CMA Presents "The Science Behind the Waves: Understanding Tsunami"

The world's most powerful earthquake in forty years occurred the morning of December 26, 2004, under the Indian Ocean off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, creating a tsunami that ultimately led to the death of over 170,000 people in countries ranging from Sumatra, Thailand, India, and Sri Lanka to Somalia on the Horn of Africa. This tsunami caused recorded waves as far away as Argentina and France.

Join Fred Raichlen in a discussion of various aspects of this major tsunami. Questions related to the generation, propagation, and coastal effects of these huge destructive waves will be considered, along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warning system and tsunami mitigation efforts under way on the West Coast.

Dr. Raichlen is Professor of Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, Emeritus, at Caltech and has been on the faculty since 1962. Since the early 1970s, he and his students have been investigating, theoretically and experimentally, a number of problems dealing with tsunamis. Some of the major results from these studies will be discussed in relation to the Indian Ocean event.

Dr. Raichlen earned a B.E. in civil engineering in 1953 from the Johns Hopkins University and both an S.M. (1955) and an Sc.D. (1962) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before joining the Caltech faculty.

This free event is open to members of the Caltech Campus and JPL communities.