Southwestern to host orphan tsunami lecture

The Geology Lecture Series at Southwestern Oregon Community College will continue with a free lecture on “The Orphan Tsunami of 1700: A Trans-Pacific Detective Story” by Dr. Brian Atwater of the United States Geological Survey.

Atwater’s talk is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27, at the Hales Center for the Performing Arts at Southwestern in Coos Bay. The focus of the talk will be the last great Cascadia subduction zone earthquake that took place on the evening of Jan. 26, 1700. Atwater will provide a history of the evidence that was used to convince scientists and coastal communities that the Cascadia subduction zone has produced massive tsunami-generating earthquakes in the past and has potential to produce such events in the future.

Atwater has been with the USGS for 33 years and also has served as an affiliate faculty member at the University of Washington since 1986. Atwater comes to Coos Bay as a distinguished speaker in the Incorporated Research Institutions of Seismology/Seismological Society of America series and is most directly associated with his work using coastal geology to better understand the history and potential of earthquake and tsunami hazards along the Pacific Northwest coast. His research has garnered him a place among the “Time 100,” Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2005.

The Southwestern Geology Club – which sponsors the event along with Southwestern and Methane Energy Corporation – will have copies of Atwater’s book – “The Orphan Tsunami of 1700: Japanese Clues to a Parent Earthquake in North America” – available for purchase and autographing following the lecture. For more information, those interested can contact Ron Metzger, Southwestern professor of geology, at 888-7216.

Press Release Date: January 2, 2007