TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. Seth Stein, professor at Northwestern University, will present a talk on “Giant Earthquakes: Why, Where, When and What We Can Do” Thursday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Biology Building auditorium at The University of Alabama.

Stein, who received his doctoral degree in geophysics from the California Institute of Technology, will discuss the devastation that earthquakes can cause and why we need them.

Seismologists are working to understand the physics of giant earthquakes and learn how to live with them. In fact, we can't live without them, experts note. This is because giant earthquakes are part of plate tectonics, the process that keeps our planet and us alive.

Stein will address how we can build societies to minimize the damage from earthquakes, including earthquake resistant construction, systems to warn of imminent tsunami waves and other measures.

For more information about this lecture, contact Dr. Rona Donahoe, UA associate professor of geological sciences, at 205/348-1879 or rdonahoe@geo.ua.edu.

The lecture is sponsored by the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology and the Seismological Society of America Distinguished Lectureship Program.

The lecture is open to the public free of charge.