Scientists Share Latest Mexico Earthquake Data

May 26th, 2010

A Joint Meeting of the Geological Society of America’s Cordilleran Section and the Pacific Section of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, with the Western Regional Society of Petroleum Engineers, is expected to draw more than 900 geoscientists to Anaheim, California, USA, later this week.

From Mountains to Main Street, will be held 27-29 May 2010 at the Marriot Anaheim and will feature 57 technical sessions presenting new earth-science research in oral and poster formats. The meeting will be hosted locally by the Department of Geological Sciences at California State University-Fullerton.

The technical program begins at 8:40 a.m. on Thursday and ends at 4:20 p.m. on Saturday.  Members of the media are invited to attend and cover scientific news.

Keynote
Dr. Lucile M. Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey will present a keynote address titled, “When the Mountains Come to Main Street: Helping California Live with Natural Disasters,” on Friday, 28 May, 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the Marquis Ballroom.  Dr. Jones, as head of the U.S. Geological Survey office in Pasadena, has long been the person associated with press conferences discussing recent earthquakes in southern California.  Dr. Jones is now chief scientist for the Multi Hazards Demonstration Project in Southern California, integrating hazards science with economic analysis and emergency response to increase community resiliency to natural disasters.  Read more about Jones at http://profile.usgs.gov/jones.

Late-Breaking Earthquake Session
In April 2010, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake occurred in Northern Baja California, Mexico.  The earthquake (Sierra El Mayor-Cucapah Earthquake) occurred 30 miles south southeast of Mexicali, Mexico and caused widespread liquefaction, road ruptures, cracking of infrastructure, tilting of power line towers, and partial or total collapse of many buildings. Between 25,000 and 35,000 people were displaced.

Conveners Thomas Rockwell (San Diego State University) and John Fletcher (CICESE, Ensenada, Mexico) have assembled a late-breaking special session on Saturday, 29 May, to examine the latest data surrounding this seismic event.  One new study presents one of the first uses of Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) for rapid scientific response following an earthquake.

View the special session schedule and abstracts:
El Mayor-Borrego Earthquake I:   8:30 - 10:40 a.m.
http://gsa.confex. … on_27009.htm

View a complete list of meeting sessions at http://www.geosoci … echprog.htm.
To see the session schedule and view abstracts, click http://gsa.confex. … nalprogram/. Search the program by session number (from list at the first link above) or by title, author, or key words.

The scientific exchange will be enhanced with pre- and post-meeting field trip options that highlight the diverse geology of southern California, including geologic features of the Mojave Desert, the pools and redwoods of Icehouse Canyon, the structural history and geochronology of Soledad and Plush Ranch Basins, volcanic unrest at Mammoth Mountain, California’s primary petroleum source rock in the Los Angeles Basin, and outcrops of the Capistrano Formation in the vicinity of San Clemente State Beach.

More information:
http://www.geosoci … tg/index.htm

Provided by eological Society of America