Sean Lahusen, PhD
Sean Lahusen is a Research Geologist at the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center. He received his B.S. in Geology from Western Washington University and his PhD from the University of Washington. Since joining the USGS in 2020, his research has focused on the geologic properties and geomorphologic processes that control landslide susceptibility in Cascadia and coastal Alaska.
Sean works to better understand how landslides affect landscapes and people. He uses field observations, lidar and optical imagery analysis, and numerical modeling to study landslide susceptibility, frequency, and triggering mechanisms. His current research projects include examining geologic and structural controls on deep-seated landslide density in the Oregon Coast Range, using 3-D slope stability models to estimate shaking intensity during past great earthquakes along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, and constraining hazard from large bedrock landslides following rapid glacial retreat in coastal Alaska.
Professional Experience
2020 - Present, Mendenhall Research Geologist, Geology Minerals Energy and Geophysics Science Center, Moffett Field, CA.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, 2019
B.S. Geology, Western Washington University, 2013
Professional Geology License, National Association of Boards of Geology, 2021
Affiliations and Memberships*
2018 - Present, American Geophysical Union
2012 - Present, Geological Society of America
Honors and Awards
2015, Parke D. Snavely, Jr., Cascadia Research Award, Geological Society of America
Science and Products
Rock mass quality and structural geology observations in northwest Prince William Sound, Alaska from the summer of 2021
Multiple subaerial landslides adjacent to Prince William Sound, Alaska (for example, Dai and others, 2020; Higman and others, 2023; Schaefer and others, 2024) pose a threat to the public because of their potential to generate ocean waves (Dai and others, 2020; Barnhart and others, 2021; Barnhart and others, 2022) that could impact towns and marine activities. One bedrock landslide on the west side
Bedrock stratigraphic and structural data and deep-seated landslide density for the Tyee Formation, OR, USA
Compilation of field data collected in the Oregon Coast Range Tyee Formation. Location, strike and dip, Relative composition and bed thickness of interbedded sandstone and siltstone, Schmidt Hammer stiffness, notes, and sampled landslide density are provided. Landslide density is calculated using the manually mapped landslide deposit polygons from LaHusen et al. (2020).
Compiled onshore and offshore paleoseismic data along the Cascadia Subduction zone
The USGS Powell Center Cascadia earthquake hazards working group compiled published onshore and offshore paleoseismic data along the Cascadia subduction zone, spanning sites from Vancouver Island to the Mendocino triple junction. Evidence for megathrust rupture includes coastal land-level change, tsunami inundation, onshore shaking proxies such as landslides or liquefaction, and offshore shaking p
Inventory of Large Slope Instabilities, Prince William Sound, Alaska
Steep glacial and paraglacial landscapes often exhibit evidence of gravitationally-driven slope deformation. In recently deglaciated coastal environments, catastrophic failures of these bedrock instabilities as rapid landslides have the potential to generate tsunamis that may pose hazards for communities, infrastructure, mariners, and important natural and cultural resources. We present a first in
Constraining mean landslide occurrence rates for non-temporal landslide inventories using high-resolution elevation data
Constraining landslide occurrence rates can help to generate landslide hazard models that predict the spatial and temporal occurrence of landslides. However, most landslide inventories do not include any temporal data due to the difficulties of dating landslide deposits. Here we introduce a method for estimating the mean landslide occurrence rate of deep-seated rotational and translational slides
Authors
Jacob Bryson Woodard, Sean Richard LaHusen, Benjamin B. Mirus, Katherine R. Barnhart
Complex landslide patterns explained by local intra-unit variability of stratigraphy and structure: Case study in the Tyee Formation, Oregon, USA
Lithology and geologic structure are important controls on landslide susceptibility and are incorporated into many regional landslide hazard models. Typically, metrics for mapped geologic units are used as model input variables and a single set of values for material strength are assumed, regardless of spatial heterogeneities that may exist within a map unit. Here we describe how differences in be
Authors
Sean Richard LaHusen, Alex R. R. Grant
Evidence of Seattle Fault earthquakes from patterns of deep-seated landslides
Earthquake‐induced landslides can record information about the seismic shaking that generated them. In this study, we present new mapping, Light Detection and Ranging‐derived roughness dating, and analysis of over 1000 deep‐seated landslides from the Puget Lowlands of Washington, U.S.A., to probe the landscape for past Seattle fault earthquake information. With this new landslide inventory, we obs
Authors
Erich Herzig, Alison Duvall, Adam Booth, Ian Patrick Stone, Erin Wirth, Sean Richard LaHusen, Joseph Wartman, Alex R. R. Grant
Limits to coseismic landslides triggered by Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquakes
Landslides are a significant hazard and dominant feature throughout the landscape of the Pacific Northwest. However, the hazard and risk posed by coseismic landslides triggered by great Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) earthquakes is highly uncertain due to a lack of local and global data. Despite a wealth of other geologic evidence for past earthquakes on the Cascadia Subduction Zone, no landslides
Authors
Alex R. R. Grant, William Struble, Sean Richard LaHusen
Developing landslide chronologies using landslide-dammed lakes in the Oregon Coast Range
The Oregon Coast Range is a dynamic landscape that is continually shaped by shallow and deep-seated landslides that can have disastrous consequences to infrastructure and human lives. Searching for evidence of potentially coseismic mass wasting is incredibly difficult, particularly when historical observations are limited. Landslide-dammed lakes with submerged “ghost forests” in the Oregon Coast R
Authors
Logan Wetherell, William Struble, Sean Richard LaHusen
Rainfall triggers more deep-seated landslides than Cascadia earthquakes in the Oregon Coast Range, USA
The coastal Pacific Northwest USA hosts thousands of deep-seated landslides. Historic landslides have primarily been triggered by rainfall, but the region is also prone to large earthquakes on the 1100-km-long Cascadia Subduction Zone megathrust. Little is known about the number of landslides triggered by these earthquakes because the last magnitude 9 rupture occurred in 1700 CE. Here, we map 9938
Authors
Sean R LaHusen, Alison R Duvall, Adam M. Booth, Alex R. R. Grant, Benjamin A Mishkin, David R. Montgomery, William Struble, Joshua J. Roering, Joseph Wartman
Science and Products
Rock mass quality and structural geology observations in northwest Prince William Sound, Alaska from the summer of 2021
Multiple subaerial landslides adjacent to Prince William Sound, Alaska (for example, Dai and others, 2020; Higman and others, 2023; Schaefer and others, 2024) pose a threat to the public because of their potential to generate ocean waves (Dai and others, 2020; Barnhart and others, 2021; Barnhart and others, 2022) that could impact towns and marine activities. One bedrock landslide on the west side
Bedrock stratigraphic and structural data and deep-seated landslide density for the Tyee Formation, OR, USA
Compilation of field data collected in the Oregon Coast Range Tyee Formation. Location, strike and dip, Relative composition and bed thickness of interbedded sandstone and siltstone, Schmidt Hammer stiffness, notes, and sampled landslide density are provided. Landslide density is calculated using the manually mapped landslide deposit polygons from LaHusen et al. (2020).
Compiled onshore and offshore paleoseismic data along the Cascadia Subduction zone
The USGS Powell Center Cascadia earthquake hazards working group compiled published onshore and offshore paleoseismic data along the Cascadia subduction zone, spanning sites from Vancouver Island to the Mendocino triple junction. Evidence for megathrust rupture includes coastal land-level change, tsunami inundation, onshore shaking proxies such as landslides or liquefaction, and offshore shaking p
Inventory of Large Slope Instabilities, Prince William Sound, Alaska
Steep glacial and paraglacial landscapes often exhibit evidence of gravitationally-driven slope deformation. In recently deglaciated coastal environments, catastrophic failures of these bedrock instabilities as rapid landslides have the potential to generate tsunamis that may pose hazards for communities, infrastructure, mariners, and important natural and cultural resources. We present a first in
Constraining mean landslide occurrence rates for non-temporal landslide inventories using high-resolution elevation data
Constraining landslide occurrence rates can help to generate landslide hazard models that predict the spatial and temporal occurrence of landslides. However, most landslide inventories do not include any temporal data due to the difficulties of dating landslide deposits. Here we introduce a method for estimating the mean landslide occurrence rate of deep-seated rotational and translational slides
Authors
Jacob Bryson Woodard, Sean Richard LaHusen, Benjamin B. Mirus, Katherine R. Barnhart
Complex landslide patterns explained by local intra-unit variability of stratigraphy and structure: Case study in the Tyee Formation, Oregon, USA
Lithology and geologic structure are important controls on landslide susceptibility and are incorporated into many regional landslide hazard models. Typically, metrics for mapped geologic units are used as model input variables and a single set of values for material strength are assumed, regardless of spatial heterogeneities that may exist within a map unit. Here we describe how differences in be
Authors
Sean Richard LaHusen, Alex R. R. Grant
Evidence of Seattle Fault earthquakes from patterns of deep-seated landslides
Earthquake‐induced landslides can record information about the seismic shaking that generated them. In this study, we present new mapping, Light Detection and Ranging‐derived roughness dating, and analysis of over 1000 deep‐seated landslides from the Puget Lowlands of Washington, U.S.A., to probe the landscape for past Seattle fault earthquake information. With this new landslide inventory, we obs
Authors
Erich Herzig, Alison Duvall, Adam Booth, Ian Patrick Stone, Erin Wirth, Sean Richard LaHusen, Joseph Wartman, Alex R. R. Grant
Limits to coseismic landslides triggered by Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquakes
Landslides are a significant hazard and dominant feature throughout the landscape of the Pacific Northwest. However, the hazard and risk posed by coseismic landslides triggered by great Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) earthquakes is highly uncertain due to a lack of local and global data. Despite a wealth of other geologic evidence for past earthquakes on the Cascadia Subduction Zone, no landslides
Authors
Alex R. R. Grant, William Struble, Sean Richard LaHusen
Developing landslide chronologies using landslide-dammed lakes in the Oregon Coast Range
The Oregon Coast Range is a dynamic landscape that is continually shaped by shallow and deep-seated landslides that can have disastrous consequences to infrastructure and human lives. Searching for evidence of potentially coseismic mass wasting is incredibly difficult, particularly when historical observations are limited. Landslide-dammed lakes with submerged “ghost forests” in the Oregon Coast R
Authors
Logan Wetherell, William Struble, Sean Richard LaHusen
Rainfall triggers more deep-seated landslides than Cascadia earthquakes in the Oregon Coast Range, USA
The coastal Pacific Northwest USA hosts thousands of deep-seated landslides. Historic landslides have primarily been triggered by rainfall, but the region is also prone to large earthquakes on the 1100-km-long Cascadia Subduction Zone megathrust. Little is known about the number of landslides triggered by these earthquakes because the last magnitude 9 rupture occurred in 1700 CE. Here, we map 9938
Authors
Sean R LaHusen, Alison R Duvall, Adam M. Booth, Alex R. R. Grant, Benjamin A Mishkin, David R. Montgomery, William Struble, Joshua J. Roering, Joseph Wartman
*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