Ross Stein, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Hazards Program, will give a free public lecture at the University of California, Santa Cruz, on Wednesday, January 16. The lecture, titled "Living It Up in the Fault Lane, or How Earthquakes Converse," begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Seymour Center at Long Marine Laboratory, located at 100 Shaffer Road in Santa Cruz.
Stein will discuss his research on the stresses that trigger earthquakes and how this work relates to earthquake hazard assessment. His research currently focuses on how earthquakes and faults interact through the transfer of stress. Examples of such interactions include aftershock sequences, seismic quiescence, earthquake clusters, and the propagation of mainshocks along a fault. Stein and his collaborators are interested in how one earthquake can promote subsequent shocks at some sites and inhibit seismic activity at other sites.
"This work is driven by an attempt to deepen our understanding of the physics of earthquakes, and to develop a new way to assess earthquake hazards," Stein said.
The lecture is sponsored by UCSC's Center for the Study of Imaging and Dynamics of the Earth. A reception will be held at the Seymour Center after the lecture. The doors will open at 7 p.m. For special accommodations, please call (831) 459-4089.
