Wednesday, February 1, 7:00am - 8:00am

Earthquakes: Where and Why

 

Pamela Jansma,Ph.D.
Dean, College of Science
Glen Mattioli, Ph.D.
Professor, Earth & Environmental Sciences
UT Arlington

 

A huge percentage of the world's population lives very close to major geological boundaries capable of generating devastating seismic events. Recent examples include the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that almost totally destroyed Port-au-Prince, Haiti in January 2010; the 9.0 undersea earthquake and resulting tsunami that shattered eastern Japan in March 2011; a 5.8 quake in Virginia in August 2011 that damaged the Washington Monument 85 miles away; and numerous lesser-strength events across the U.S., many in Oklahoma and North Texas.

 

What causes earthquakes, where are they most likely to occur, can they be predicted and how might we prepare for them? These are things to be examined and explained by Drs. Jansma and Mattioli in their presentation.

 

Pamela Jansma earned a bachelor's degree in geology from Stanford University and master's and doctoral degrees in geological sciences from Northwestern University. Before coming to UT Arlington in August 2009, she was dean of New Mexico State University's College of Arts and Sciences. Before that, Dr. Jansma was chair of the Department of Geosciences at the University of Arkansas and associate dean for research and academic affairs for the College of Arts and Sciences of Puerto Rico. She and her collaborators have worked on active tectonics and seismic hazards in the northeastern Caribbean for 20 years.

 

Glen Mattioli holds a B.S. in geology from the University of Rochester and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in geological sciences from Northwestern University. Before joining UT Arlington in 2010, he was a professor of geosciences at the University of Arkansas. He has industrial experience as a research geologist for ARCO Oil and Gas and conducted geological research at the California Institute of Technology and the University of California - Berkeley.

 

 

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