February 27, 2010
Media advisory: UW expert on great earthquakes, tsunamis available for media on Chile quake
Brian Atwater, a University of Washington affiliate professor of Earth and space sciences and a U.S. Geological Survey geologist, is available to discuss the magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile today (Feb. 27) and the resulting tsunami.
Atwater is a paleoseismologist widely known for his work, in collaboration with Japanese researchers, that found historical evidence for a tsunami in 1700 that caused damage as far away as Japan. His research linked that tsunami with a great earthquake in the Cascadia subduction zone off the Washington coast.
He also was part of a team that found historic evidence for earthquakes and tsunamis along the shores of the Indian Ocean that long predated the earthquake and tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004, that killed a quarter-million people.
Reporters who want to reach Atwater can contact Vince Stricherz at 206-543-2580 or vinces@uw.edu.
