Transcript North American and Japanese Clues to a Giant Earthquake in the

The Environmental Fluid Dynamics Lecture Series
Presents a Seminar
The Orphan Tsunami of 1700—North
American and Japanese Clues to a
Giant Earthquake in the Pacific Northwest
Dr. Brian Atwater, NAS
Senior Research Geologist
U.S. Geological Survey
Research Professor
University of Washington
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
127 Hayes-Healy
11am-12noon
Abstract
One winter's night in the year 1700, a
mysterious tsunami flooded
fields and washed away houses in
Japan. It arrived without the warning
that a nearby earthquake usually
provides. Samurai, merchants, and
villagers wrote of the event, but nearly
three centuries would pass before
geological and dendrochronological
discoveries in North America revealed
the tsunami's source. Today this TransPacific detective story guides
preparations for future earthquakes
and tsunamis in North America's
Cascadia region.
Biography
Brian Atwater is a geologist who
works for the United States
Geological Survey and is also a
research professor at the University
of Washington. He received his BS.
At Stanford University and his Ph.D.
at the University of Delaware. Dr.
Atwater was nominated by
Time magazine as one of the 100
most influential people in 2005.