Katherine (Kate) Scharer
Dr. Scharer holds a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon and a B.S. in Geological Sciences from the University of Washington.
Prior to coming to the USGS, she was a professor at Appalachian State University in North Carolina. Dr. Scharer studies the timing and size of pre-historic earthquakes along the San Andreas Fault and other active faults in southern California, Alaska, and the Dominican Republic. She also investigates the deformation produced by tectonic motion through a combination of field mapping, lidar analysis, and Quaternary geochronologic methods.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 46
The San Andreas fault paleoseismic record at Elizabeth Lake: Why are there fewer surface-rupturing earthquakes on the Mojave section?
The structural complexity of active faults and the stress release history along the fault system may exert control on the locus and extent of individual earthquake ruptures. Fault bends, in particular, are often invoked as a possible mechanism for terminating earthquake ruptures. However, there are few records available to examine how these factors may influence the along‐fault...
Authors
Sean P. Bemis, Katherine M. Scharer, James F. Dolan
A revised position for the primary strand of the Pleistocene-Holocene San Andreas fault in southern California
The San Andreas fault has the highest calculated time-dependent probability for large-magnitude earthquakes in southern California. However, where the fault is multistranded east of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, it has been uncertain which strand has the fastest slip rate and, therefore, which has the highest probability of a destructive earthquake. Reconstruction of offset...
Authors
Kim Blisniuk, Katherine M. Scharer, Warren D. Sharp, Roland Burgmann, Colin B. Amos, Michael Rymer
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
Kinematics of fault slip associated with the July 4-6 2019 Ridgecrest, Californai earthquakes sequence
The 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence produced observable crustal deformation over much of central and southern California, as well as surface rupture over several tens of kilometers. To obtain a detailed picture of the fault slip involved in the 4 July M 6.4 foreshock and 6 July M 7.1 mainshock, we combine strong‐motion seismic waveforms with crustal deformation...
Authors
Frederick Pollitz, Jessica R. Murray, Jerry L. Svarc, Charles W. Wicks, Evelyn A. Roeloffs, Sarah E. Minson, Katherine M. Scharer, Katherine J. Kendrick, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Johanna Nevitt, Benjamin A. Brooks, David Mencin
A maximum rupture model for the southern San Andreas and San Jacinto Faults California, derived from paleoseismic earthquake ages: Observations and limitations
Paleoseismic rupture histories provide spatiotemporal models of earthquake moment release needed to test numerical models and lengthen the instrumental catalog. We develop a model of the fewest and thus largest magnitude earthquakes permitted by paleoseismic data for the last 1,500 years on the southern San Andreas and San Jacinto Faults, California, USA. The largest geometric complexity...
Authors
Katherine M. Scharer, Doug Yule
EERI earthquake reconnaissance report: 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence
The Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence began the morning of 4 July 2019 with an M6.4 earthquake at 10:33 a.m., closely following several small foreshocks. The epicenter of this event was roughly 11 miles (18 km) east-northeast of Ridgecrest (Figure 1) within the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (NAWS-CL). Seismic and geologic data established that the M6.4 earthquake occurred primarily...
Authors
EERI Learning from Earthquakes Program, Katherine M. Scharer
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
Late Quaternary slip rates on the Sierra Madre fault zone and paleoseismic evidence on the size and frequency of past ruptures
The Sierra Madre fault zone is a south-vergent, active reverse fault that accommodates shortening between basins on the northern margin of the Los Angeles region and the San Gabriel Mountains. The preservation of late Quaternary alluvial fill and fan surfaces in the hanging wall of the fault provides evidence of long-term uplift. Surface rupture from the 1971 Mw 6.6 San Fernando...
Authors
Reed J. Burgette, Katherine M. Scharer, Scott Lindvall
Airborne lidar and electro-optical imagery along surface ruptures of the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence, Southern California
Surface rupture from the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence, initially associated with the M 6.4 foreshock, occurred on July 4 on a ~17 km long, northeast-southwest oriented, left-lateral zone of faulting. Following the M 7.1 mainshock on July 5 (local time), extensive northwest-southeast-oriented, right-lateral faulting was then also mapped along a ~50 km long zone of faults, including...
Authors
Kenneth W. Hudnut, Benjamin A. Brooks, Katherine M. Scharer, Janis L. Hernandez, Timothy E. Dawson, Michael E. Oskin, J. Ramon Arrowsmith, Christine A. Goulet, Kelly Blake, Matthew A. Boggie, Stephan Bork, Craig L. Glennie, J.C. Fernandez-Diaz, Abhinav Singhania, Darren L. Hauser, Sven Sorhus
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
The current unlikely earthquake hiatus at California’s transform boundary paleoseismic sites
Paleoseismic and historical earthquake records used to quantify earthquake recurrence rates can also be used to test the likelihood of seismically quiescent periods. At principal paleoseismic sites in California on the San Andreas, San Jacinto, Elsinore, and Hayward faults, no ground‐rupturing earthquake has occurred in the last 100 yr, yet this interval is about three times the average...
Authors
Glenn Biasi, Katherine M. Scharer
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 46
The San Andreas fault paleoseismic record at Elizabeth Lake: Why are there fewer surface-rupturing earthquakes on the Mojave section?
The structural complexity of active faults and the stress release history along the fault system may exert control on the locus and extent of individual earthquake ruptures. Fault bends, in particular, are often invoked as a possible mechanism for terminating earthquake ruptures. However, there are few records available to examine how these factors may influence the along‐fault...
Authors
Sean P. Bemis, Katherine M. Scharer, James F. Dolan
A revised position for the primary strand of the Pleistocene-Holocene San Andreas fault in southern California
The San Andreas fault has the highest calculated time-dependent probability for large-magnitude earthquakes in southern California. However, where the fault is multistranded east of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, it has been uncertain which strand has the fastest slip rate and, therefore, which has the highest probability of a destructive earthquake. Reconstruction of offset...
Authors
Kim Blisniuk, Katherine M. Scharer, Warren D. Sharp, Roland Burgmann, Colin B. Amos, Michael Rymer
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
Kinematics of fault slip associated with the July 4-6 2019 Ridgecrest, Californai earthquakes sequence
The 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence produced observable crustal deformation over much of central and southern California, as well as surface rupture over several tens of kilometers. To obtain a detailed picture of the fault slip involved in the 4 July M 6.4 foreshock and 6 July M 7.1 mainshock, we combine strong‐motion seismic waveforms with crustal deformation...
Authors
Frederick Pollitz, Jessica R. Murray, Jerry L. Svarc, Charles W. Wicks, Evelyn A. Roeloffs, Sarah E. Minson, Katherine M. Scharer, Katherine J. Kendrick, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Johanna Nevitt, Benjamin A. Brooks, David Mencin
A maximum rupture model for the southern San Andreas and San Jacinto Faults California, derived from paleoseismic earthquake ages: Observations and limitations
Paleoseismic rupture histories provide spatiotemporal models of earthquake moment release needed to test numerical models and lengthen the instrumental catalog. We develop a model of the fewest and thus largest magnitude earthquakes permitted by paleoseismic data for the last 1,500 years on the southern San Andreas and San Jacinto Faults, California, USA. The largest geometric complexity...
Authors
Katherine M. Scharer, Doug Yule
EERI earthquake reconnaissance report: 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence
The Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence began the morning of 4 July 2019 with an M6.4 earthquake at 10:33 a.m., closely following several small foreshocks. The epicenter of this event was roughly 11 miles (18 km) east-northeast of Ridgecrest (Figure 1) within the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (NAWS-CL). Seismic and geologic data established that the M6.4 earthquake occurred primarily...
Authors
EERI Learning from Earthquakes Program, Katherine M. Scharer
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
Late Quaternary slip rates on the Sierra Madre fault zone and paleoseismic evidence on the size and frequency of past ruptures
The Sierra Madre fault zone is a south-vergent, active reverse fault that accommodates shortening between basins on the northern margin of the Los Angeles region and the San Gabriel Mountains. The preservation of late Quaternary alluvial fill and fan surfaces in the hanging wall of the fault provides evidence of long-term uplift. Surface rupture from the 1971 Mw 6.6 San Fernando...
Authors
Reed J. Burgette, Katherine M. Scharer, Scott Lindvall
Airborne lidar and electro-optical imagery along surface ruptures of the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence, Southern California
Surface rupture from the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence, initially associated with the M 6.4 foreshock, occurred on July 4 on a ~17 km long, northeast-southwest oriented, left-lateral zone of faulting. Following the M 7.1 mainshock on July 5 (local time), extensive northwest-southeast-oriented, right-lateral faulting was then also mapped along a ~50 km long zone of faults, including...
Authors
Kenneth W. Hudnut, Benjamin A. Brooks, Katherine M. Scharer, Janis L. Hernandez, Timothy E. Dawson, Michael E. Oskin, J. Ramon Arrowsmith, Christine A. Goulet, Kelly Blake, Matthew A. Boggie, Stephan Bork, Craig L. Glennie, J.C. Fernandez-Diaz, Abhinav Singhania, Darren L. Hauser, Sven Sorhus
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
The current unlikely earthquake hiatus at California’s transform boundary paleoseismic sites
Paleoseismic and historical earthquake records used to quantify earthquake recurrence rates can also be used to test the likelihood of seismically quiescent periods. At principal paleoseismic sites in California on the San Andreas, San Jacinto, Elsinore, and Hayward faults, no ground‐rupturing earthquake has occurred in the last 100 yr, yet this interval is about three times the average...
Authors
Glenn Biasi, Katherine M. Scharer