Peter J Haeussler, Ph.D.
Most of my research is related to earthquake and tsunami hazards in Alaska, with a focus on paleoseismology, submarine landslides, and active faulting. I am the Alaska Coordinator for the Earthquake Hazards Program of the USGS. I also study various aspects of the framework geology of Alaska, with a focus on neotectonics and tectonics.
I use various tools to understand earthquakes and earthquake hazards in Alaska. I’ve studied the tectonic evolution of parts of Alaska, accretionary prisms along Alaska’s margin, forearc and splay faulting, submarine landslides, mountain building and exhumation, landscape evolution, glacial histories, and sedimentary basins. I’ve worked with marine and terrestrial seismic reflection and potential field data. Current work is focused on lacustrine paleoseismology, splay faulting, and various seismic hazards projects.
Professional Experience
1994 - Present Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage, AK
1992 - 1994 Postdoctoral Researcher, U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage, AK
1992 Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA
1986 - 1991 Research Assistant, University of California Santa Cruz
1985 - 1988 Teaching Assistant, University of California Santa Cruz
1985 Geologist, Lancer Energy Corporation, Wilmore, KY
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. 1991 University of California Santa Cruz Earth Sciences
B.S. 1984 Michigan State University Geology
Affiliations and Memberships*
1985-present, American Geophysical Union
1985-present, Geological Society of America
1992-present, Alaska Geological Society
2010-present, Seismological Society of America
Honors and Awards
Fellow, Geological Society of America
Science and Products
Geologic history of Siletzia, a large igneous province in the Oregon and Washington Coast Range: Correlation to the geomagnetic polarity time scale and implications for a long-lived Yellowstone hotspot
Geophysical advances triggered by 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake
A little more than 50 years ago, on 27 March 1964, the Great Alaska earthquake and tsunami struck. At moment magnitude 9.2, this earthquake is notable as the largest in U.S. written history and as the second-largest ever recorded by instruments worldwide. But what resonates today are its impacts on the understanding of plate tectonics, tsunami generation, and earthquake history as well as on the d
1964 Great Alaska Earthquake: a photographic tour of Anchorage, Alaska
Why the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake matters 50 years later
Uplift and subsidence reveal a nonpersistent megathrust rupture boundary (Sitkinak Island, Alaska)
The 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake and tsunamis: a modern perspective and enduring legacies
Rock-Eval pyrolysis and vitrinite reflectance results from the Sheep Creek 1 well, Susitna basin, south-central Alaska
Source and progression of a submarine landslide and tsunami: The 1964 Great Alaska earthquake at Valdez
New imaging of submarine landslides from the 1964 earthquake near Whittier, Alaska, and a comparison to failures in other Alaskan fjords
Modern salt-marsh and tidal-flat foraminifera from Sitkinak and Simeonof Islands, southwestern Alaska
Megathrust splay faults at the focus of the Prince William Sound asperity, Alaska
Cenozoic tectono-thermal history of the Tordrillo Mountains, Alaska: Paleocene-Eocene ridge subduction, decreasing relief, and late Neogene faulting
Science and Products
Geologic history of Siletzia, a large igneous province in the Oregon and Washington Coast Range: Correlation to the geomagnetic polarity time scale and implications for a long-lived Yellowstone hotspot
Geophysical advances triggered by 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake
A little more than 50 years ago, on 27 March 1964, the Great Alaska earthquake and tsunami struck. At moment magnitude 9.2, this earthquake is notable as the largest in U.S. written history and as the second-largest ever recorded by instruments worldwide. But what resonates today are its impacts on the understanding of plate tectonics, tsunami generation, and earthquake history as well as on the d
1964 Great Alaska Earthquake: a photographic tour of Anchorage, Alaska
Why the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake matters 50 years later
Uplift and subsidence reveal a nonpersistent megathrust rupture boundary (Sitkinak Island, Alaska)
The 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake and tsunamis: a modern perspective and enduring legacies
Rock-Eval pyrolysis and vitrinite reflectance results from the Sheep Creek 1 well, Susitna basin, south-central Alaska
Source and progression of a submarine landslide and tsunami: The 1964 Great Alaska earthquake at Valdez
New imaging of submarine landslides from the 1964 earthquake near Whittier, Alaska, and a comparison to failures in other Alaskan fjords
Modern salt-marsh and tidal-flat foraminifera from Sitkinak and Simeonof Islands, southwestern Alaska
Megathrust splay faults at the focus of the Prince William Sound asperity, Alaska
Cenozoic tectono-thermal history of the Tordrillo Mountains, Alaska: Paleocene-Eocene ridge subduction, decreasing relief, and late Neogene faulting
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government