Ruth Harris is a scientist at the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

known for her research on large earthquakes, especially on how they begin, end, and cause the ground to shake. In 2019, Harris was elected a fellow of the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists and enthusiasts that according to their website includes 130,000 people (not members). AGU's act ...

who cited her "for outstanding contributions to earthquake rupture dynamics, stress transfer, and triggering".

Education and career

Harris has a B.S. from

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, and an M.S. from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

(1984). After a few years of working, she came to the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

where she earned a Ph.D. in 1991 working with Ralph Archueta. Following her Ph.D., she was a National Research Council postdoctoral investigator at the United States Geological Survey for two years before she was hired in a permanent position. In 2015, Harris served as president of the Seismological Society of America.

Research

Harris's research into earthquakes involves a combination of computer simulations and field and laboratory investigations. She is particularly interested in creeping faults, faults that creep for long periods of time while producing multiple small earthquakes. In California, Harris quantified stress within the Parkfield segment of the

San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly through California. It forms the tectonics, tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, and its motion is Fault (geology)#Strike-slip fau ...

, estimated changes in stress during the

1992 Landers earthquake The 1992 Landers earthquake occurred on Sunday, June 28 with an epicenter near the town of Landers, California, Landers, California, in San Bernardino County. The shock had a Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.3 and a maximum Mercalli ...

, and tracked the impact of the

1857 Fort Tejon earthquake The 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake occurred at about 8:20 a.m. (Pacific time) on January 9 in central and Southern California. One of the largest recorded earthquakes in the United States, with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9, it ruptured ...

on subsequent earthquakes in the region. She has simulated the movement of fractures across multiple segments of fault plans, and considered the role of earthquake depth and soil type in determining the strength of earthquakes such as the

2017 Puebla earthquake The 2017 Puebla earthquake struck at 13:14 CDT (18:14 UTC) on 19 September 2017 with an estimated magnitude of and strong shaking for about 20 seconds. Its epicenter was about south of the city of Puebla, Mexico. The earthquake caused d ...

. Harris led the community effort to validate computer models of earthquakes with field-based verification efforts.

Selected publications

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Awards and honors

*Meritorious Service Award, United States Department of the Interior (2011) *Distinguished Alumna Award, University of California, Santa Barbara Department of Earth Science (2016) *Fellow, American Geophysical Union (2019)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Ruth A. Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Cornell University alumni University of California, Santa Barbara alumni United States Geological Survey personnel Fellows of the American Geophysical Union Living people Women geologists Seismologists Year of birth missing (living people)