Stanford: Earthquakes
Why is Earthquake Prediction so Difficult?
Outdoor Science Talks at the Cantor Arts Center Talk 1
Earthquakes can be extreme catastrophes. Rapid urbanization of earthquake-prone regions means that a future earthquake with a million fatalities is a distinct possibility. By some estimates, the next large earthquake under Tokyo could cause trillions of dollars in direct economic losses, which would have serious global financial consequences.
The consequences of earthquakes might be mitigated if they could be predicted; however, to date, earthquake prediction has proven elusive. Earthquakes differ in this respect from other natural hazards, which to some extent are predictable over time scales short enough to allow an effective response. The combination of unpredictability, abrupt onset, rarity, and unfamiliarity means that the risk posed by earthquakes is difficult to manage. It is natural for us as well as our government to focus on the many other immediate, and more readily predictable, problems that demand our attention.
In this talk, Gregory Beroza will cover what it is that makes earthquake prediction an intrinsically difficult problem. He will also cover aspects of the earthquake process that we can predict, and what the prospects are for future progress.
GREGORY C. BEROZA, Professor of Geophysics
Gregory Beroza has been on the Stanford faculty for eighteen years. He serves as Deputy Director of the Southern California Earthquake Center, and is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. His research focuses on using seismic waves to understand how earthquakes work. He received a PhD from MIT.
Please join us for Stanford's acclaimed Summer Science Lecture Series on the lawn adjacent to the Cantor Arts Center on four Thursday evenings. You are invited to come early and wander through the art museum, buy dinner in the Art Center's Cool Cafe or bring your own picnic, and then settle on the lawn outside to hear informal lectures about cutting-edge research from four of Stanford's most esteemed professors.
We promise that all of the talks will be delivered in terms understandable to the lay public. So bring your whole family (high school age and up) and enjoy!
The Outdoor Science Series is co-sponsored by the Stanford Office for Science Outreach, the Cantor Arts Center, and Stanford Continuing Studies.
