadt, K.E., van Westen, C.J., 2018, An updated method for estimating landslide-event magnitude, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4359
Year Published: 2018
Landslides triggered by the 14 November 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura Earthquake, New Zealand
The 14 November 2016 Mw">MwMw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake generated more than 10,000 landslides over a total area of about 10,000  km2">10,000 km210,000 km2, with the majority concentrated in a smaller area of about 3600  km2">3600 km23600 km2. The largest landslide triggered...
Massey, C.; Townsend, D.; Rathje, Ellen M.; Allstadt, Kate E.; Lukovic, B.; Kaneko, Yoshihiro; Bradley, Brendon A.; Wartman, J.; Jibson, Randall W.; Petley, D. N.; Horspool, Nick; Hamling, I.; Carey, J.; Cox, S.; Davidson, John; Dellow, S.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Holden, Christopher; Jones, Katherine D.; Kaiser, Anna E.; Little, M.; Lyndsell, B.; McColl, S.; Morgenstern, R.; Rengers, Francis K.; Rhoades, D.; Rosser, B.; Strong, D.; Singeisen, C.; Villeneuve, M.Attribution: Natural Hazards, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Landslide Hazards, New Zealand
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C. Massey, D. Townsend, E. Rathje, K. E. Allstadt, B. Lukovic, Y. Kaneko, B. Bradley, J. Wartman, R. W. Jibson, D. N. Petley, N. Horspool, I. Hamling, J. Carey, S. Cox, J. Davidson, S. Dellow, J. W. Godt, C. Holden, K. Jones, A. Kaiser, M. Little, B. Lyndsell, S. McColl, R. Morgenstern, F. K. Rengers, D. Rhoades, B. Rosser, D. Strong, C. Singeisen, M. Villeneuve; Landslides Triggered by the 14 November 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura Earthquake, New Zealand. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America doi: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120170305
Year Published: 2018
Improving near‐real‐time coseismic landslide models: Lessons learned from the 2016 Kaikōura, New Zealand, earthquake
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing near‐real‐time global earthquake‐triggered‐landslide products to augment the USGS Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system. The 14 November 2016 Mw">MwMw 7.8 Kaikōura, New Zealand, earthquake provided a test case for evaluating the performance and near‐real‐...
Allstadt, Kate E.; Jibson, Randall W.; Thompson, Eric M.; Massey, Chris; Wald, David J.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Rengers, Francis K.Attribution: Natural Hazards, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Earthquake Hazards, Landslide Hazards, New Zealand
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Allstadt, K.E., Jibson, R.W., Thompson, E.M., Massey, C.I., Wald, D.J., Godt, J.W., Rengers, F.K., 2018, Improving Near‐Real‐Time Coseismic Landslide Models: Lessons Learned from the 2016 Kaikōura, New Zealand, Earthquake, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (2018) 108 (3B): 1649-1664.
Year Published: 2018
Overview of the geologic effects of the November 14, 2016, Mw 7.8 Kaikoura, New Zealand, earthquake
The November 14, 2016, Kaikoura, New Zealand, earthquake (moment magnitude [Mw] 7.8) triggered more than 10,000 landslides over an area of about 12,000 square kilometers in the northeastern part of the South Island of New Zealand. In collaboration with GNS Science (the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Science Limited), we conducted ground and...
Jibson, Randall W.; Allstadt, Kate E.; Rengers, Francis K.; Godt, Jonathan W.Attribution: Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Earthquake Hazards, Landslide Hazards, New Zealand
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Jibson, R.W., Allstadt, K.E., Rengers, F.K., and Godt, J.W., 2018, Overview of the geologic effects of the November 14, 2016, Mw 7.8 Kaikoura, New Zealand, earthquake: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5146, 39 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175146.
Year Published: 2017
An open repository of earthquake-triggered ground-failure inventories
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. The development of robust and widely applicable models requires access to numerous inventories of ground failures triggered by earthquakes...
Schmitt, Robert G.; Tanyas, Hakan; Nowicki Jessee, M. Anna; Zhu, Jing; Biegel, Katherine M.; Allstadt, Kate E.; Jibson, Randall W.; Thompson, Eric M.; van Westen, Cees J.; Sato, Hiroshi P.; Wald, David J.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Gorum, Tolga; Xu, Chong; Rathje, Ellen M.; Knudsen, Keith L.Attribution: Community for Data Integration (CDI), Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Earthquake Hazards, Landslide Hazards, United States of America
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Schmitt, R.G., Tanyas, Hakan, Nowicki Jessee, M.A., Zhu, Jing, Biegel, K.M., Allstadt, K.E., Jibson, R.W., Thompson, E.M., van Westen, C.J., Sato, H.P., Wald, D.J., Godt, J.W., Gorum, Tolga, Xu, Chong, Rathje, E.M., Knudsen, K.L., 2017, An open repository of earthquake-triggered ground-failure inventories: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 1064, 17 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ds1064.
Year Published: 2017
Presentation and analysis of a worldwide database of earthquake-induced landslide inventories
Earthquake-induced landslide (EQIL) inventories are essential tools to extend our knowledge of the relationship between earthquakes and the landslides they can trigger. Regrettably, such inventories are difficult to generate and therefore scarce, and the available ones differ in terms of their quality and level of completeness. Moreover, access to...
Tanyas, Hakan; van Westen, Cees J.; Allstadt, Kate E.; Nowicki Jessee, M. Anna; Gorum, Tolga; Jibson, Randall W.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Sato, Hiroshi P.; Schmitt, Robert G.; Marc, Odin; Hovius, NielsAttribution: Natural Hazards, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Earthquake Hazards, Landslide Hazards, United States of America
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Tanyaş H. et al (2017). Presentation and Analysis of a Worldwide Database of Earthquake-Induced Landslide Inventories. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 122. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JF004236
Year Published: 2017
Integrating landslide and liquefaction hazard and loss estimates with existing USGS real-time earthquake information products
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has made significant progress toward the rapid estimation of shaking and shakingrelated losses through their Did You Feel It? (DYFI), ShakeMap, ShakeCast, and PAGER products. However, quantitative estimates of the extent and severity of secondary hazards (e.g., landsliding, liquefaction) are not currently included...
Allstadt, Kate E.; Thompson, Eric M.; Hearne, Mike; Nowicki Jessee, M. Anna; Zhu, J.; Wald, David J.; Tanyas, Hakan
Year Published: 2016
Map data and Unmanned Aircraft System imagery from the May 25, 2014 West Salt Creek rock avalanche in western Colorado
On May 25, 2014, a rain-on-snow induced rock avalanche occurred in the West Salt Creek Valley on the northern flank of Grand Mesa in western Colorado. The avalanche traveled 4.6 km down the confined valley, killing 3 people. The avalanche was rare for the contiguous U.S. because of its large size (54.5 Mm3) and long travel distance...
Coe, Jeffrey A.; Baum, Rex L.; Allstadt, Kate E.; Kochevar, Bernard; Schmitt, Robert G.; Morgan, Matthew L.; White, Jonathan L.; Stratton, Benjamin T.; Hayashi, Timothy A.; Kean, Jason W.Attribution: Geologic Hazards Science Center
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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., and Kean, J.W., 2016, Map data and unmanned aircraft system imagery from the May 25, 2014 West Salt Creek rock avalanche in western Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey data release, http://dx.doi.org/10.5066/F74J0C55.
Year Published: 2016
USGS approach to real-time estimation of earthquake-triggered ground failure - Results of 2015 workshop
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards and Landslide Hazards Programs are developing plans to add quantitative hazard assessments of earthquake-triggered landsliding and liquefaction to existing real-time earthquake products (ShakeMap, ShakeCast, PAGER) using open and readily available methodologies and products. To date, prototype...
Allstadt, Kate E.; Thompson, Eric M.; Wald, David J.; Hamburger, Michael W.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Knudsen, Keith L.; Jibson, Randall W.; Jessee, M. Anna; Zhu, Jing; Hearne, Michael; Baise, Laurie G.; Tanyas, Hakan; Marano, Kristin D.Attribution: Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Earthquake Hazards, United States of America
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Allstadt, K.E.; Thompson, E.M.; Wald, D.J.; Hamburger, M.W.; Godt, J.W.; Knudsen, K.L.; Jibson, R.W.; Jessee, M.A.; Zhu, Jing; Hearne, Michael; Baise, L.G.; Tanyas, Hakan; and Marano, K.D., 2016, USGS approach to real-time estimation of earthquake-triggered ground failure—Results of 2015 workshop: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2016–1044, 13 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161044.
Year Published: 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
On 25 May 2014, a rain-on-snow–induced rock avalanche occurred in the West Salt Creek valley on the northern flank of Grand Mesa in western Colorado (United States). The avalanche mobilized from a preexisting rock slide in the Green River Formation and traveled 4.6 km down the confined valley, killing three people. The avalanche was rare for the...
Coe, Jeffrey A.; Baum, Rex L.; Allstadt, Kate E.; Kochevar, Bernard; Schmitt, Robert G.; Morgan, Matthew L.; White, Jonathan L.; Stratton, Benjamin T.; Hayashi, Timothy A.; Kean, Jason W.
Year Published: 2015
Landslide mobility and hazards: implications of the 2014 Oso disaster
Landslides reflect landscape instability that evolves over meteorological and geological timescales, and they also pose threats to people, property, and the environment. The severity of these threats depends largely on landslide speed and travel distance, which are collectively described as landslide “mobility”. To investigate causes...
Iverson, Richard M.; George, David L.; Allstadt, Kate E.; Reid, Mark E.; Collins, Brian D.; Vallance, James W.; Schilling, Steve P.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Cannon, Charles; Magirl, Christopher S.; Baum, Rex L.; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Schulz, William; Bower, J. BrentAttribution: Natural Hazards, California Volcano Observatory (Calvo), Geologic Hazards Science Center, Natural Hazards, Landslide Hazards, United States of America
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Iverson, R.M., George, D.L., Allstadt, K., Reid, M.E., Collins, B.D., Vallance, J.W., Schilling, S.P., Godt, J.W., Cannon, C.M., Magirl, C.S., Baum, R.L., Coe, J.A., Schulz, W.H., and Bower, J.B., 2015, Landslide mobility and hazards: implications of the 2014 Oso disaster, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 420, 197-208. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2014.12.020
Year Published: 2013
A scenario study of seismically induced landsliding in Seattle using broadband synthetic seismograms
We demonstrate the value of utilizing broadband synthetic seismograms to assess regional seismically induced landslide hazard. Focusing on a case study of an Mw 7.0 Seattle fault earthquake in Seattle, Washington, we computed broadband synthetic seismograms that account for rupture directivity and 3D basin amplification. We then adjusted...
Allstadt, Kate E.; Vidale, John E.; Frankel, Arthur D.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.
Attribution: Natural Hazards, Volcano Hazards, Alaska, Northwest, Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO)
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.