Devin McPhillips, PhD
As an earthquake geologist, I investigate fault systems, fault activity, and ground shaking intensity. I am particularly interested in records of past earthquakes that are preserved in the landscape. My research methods include field observation, geochronology, and quantitative analysis. My goals are to quantify seismic hazard and reduce risk.
Professional Experience
Research Geologist: USGS-ESC, 2023-present
Geologist: USGS-ESC, 2016-2023
Research Associate: Syracuse University, 2013-2105
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow: University of Vermont, 2011-2013
Education and Certifications
PhD: Yale University, 2011
BA: Carleton College, 2003
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 22
Characterizing stress orientations in southern Kansas
Induced seismicity predominantly occurs along faults that are optimally oriented to the local principal compressive stress direction, and the characterization of these stress orientations is an important component of understanding seismic hazards. The seismicity rate in southern Kansas rapidly increased in 2013 primarily due to the disposal of large volumes of wastewater into the...
Authors
Robert John Skoumal, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Kayla A. Kroll, Justin L. Rubinstein, Devin McPhillips
Evaluation of seismic hazard models with fragile geologic features
We provide an overview of a 2019 workshop on the use of fragile geologic features (FGFs) to evaluate seismic hazard models. FGFs have been scarcely utilized in the evaluation of seismic hazard models, despite nearly 30 yr having passed since the first recognition of their potential value. Recently, several studies have begun to focus on the implementation of FGFs in seismic hazard...
Authors
Mark W. Stirling, Michael E. Oskin, J. Ramon Arrowsmith, Anna H. Rood, Christine A. Goulet, Lisa Grant Ludwig, Tamarah King, Albert R. Kottke, Julian C. Lozos, Chris L M Madugo, Devin McPhillips, Dylan Rood, Norman H. Sleep, Christine Wittich
Documentation of Surface Fault Rupture and Ground‐Deformation Features Produced by the 4 and 5 July 2019 Mw 6.4 and Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence
The MwMw 6.4 and MwMw 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence occurred on 4 and 5 July 2019 within the eastern California shear zone of southern California. Both events produced extensive surface faulting and ground deformation within Indian Wells Valley and Searles Valley. In the weeks following the earthquakes, more than six dozen scientists from government, academia, and the private sector...
Authors
Daniel J. Ponti, J. Luke Blair, Rosa Carla M, Kate Thomas, Alexandra J. Pickering, Sinan Akçiz, Stephen J. Angster, Jean-Philipe Avouac, Jeffrey Bachhuber, Steven N. Bacon, Nicolas C. Barth, Scott E.K. Bennett, Kelly Blake, Stephan Bork, Benjamin A. Brooks, Thomas Bullard, Paul A. Burgess, Colin Chupik, Timothy E. Dawson, Michael DeFrisco, Jaime E. Delano, Stephen B. DeLong, James F. Dolan, Andrea Donnellan, Christopher DuRoss, Todd Ericksen, Erik Frost, Gareth J. Funning, Ryan D. Gold, Nicholas Graehl, Carlos I. Gutierrez, Elizabeth Haddon, Alexandra Elise Hatem, John Helms, Janis L. Hernandez, Christopher S. Hitchcock, Peter J. Holland, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Katherine J. Kendrick, Richard D Koehler, Ozgur Kozaci, Tyler C. Ladinsky, Robert Leeper, Christopher Madugo, Maxime Mareschal, James McDonald, Devin McPhillips, Christopher W. D. Milliner, Daniel Mongovin, Alexander E. Morelan, Stephanie Nale, Johanna Nevitt, Matt O'Neal, Brian J. Olsen, Michael E. Oskin, Salena Padilla, Jason R. Patton, Belle E. Philibosian, Ian Pierce, Cynthia L. Pridmore, Nathaniel Roth, David Sandwell, Katherine M. Scharer, Gordon G. Seitz, Drake Moore Singleton, Bridget Smith-Konter, Eleanor Spangler, Brian J. Swanson, Jessica Ann Thompson Jobe, Jerome A. Treiman, Francesca Valencia, Jeremy VanDerWal, Alana Williams, Xiaohua Xu, Judith Zachariasen, Jade Zimmerman, Robert Zinke
Graphical Dispersion Plot Editor (DPE) for seismic-site characterization by using multiple surface-wave methods
IntroductionTo understand the behavior of potentially damaging ground motions during earthquakes, seismic-site effects are routinely characterized by using the dispersion of surface waves. Many methods exist to measure dispersion; these methods have various advantages and disadvantages, but they all yield dispersion data that must be inverted for shear-wave velocity. This report presents...
Authors
Devin McPhillips, Alan K. Yong, Antony J. Martin, William J. Stephenson
Surface displacement distributions for the July 2019 Ridgecrest, California earthquake ruptures
Surface rupture in the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence occurred along two orthogonal cross faults and includes dominantly left‐lateral and northeast‐striking rupture in the Mw 6.4 foreshock and dominantly right‐lateral and northwest‐striking rupture in the Mw 7.1 mainshock. We present >650 field‐based, surface‐displacement observations for these ruptures and synthesize...
Authors
Christopher DuRoss, Ryan D. Gold, Timothy E. Dawson, Katherine M. Scharer, Katherine J. Kendrick, Sinan Akçiz, Stephen J. Angster, Jeffery Bachhuber, Steven N. Bacon, Scott E.K. Bennett, Luke Blair, Benjamin A. Brooks, Thomas Bullard, W. Paul Burgess, Colin Chupik, Michael DeFrisco, Jaime E. Delano, James F. Dolan, Erik Frost, Nicholas Graehl, Elizabeth Haddon, Alexandra Elise Hatem, Janis L. Hernandez, Christopher S. Hitchcock, Kennth Hudnut, Jessica Ann Thompson Jobe, Richard D Koehler, Ozgur Kozaci, Tyler C. Ladinsky, Christopher Madugo, Devin McPhillips, Christopher W. D. Milliner, Alexander E. Morelan, Brian P.E. Olson, Jason R. Patton, Belle E. Philibosian, Alexandra J. Pickering, Ian Pierce, Daniel J. Ponti, Gordon G. Seitz, Eleanor Spangler, Brian J. Swanson, Kate Thomas, Jerome A. Treiman, Francesca Valencia, Alana Williams, Robert Zinke
Activation of optimally and unfavourably oriented faults in a uniform local stress field during the 2011 Prague, Oklahoma, sequence
The orientations of faults activated relative to the local principal stress directions can provide insights into the role of pore pressure changes in induced earthquake sequences. Here, we examine the 2011 M 5.7 Prague earthquake sequence that was induced by nearby wastewater disposal. We estimate the local principal compressive stress direction near the rupture as inferred from shear...
Authors
Elizabeth S. Cochran, Robert John Skoumal, Devin McPhillips, Z. Ross, Katie M. Keranen
Late Quaternary slip rate of the Central Sierra Madre fault, southern California: Implications for slip partitioning and earthquake hazard
The Sierra Madre fault system accommodates contraction within a large restraining bend area of the San Andreas fault along the northern margin of the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. Reverse slip along this fault system during earthquakes controls growth of the San Gabriel Mountains and poses a significant seismic hazard to the region. Here, we measure the late...
Authors
Reed J. Burgette, Austin Hanson, Katherine M. Scharer, Tammy M. Rittenour, Devin McPhillips
Preliminary report on engineering and geological effects of the July 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence
The Ridgecrest Earthquake sequence included a foreshock event on July 4 2019 (M6.4) and a M7.1 mainshock event on July 5 2019. These events occurred in the Eastern California Shear Zone, near Indian Wells Valley, south of China Lake and west of Searles Valley. GEER has partnered with several organizations to collect perishable data and document the important impacts of these events...
Authors
Scott J. Brandenberg, Pengfei Wang, Chukwuebuka C Nweke, Kenneth Hudson, Silvia Mazzoni, Yousef Bozorgnia, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Craig B. Davis, Sean Kamran Ahdi, Farzin Zareian, Jawad Fayaz, Richard D Koehler, Colin Chupik, Ian Pierce, Alana Williams, Sinan Akçiz, Martin B Hudson, Tadahiro Kishida, Benjamin A. Brooks, Ryan D. Gold, Daniel J. Ponti, Katherine M. Scharer, Devin McPhillips, Christopher DuRoss, Todd Ericksen, Janis L. Hernandez, Jay Patton, Brian P.E. Olson, Timothy E. Dawson, Jerome A. Treiman, Kelly Blake, Jeffrey Buchhuber, Chris L M Madugo, Joseph I. Sun, Andrea Donnellan, Greg Lyzenga, Erik Conway
Quantifying uncertainty in cumulative surface slip along the Cucamonga Fault, a crustal thrust fault in southern California
Studies of historic earthquake ground surface ruptures show that displacements along strike are spatially variable. As a result, latest Quaternary slip rates developed from a spatially restricted set of cumulative displacement measurements may not accurately represent fault velocity. Here we examine the uncertainties associated with slip on the Cucamonga Fault, which is part of a network...
Authors
Devin McPhillips, Katherine M. Scharer
Characterizing the Los Angeles Aqueduct crossing of the San Andreas Fault for improved earthquake resilience
The five-mile-long Elizabeth Tunnel, which crosses the San Andreas fault (SAF) zone near Lake Hughes, California, is part of the Los Angeles Aqueduct (LAA) that delivers water from Owens Valley to the City of Los Angeles. Geologic characterization of the Elizabeth Tunnel alignment is focused on developing a better understanding of fault displacement hazards at the SAF crossing to support...
Authors
Scott Lindvall, Scott Kerwin, Chris Heron, Craig B. Davis, Jeff T. Tyson, Jim Chestnut, Kevin Mass, Mike Farr, Katherine M. Scharer, Devin McPhillips
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 22
Characterizing stress orientations in southern Kansas
Induced seismicity predominantly occurs along faults that are optimally oriented to the local principal compressive stress direction, and the characterization of these stress orientations is an important component of understanding seismic hazards. The seismicity rate in southern Kansas rapidly increased in 2013 primarily due to the disposal of large volumes of wastewater into the...
Authors
Robert John Skoumal, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Kayla A. Kroll, Justin L. Rubinstein, Devin McPhillips
Evaluation of seismic hazard models with fragile geologic features
We provide an overview of a 2019 workshop on the use of fragile geologic features (FGFs) to evaluate seismic hazard models. FGFs have been scarcely utilized in the evaluation of seismic hazard models, despite nearly 30 yr having passed since the first recognition of their potential value. Recently, several studies have begun to focus on the implementation of FGFs in seismic hazard...
Authors
Mark W. Stirling, Michael E. Oskin, J. Ramon Arrowsmith, Anna H. Rood, Christine A. Goulet, Lisa Grant Ludwig, Tamarah King, Albert R. Kottke, Julian C. Lozos, Chris L M Madugo, Devin McPhillips, Dylan Rood, Norman H. Sleep, Christine Wittich
Documentation of Surface Fault Rupture and Ground‐Deformation Features Produced by the 4 and 5 July 2019 Mw 6.4 and Mw 7.1 Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence
The MwMw 6.4 and MwMw 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence occurred on 4 and 5 July 2019 within the eastern California shear zone of southern California. Both events produced extensive surface faulting and ground deformation within Indian Wells Valley and Searles Valley. In the weeks following the earthquakes, more than six dozen scientists from government, academia, and the private sector...
Authors
Daniel J. Ponti, J. Luke Blair, Rosa Carla M, Kate Thomas, Alexandra J. Pickering, Sinan Akçiz, Stephen J. Angster, Jean-Philipe Avouac, Jeffrey Bachhuber, Steven N. Bacon, Nicolas C. Barth, Scott E.K. Bennett, Kelly Blake, Stephan Bork, Benjamin A. Brooks, Thomas Bullard, Paul A. Burgess, Colin Chupik, Timothy E. Dawson, Michael DeFrisco, Jaime E. Delano, Stephen B. DeLong, James F. Dolan, Andrea Donnellan, Christopher DuRoss, Todd Ericksen, Erik Frost, Gareth J. Funning, Ryan D. Gold, Nicholas Graehl, Carlos I. Gutierrez, Elizabeth Haddon, Alexandra Elise Hatem, John Helms, Janis L. Hernandez, Christopher S. Hitchcock, Peter J. Holland, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Katherine J. Kendrick, Richard D Koehler, Ozgur Kozaci, Tyler C. Ladinsky, Robert Leeper, Christopher Madugo, Maxime Mareschal, James McDonald, Devin McPhillips, Christopher W. D. Milliner, Daniel Mongovin, Alexander E. Morelan, Stephanie Nale, Johanna Nevitt, Matt O'Neal, Brian J. Olsen, Michael E. Oskin, Salena Padilla, Jason R. Patton, Belle E. Philibosian, Ian Pierce, Cynthia L. Pridmore, Nathaniel Roth, David Sandwell, Katherine M. Scharer, Gordon G. Seitz, Drake Moore Singleton, Bridget Smith-Konter, Eleanor Spangler, Brian J. Swanson, Jessica Ann Thompson Jobe, Jerome A. Treiman, Francesca Valencia, Jeremy VanDerWal, Alana Williams, Xiaohua Xu, Judith Zachariasen, Jade Zimmerman, Robert Zinke
Graphical Dispersion Plot Editor (DPE) for seismic-site characterization by using multiple surface-wave methods
IntroductionTo understand the behavior of potentially damaging ground motions during earthquakes, seismic-site effects are routinely characterized by using the dispersion of surface waves. Many methods exist to measure dispersion; these methods have various advantages and disadvantages, but they all yield dispersion data that must be inverted for shear-wave velocity. This report presents...
Authors
Devin McPhillips, Alan K. Yong, Antony J. Martin, William J. Stephenson
Surface displacement distributions for the July 2019 Ridgecrest, California earthquake ruptures
Surface rupture in the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence occurred along two orthogonal cross faults and includes dominantly left‐lateral and northeast‐striking rupture in the Mw 6.4 foreshock and dominantly right‐lateral and northwest‐striking rupture in the Mw 7.1 mainshock. We present >650 field‐based, surface‐displacement observations for these ruptures and synthesize...
Authors
Christopher DuRoss, Ryan D. Gold, Timothy E. Dawson, Katherine M. Scharer, Katherine J. Kendrick, Sinan Akçiz, Stephen J. Angster, Jeffery Bachhuber, Steven N. Bacon, Scott E.K. Bennett, Luke Blair, Benjamin A. Brooks, Thomas Bullard, W. Paul Burgess, Colin Chupik, Michael DeFrisco, Jaime E. Delano, James F. Dolan, Erik Frost, Nicholas Graehl, Elizabeth Haddon, Alexandra Elise Hatem, Janis L. Hernandez, Christopher S. Hitchcock, Kennth Hudnut, Jessica Ann Thompson Jobe, Richard D Koehler, Ozgur Kozaci, Tyler C. Ladinsky, Christopher Madugo, Devin McPhillips, Christopher W. D. Milliner, Alexander E. Morelan, Brian P.E. Olson, Jason R. Patton, Belle E. Philibosian, Alexandra J. Pickering, Ian Pierce, Daniel J. Ponti, Gordon G. Seitz, Eleanor Spangler, Brian J. Swanson, Kate Thomas, Jerome A. Treiman, Francesca Valencia, Alana Williams, Robert Zinke
Activation of optimally and unfavourably oriented faults in a uniform local stress field during the 2011 Prague, Oklahoma, sequence
The orientations of faults activated relative to the local principal stress directions can provide insights into the role of pore pressure changes in induced earthquake sequences. Here, we examine the 2011 M 5.7 Prague earthquake sequence that was induced by nearby wastewater disposal. We estimate the local principal compressive stress direction near the rupture as inferred from shear...
Authors
Elizabeth S. Cochran, Robert John Skoumal, Devin McPhillips, Z. Ross, Katie M. Keranen
Late Quaternary slip rate of the Central Sierra Madre fault, southern California: Implications for slip partitioning and earthquake hazard
The Sierra Madre fault system accommodates contraction within a large restraining bend area of the San Andreas fault along the northern margin of the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. Reverse slip along this fault system during earthquakes controls growth of the San Gabriel Mountains and poses a significant seismic hazard to the region. Here, we measure the late...
Authors
Reed J. Burgette, Austin Hanson, Katherine M. Scharer, Tammy M. Rittenour, Devin McPhillips
Preliminary report on engineering and geological effects of the July 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence
The Ridgecrest Earthquake sequence included a foreshock event on July 4 2019 (M6.4) and a M7.1 mainshock event on July 5 2019. These events occurred in the Eastern California Shear Zone, near Indian Wells Valley, south of China Lake and west of Searles Valley. GEER has partnered with several organizations to collect perishable data and document the important impacts of these events...
Authors
Scott J. Brandenberg, Pengfei Wang, Chukwuebuka C Nweke, Kenneth Hudson, Silvia Mazzoni, Yousef Bozorgnia, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Craig B. Davis, Sean Kamran Ahdi, Farzin Zareian, Jawad Fayaz, Richard D Koehler, Colin Chupik, Ian Pierce, Alana Williams, Sinan Akçiz, Martin B Hudson, Tadahiro Kishida, Benjamin A. Brooks, Ryan D. Gold, Daniel J. Ponti, Katherine M. Scharer, Devin McPhillips, Christopher DuRoss, Todd Ericksen, Janis L. Hernandez, Jay Patton, Brian P.E. Olson, Timothy E. Dawson, Jerome A. Treiman, Kelly Blake, Jeffrey Buchhuber, Chris L M Madugo, Joseph I. Sun, Andrea Donnellan, Greg Lyzenga, Erik Conway
Quantifying uncertainty in cumulative surface slip along the Cucamonga Fault, a crustal thrust fault in southern California
Studies of historic earthquake ground surface ruptures show that displacements along strike are spatially variable. As a result, latest Quaternary slip rates developed from a spatially restricted set of cumulative displacement measurements may not accurately represent fault velocity. Here we examine the uncertainties associated with slip on the Cucamonga Fault, which is part of a network...
Authors
Devin McPhillips, Katherine M. Scharer
Characterizing the Los Angeles Aqueduct crossing of the San Andreas Fault for improved earthquake resilience
The five-mile-long Elizabeth Tunnel, which crosses the San Andreas fault (SAF) zone near Lake Hughes, California, is part of the Los Angeles Aqueduct (LAA) that delivers water from Owens Valley to the City of Los Angeles. Geologic characterization of the Elizabeth Tunnel alignment is focused on developing a better understanding of fault displacement hazards at the SAF crossing to support...
Authors
Scott Lindvall, Scott Kerwin, Chris Heron, Craig B. Davis, Jeff T. Tyson, Jim Chestnut, Kevin Mass, Mike Farr, Katherine M. Scharer, Devin McPhillips