Nadine G Reitman, PhD
As an earthquake geologist, I use numerical modeling, field observations, and remote sensing to investigate the earthquake history and behavior of active faults, as well as how earthquake history is recorded in the landscape.
Professional Experience
Research Geologist, USGS, 2020-Present
Geologist, USGS, 2014-2016
Physical Science Technician, Denali National Park, 2010, 2011, 2013
Education and Certifications
PhD, University of Colorado Boulder, 2016-2020
MS, University of Colorado Boulder, 2011-2013
BA, Vassar College, 2006-2010
Science and Products
How Big and How Frequent Are Earthquakes on the Wasatch Fault?
Release Date: FEBRUARY 1, 2015 Paleoseismology along the Wasatch Fault in Utah is helping to estimate the shaking risk to nearby towns.
Filter Total Items: 16
Remote Surface Rupture Observations for the M7.7 2025 Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar) Earthquake Remote Surface Rupture Observations for the M7.7 2025 Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar) Earthquake
This data release contains datasets that depict fault rupture and surface displacement from the M7.7 Mandalay, Myanmar, earthquake on March 28, 2025. The earthquake caused ~475 km of right-lateral surface rupture on the Sagaing fault in Myanmar. These data were based on rapid analysis of available satellite data after the earthquake and updated as more information became available. They...
Digital elevation models, orthophotos, and differencing results to analyze the effect of land cover type on 3D deformation recovery from synthetically deformed high-resolution satellite optical imagery Digital elevation models, orthophotos, and differencing results to analyze the effect of land cover type on 3D deformation recovery from synthetically deformed high-resolution satellite optical imagery
Synthetic earthquake deformation was imposed on high resolution (~0.5 m/pixel)orthoimagery and digital elevation models (DEMs) for two regions of the Garlock fault in the east and west. This repository contains the input and result rasters for the analysis, further described in Hanagan et al. (2025): "Effect of land cover type on 3D deformation recovery from synthetically deformed high...
Detailed Mapping of the 1983 Borah Peak Earthquake Surface Rupture (Idaho, USA) Using a High-Resolution Digital Terrain Model Derived from 2019 Lidar Data Detailed Mapping of the 1983 Borah Peak Earthquake Surface Rupture (Idaho, USA) Using a High-Resolution Digital Terrain Model Derived from 2019 Lidar Data
In this work, we refined and expanded the coseismic surface rupture map of the 1983 M6.9 Borah Peak earthquake coseismic rupture mapping at a scale of 1:500. While earlier work (DuRoss et al., 2019; Bello et al., 2020, 2021) used structure-from-motion (SfM) methods to construct digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from small uncrewed aerial systems (sUAS or drone) imagery, the...
Datasets documenting Timescales of surface faulting preservation in low-strain intraplate regions from landscape evolution modeling and the geomorphic and historical record Datasets documenting Timescales of surface faulting preservation in low-strain intraplate regions from landscape evolution modeling and the geomorphic and historical record
This data release provides input data and landscape evolution modeling results to accompany the manuscript “Timescales of surface faulting preservation in low-strain intraplate regions from landscape evolution modeling and the geomorphic and historical record" (Thompson Jobe and Reitman, 2025). The data release includes two tabular datasets, a text file, and movies of the landscape...
Digital Surface Model of the Lost River Fault, Idaho, from 1966 Aerial Photographs Digital Surface Model of the Lost River Fault, Idaho, from 1966 Aerial Photographs
This data release contains a point cloud and raster image of a digital surface model (DSM) that covers a portion of the Lost River fault in Idaho that ruptured in the 1983 M6.9 Borah Peak earthquake. The DSM provides a high-resolution, pre-earthquake record of the landscape from 1966. It is constructed using structure-from-motion photogrammetry software and aerial photographs taken in...
Computational notebook to plot offset measurements along strike-slip faults Computational notebook to plot offset measurements along strike-slip faults
Summary: This computational notebook is intended to visualize any dataset of offset measurements along a fault, including datasets for single or multiple earthquakes. It is used to plot recent, geomorphic, and synthetic offset measurements for the companion manuscript: Limited preservation of strike-slip surface displacement in the geomorphic record by N.G. Reitman, Y. Klinger, R. Briggs...
Filter Total Items: 25
Ultralong, supershear rupture of the 2025 Mw 7.7 Mandalay earthquake reveals unaccounted risk Ultralong, supershear rupture of the 2025 Mw 7.7 Mandalay earthquake reveals unaccounted risk
The 28 March 2025 moment magnitude (Mw) 7.7 earthquake in Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar), ruptured 475 kilometers of the Sagaing Fault, which was more than twice the length predicted by magnitude scaling relationships. Kinematic slip models and observation of a Rayleigh Mach wave that passed through parts of Thailand confirmed that rupture occurred at supershear velocities of greater than 5...
Authors
Dara Goldberg, William Yeck, Catherine Elise Hanagan, James Atterholt, Haiyang Kehoe, Nadine Reitman, William Barnhart, David Shelly, Alexandra Hatem, David Wald, Paul Earle
Unveiling coseismic deformation from differenced legacy aerial photography and modern lidar topography: The 1983 M6.9 Borah Peak earthquake, Idaho, USA Unveiling coseismic deformation from differenced legacy aerial photography and modern lidar topography: The 1983 M6.9 Borah Peak earthquake, Idaho, USA
The 1983 M6.9 Borah Peak, Idaho, earthquake is one of the largest historical normal fault earthquakes in the western United States. We quantified meter-scale vertical change along the 35 km-long rupture using topographic differencing of 1966 aerial imagery and 2019 lidar-derived data. The initial differencing results are largely obscured by horizontal and vertical georeferencing errors...
Authors
Chelsea Scott, Nadine Reitman, Simone Bello
Timescales of surface faulting preservation in low-strain intraplate regions from landscape evolution modeling and the geomorphic and historical record Timescales of surface faulting preservation in low-strain intraplate regions from landscape evolution modeling and the geomorphic and historical record
Large surface-rupturing intraplate earthquakes in stable continental regions (SCRs) are uncommon globally and have recurrence intervals of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years based on the paleoseismic and geomorphic record, challenging accurate active fault identification in these regions. To constrain the timescales of preservation for scarps created by surface ruptures from dip...
Authors
Jessica Jobe, Nadine Reitman
Limited preservation of strike-slip surface displacement in the geomorphic record Limited preservation of strike-slip surface displacement in the geomorphic record
Offset geomorphic markers are commonly used to interpret slip history of strike-slip faults and have played an important role in forming earthquake recurrence models. These data sets are typically analyzed using cumulative probability methods to interpret average amounts of slip in past earthquakes. However, interpretation of the geomorphic record to infer surface slip history is...
Authors
Nadine Reitman, Yann Klinger, Richard Briggs, Ryan Gold
Geologic input databases for the 2025 Puerto Rico – U.S. Virgin Islands National Seismic Hazard Model update: Crustal faults component Geologic input databases for the 2025 Puerto Rico – U.S. Virgin Islands National Seismic Hazard Model update: Crustal faults component
The last National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (PRVI) was published in 2003. In advance of the 2025 PRVI NSHM update, we created three geologic input databases to summarize new onshore and offshore fault source information in the northern Caribbean region between 62°–70° W and 16°–21° N. These databases, of fault sections, fault‐zone polygons...
Authors
Jessica Jobe, Richard Briggs, Uri ten Brink, Thomas Pratt, K. Hughes, Alexandra Hatem, Christopher DuRoss, Nadine Reitman, Julie Herrick, Sylvia Nicovich, Camille Collett, Katherine M. Scharer, Stephen DeLong
Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE): Summary of U.S. Geological Survey URGE pod deliverables Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE): Summary of U.S. Geological Survey URGE pod deliverables
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is in a unique position to be a leader in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the Earth sciences. As one of the largest geoscience employers, the USGS wields significant community influence and has a responsibility to adopt and implement robust, unbiased policies so that the science it is charged to deliver is better connected to the...
Authors
Matthew Morriss, Eleanour Snow, Jennifer Miselis, William F. Waite, Katherine Barnhart, Andria P. Ellis, Liv Herdman, Seth C. Moran, Annie Putman, Nadine Reitman, Wendy Stovall, Meagan Eagle, Stephen Phillips
Non-USGS Publications**
Reitman, N.G. and P. Molnar (2021) Strain and velocity across the Great Basin derived from 15-ka fault slip rates: Implications for continuous deformation and seismic hazards in the Walker Lane, California-Nevada, USA. Tectonics. doi: 10.1029/2020TC006389
Reitman, N.G. and P. Molnar (2020) Input parameters, output data, and script to calculate strain and velocity from fault source parameters. [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3895334
Reitman, N.G., K.J. Mueller, G.E. Tucker, R.D. Gold, R.W. Briggs, and K.R. Barnhart. (2019) Numerical model code and input files to run landscape evolution models with strike-slip faulting and measure channel offsets. [Data set]. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3374026
Litchfield, N.J., K.J. Clark, U.A. Cochran, J. Mountjoy, C. Mueller, R. Morgenstern, K.R. Berryman, B.G. McFadgen, R. Steele, N.G. Reitman, J. Howarth, and P. Villamor. (2020) Unraveling complex coastal deformation mechanisms using marine terrace paleoseismology Puatai Beach and Pakarae River mouth, northern Hikurangi Margin, New Zealand. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. doi: 10.1785/0120190208
Reitman, N.G., Ge, S., and Mueller, K. (2014) Groundwater flow and its effect on salt dissolution in Gypsum Canyon watershed, Paradox Basin, southeast Utah, USA. Hydrogeology Journal, doi: 10.1007/s10040-014-1126-0.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
How Big and How Frequent Are Earthquakes on the Wasatch Fault?
Release Date: FEBRUARY 1, 2015 Paleoseismology along the Wasatch Fault in Utah is helping to estimate the shaking risk to nearby towns.
Filter Total Items: 16
Remote Surface Rupture Observations for the M7.7 2025 Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar) Earthquake Remote Surface Rupture Observations for the M7.7 2025 Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar) Earthquake
This data release contains datasets that depict fault rupture and surface displacement from the M7.7 Mandalay, Myanmar, earthquake on March 28, 2025. The earthquake caused ~475 km of right-lateral surface rupture on the Sagaing fault in Myanmar. These data were based on rapid analysis of available satellite data after the earthquake and updated as more information became available. They...
Digital elevation models, orthophotos, and differencing results to analyze the effect of land cover type on 3D deformation recovery from synthetically deformed high-resolution satellite optical imagery Digital elevation models, orthophotos, and differencing results to analyze the effect of land cover type on 3D deformation recovery from synthetically deformed high-resolution satellite optical imagery
Synthetic earthquake deformation was imposed on high resolution (~0.5 m/pixel)orthoimagery and digital elevation models (DEMs) for two regions of the Garlock fault in the east and west. This repository contains the input and result rasters for the analysis, further described in Hanagan et al. (2025): "Effect of land cover type on 3D deformation recovery from synthetically deformed high...
Detailed Mapping of the 1983 Borah Peak Earthquake Surface Rupture (Idaho, USA) Using a High-Resolution Digital Terrain Model Derived from 2019 Lidar Data Detailed Mapping of the 1983 Borah Peak Earthquake Surface Rupture (Idaho, USA) Using a High-Resolution Digital Terrain Model Derived from 2019 Lidar Data
In this work, we refined and expanded the coseismic surface rupture map of the 1983 M6.9 Borah Peak earthquake coseismic rupture mapping at a scale of 1:500. While earlier work (DuRoss et al., 2019; Bello et al., 2020, 2021) used structure-from-motion (SfM) methods to construct digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from small uncrewed aerial systems (sUAS or drone) imagery, the...
Datasets documenting Timescales of surface faulting preservation in low-strain intraplate regions from landscape evolution modeling and the geomorphic and historical record Datasets documenting Timescales of surface faulting preservation in low-strain intraplate regions from landscape evolution modeling and the geomorphic and historical record
This data release provides input data and landscape evolution modeling results to accompany the manuscript “Timescales of surface faulting preservation in low-strain intraplate regions from landscape evolution modeling and the geomorphic and historical record" (Thompson Jobe and Reitman, 2025). The data release includes two tabular datasets, a text file, and movies of the landscape...
Digital Surface Model of the Lost River Fault, Idaho, from 1966 Aerial Photographs Digital Surface Model of the Lost River Fault, Idaho, from 1966 Aerial Photographs
This data release contains a point cloud and raster image of a digital surface model (DSM) that covers a portion of the Lost River fault in Idaho that ruptured in the 1983 M6.9 Borah Peak earthquake. The DSM provides a high-resolution, pre-earthquake record of the landscape from 1966. It is constructed using structure-from-motion photogrammetry software and aerial photographs taken in...
Computational notebook to plot offset measurements along strike-slip faults Computational notebook to plot offset measurements along strike-slip faults
Summary: This computational notebook is intended to visualize any dataset of offset measurements along a fault, including datasets for single or multiple earthquakes. It is used to plot recent, geomorphic, and synthetic offset measurements for the companion manuscript: Limited preservation of strike-slip surface displacement in the geomorphic record by N.G. Reitman, Y. Klinger, R. Briggs...
Filter Total Items: 25
Ultralong, supershear rupture of the 2025 Mw 7.7 Mandalay earthquake reveals unaccounted risk Ultralong, supershear rupture of the 2025 Mw 7.7 Mandalay earthquake reveals unaccounted risk
The 28 March 2025 moment magnitude (Mw) 7.7 earthquake in Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar), ruptured 475 kilometers of the Sagaing Fault, which was more than twice the length predicted by magnitude scaling relationships. Kinematic slip models and observation of a Rayleigh Mach wave that passed through parts of Thailand confirmed that rupture occurred at supershear velocities of greater than 5...
Authors
Dara Goldberg, William Yeck, Catherine Elise Hanagan, James Atterholt, Haiyang Kehoe, Nadine Reitman, William Barnhart, David Shelly, Alexandra Hatem, David Wald, Paul Earle
Unveiling coseismic deformation from differenced legacy aerial photography and modern lidar topography: The 1983 M6.9 Borah Peak earthquake, Idaho, USA Unveiling coseismic deformation from differenced legacy aerial photography and modern lidar topography: The 1983 M6.9 Borah Peak earthquake, Idaho, USA
The 1983 M6.9 Borah Peak, Idaho, earthquake is one of the largest historical normal fault earthquakes in the western United States. We quantified meter-scale vertical change along the 35 km-long rupture using topographic differencing of 1966 aerial imagery and 2019 lidar-derived data. The initial differencing results are largely obscured by horizontal and vertical georeferencing errors...
Authors
Chelsea Scott, Nadine Reitman, Simone Bello
Timescales of surface faulting preservation in low-strain intraplate regions from landscape evolution modeling and the geomorphic and historical record Timescales of surface faulting preservation in low-strain intraplate regions from landscape evolution modeling and the geomorphic and historical record
Large surface-rupturing intraplate earthquakes in stable continental regions (SCRs) are uncommon globally and have recurrence intervals of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years based on the paleoseismic and geomorphic record, challenging accurate active fault identification in these regions. To constrain the timescales of preservation for scarps created by surface ruptures from dip...
Authors
Jessica Jobe, Nadine Reitman
Limited preservation of strike-slip surface displacement in the geomorphic record Limited preservation of strike-slip surface displacement in the geomorphic record
Offset geomorphic markers are commonly used to interpret slip history of strike-slip faults and have played an important role in forming earthquake recurrence models. These data sets are typically analyzed using cumulative probability methods to interpret average amounts of slip in past earthquakes. However, interpretation of the geomorphic record to infer surface slip history is...
Authors
Nadine Reitman, Yann Klinger, Richard Briggs, Ryan Gold
Geologic input databases for the 2025 Puerto Rico – U.S. Virgin Islands National Seismic Hazard Model update: Crustal faults component Geologic input databases for the 2025 Puerto Rico – U.S. Virgin Islands National Seismic Hazard Model update: Crustal faults component
The last National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (PRVI) was published in 2003. In advance of the 2025 PRVI NSHM update, we created three geologic input databases to summarize new onshore and offshore fault source information in the northern Caribbean region between 62°–70° W and 16°–21° N. These databases, of fault sections, fault‐zone polygons...
Authors
Jessica Jobe, Richard Briggs, Uri ten Brink, Thomas Pratt, K. Hughes, Alexandra Hatem, Christopher DuRoss, Nadine Reitman, Julie Herrick, Sylvia Nicovich, Camille Collett, Katherine M. Scharer, Stephen DeLong
Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE): Summary of U.S. Geological Survey URGE pod deliverables Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE): Summary of U.S. Geological Survey URGE pod deliverables
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is in a unique position to be a leader in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the Earth sciences. As one of the largest geoscience employers, the USGS wields significant community influence and has a responsibility to adopt and implement robust, unbiased policies so that the science it is charged to deliver is better connected to the...
Authors
Matthew Morriss, Eleanour Snow, Jennifer Miselis, William F. Waite, Katherine Barnhart, Andria P. Ellis, Liv Herdman, Seth C. Moran, Annie Putman, Nadine Reitman, Wendy Stovall, Meagan Eagle, Stephen Phillips
Non-USGS Publications**
Reitman, N.G. and P. Molnar (2021) Strain and velocity across the Great Basin derived from 15-ka fault slip rates: Implications for continuous deformation and seismic hazards in the Walker Lane, California-Nevada, USA. Tectonics. doi: 10.1029/2020TC006389
Reitman, N.G. and P. Molnar (2020) Input parameters, output data, and script to calculate strain and velocity from fault source parameters. [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3895334
Reitman, N.G., K.J. Mueller, G.E. Tucker, R.D. Gold, R.W. Briggs, and K.R. Barnhart. (2019) Numerical model code and input files to run landscape evolution models with strike-slip faulting and measure channel offsets. [Data set]. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3374026
Litchfield, N.J., K.J. Clark, U.A. Cochran, J. Mountjoy, C. Mueller, R. Morgenstern, K.R. Berryman, B.G. McFadgen, R. Steele, N.G. Reitman, J. Howarth, and P. Villamor. (2020) Unraveling complex coastal deformation mechanisms using marine terrace paleoseismology Puatai Beach and Pakarae River mouth, northern Hikurangi Margin, New Zealand. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. doi: 10.1785/0120190208
Reitman, N.G., Ge, S., and Mueller, K. (2014) Groundwater flow and its effect on salt dissolution in Gypsum Canyon watershed, Paradox Basin, southeast Utah, USA. Hydrogeology Journal, doi: 10.1007/s10040-014-1126-0.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.