Subject: Café Scientifique Palo Alto - March 8 - "Understanding Tsunamis" - At Roche Palo Alto

From: Café Scientifique Events <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2005 14:19:44 -0800

Come to a new, larger location on the Roche campus to celebrate the first anniversary of Café Scientifique Palo Alto and hear our next speaker:

Eric Geist

Research Geophysicist

U.S. Geological Survey

will discuss: 

"Understanding Tsunamis"

Tuesday, March 8, 2004 

6 - 7:30 p.m.

Roche Palo Alto

Cafeteria Building

3431 Hillview Ave.

Palo Alto

Click here for directions.

Information regarding food and beverage service will be available soon.

The magnitude 9.0 Sumatra earthquake on December 26, 2004 was the largest earthquake in the past 40 years.  This earthquake also generated the most devastating tsunami in recorded history in terms of loss of life.  In this context and using innovative satellite data collected 2 hours after the Sumatra tsunami was generated, Eric Geist will explain how specialists explore the mechanism by which an earthquake rupture along a fault leads to the generation of tsunamis as well as how tsunami waves evolve and impact land.  He will show how a computational fluid dynamic model for the tsunami is constructed and results are compared with instrumental observations of the tsunamis.  The discussion will address several unresolved issues regarding this event and ideas for new research and hazard mitigation efforts.  

Eric Geist has authored over 120 journal articles and abstracts, including a review paper on tsunamis published in the book "Tsunamigenic Earthquakes and their Consequences."  Eric received his MS degree in Geophysics from Stanford University and a BS degree in Geophysics from the Colorado School of Mines.

Café Scientifique events are free of charge.  For more information please visit our web site: http://www.cafescipa.org .  Check the web for information about future and past events, including photos.  Feel free to forward this announcement to interested friends and colleagues.

Sponsored by Roche Palo Alto and Roxro Pharma, Café Scientifique is a place where anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology and debate science issues outside a traditional academic context.  We meet monthly to discuss a variety of science topics.  Feel free to forward this message to anyone you think could be interested.  

If you do not wish to receive Café Scientifique announcements please send an email to [email-masked].  

Kind regards, 

Catherine Martineau

[email-masked]