Mark Reid
Science and Products
U.S. Highway 50, California
The Highway 50 landslide monitoring system uses data acquisition systems and radio telemetry developed by the USGS Volcano Hazards Program to operate in remote, hazardous sites with limited power. In many landslides, infiltration of rainfall or rapid snowmelt increases groundwater pressures. These elevated pressures can, in turn, trigger landslide movement.
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.
When hazard avoidance is not an option: Lessons learned from monitoring the postdisaster Oso landslide, USA
On 22 March 2014, a massive, catastrophic landslide occurred near Oso, Washington, USA, sweeping more than 1 km across the adjacent valley flats and killing 43 people. For the following 5 weeks, hundreds of workers engaged in an exhaustive search, rescue, and recovery effort directly in the landslide runout path. These workers could not avoid the...
Reid, Mark E.; Godt, Jonathan W.; LaHusen, Richard G; Slaughter, Stephen L; Badger, Thomas C.; Collins, Brian D.; Schulz, William; Baum, Rex L.; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Harp, Edwin L; Schmidt, Kevin; Iverson, Richard M.; Smith, Joel B.; Haugerud, Ralph; George, David L. Progress and lessons learned from responses to landslide disasters
Landslides have the incredible power to transform landscapes and also, tragically, to cause disastrous societal impacts. Whereas the mechanics and effects of many landslide disasters have been analyzed in detail, the means by which landslide experts respond to these events has garnered much less attention. Herein, we evaluate nine landslide...
Collins, Brian D.; Reid, Mark E.; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Kean, Jason W.; Baum, Rex L.; Jibson, Randall W.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Slaughter, Stephen; Stock, Greg M. Debris-flow growth in Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria: Preliminary results from analyses of pre- and post-event lidar data
On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria triggered widespread debris flows in Puerto Rico. We used field observations and pre- and post-Maria lidar to study the volumetric growth of long-travelled (>400 m) debris flows in four basins. We found overall growth rates that ranged from 0.7 to 30.4 m3 per meter of channel length. We partitioned the...
Coe, Jeffrey A.; Bessette-Kirton, Erin K.; Brien, Dianne L.; Reid, Mark E. Debris-flow initiation promoted by extension within a slow-moving landslide
The dynamics of slow landslide motion can predispose oversteepened and extended slide regions to debris-flow initiation. For more than 20 years, our real-time monitoring, combined with repeat high-precision GPS surveys, of the Cleveland Corral landslide complex, California, USA, reveals that debris flows initiate from slow-moving kinematic...
Reid, Mark E.; Brien, Dianne L. Enhanced landslide mobility by basal liquefaction: the 2014 SR530 (Oso), Washington landslide
Landslide mobility can vastly amplify the consequences of slope failure. As a compelling example, the March 22, 2014 landslide near Oso, Washington (USA) was particularly devastating, traveling across a 1-km+ wide river valley, killing 43 people, destroying dozens of homes, and temporarily closing a well-traveled highway. To resolve causes for...
Collins, Brian D.; Reid, Mark E.
When volcanoes fall down—Catastrophic collapse and debris avalanches
Despite their seeming permanence, volcanoes are prone to catastrophic collapse that can affect vast areas in a matter of minutes. Large collapses begin as gigantic landslides that quickly transform to debris avalanches—chaotically tumbling masses of rock debris that can sweep downslope at extremely high velocities, inundating areas far beyond the...
Siebert, Lee; Reid, Mark E.; Vallance, James W.; Pierson, Thomas C. Characterizing the catastrophic 2017 Mud Creek Landslide, California, using repeat Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry
Along the rugged coast of Big Sur, California, the Mud Creek landslide failed catastrophically on May 20, 2017 and destroyed over 400 m of scenic California State Highway 1. We collected structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry data using airborne platforms that, when combined with existing airborne lidar data, revealed that the area exhibited...
Warrick, Jonathan; Ritchie, Andrew C.; Reid, Mark E.; Schmidt, Kevin; Logan, Joshua B. Combining multiphase groundwater flow and slope stability models to assess stratovolcano flank collapse in the Cascade Range
Hydrothermal alteration can create low‐permeability zones, potentially resulting in elevated pore‐fluid pressures, within a volcanic edifice. Strength reduction by rock alteration and high pore‐fluid pressures have been suggested as a mechanism for edifice flank instability. Here we combine numerical models of multiphase heat transport and...
Ball, Jessica L.; Taron, Joshua M.; Reid, Mark E.; Hurwitz, Shaul; Finn, Carol A.; Bedrosian, Paul A. Control of landslide volume and hazard by glacial stratigraphic architecture, Northwest Washington state, USA
Landslide volumes span many orders of magnitude, but large-volume slides tend to travel farther and consequently can pose a greater hazard. In northwest Washington State, USA, a landscape abounding with landslides big and small, the recent occurrence of the large-volume and tragically deadly State Route 530 (Oso) landslide is a stark reminder of...
Perkins, Jonathan; Reid, Mark E.; Schmidt, Kevin Forecasting inundation from debris flows that grow during travel, with application to the Oregon Coast Range, USA
Many debris flows increase in volume as they travel downstream, enhancing their mobility and hazard. Volumetric growth can result from diverse physical processes, such as channel sediment entrainment, stream bank collapse, adjacent landsliding, hillslope erosion and rilling, and coalescence of multiple debris flows; incorporating these varied...
Reid, Mark E.; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Brien, Dianne Using monitoring and modeling to define the hazard posed by the reactivated Ferguson rock slide, Merced Canyon, California
Rapid onset natural disasters such as large landslides create a need for scientific information about the event, which is vital to ensuring public safety, restoring infrastructure, preventing additional damage, and resuming normal economic activity. At the same time, there is limited data available upon which to base reliable scientific responses...
De Graff, Jerome V.; Gallegos, Alan J.; Reid, Mark E.; Lahusen, Richard G.; Denlinger, Roger P.