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News Release

September 22, 2005

Contact:

Mark Shwartz, Stanford News Service: (650) 723-9296, mshwartz@stanford.edu

Stanford-Berkeley lecture series to commemorate 100th anniversary of the Great San Francisco Earthquake

Hurricane Katrina has been called the worst natural disaster to strike the United States since the Great San Francisco Earthquake of April 18, 1906—a powerful temblor that is estimated to have killed more than 3,000 people and left 225,000 homeless along California's San Andreas Fault.

To commemorate the centennial of that historic disaster, the University of California-Berkeley and Stanford University will present a series of lectures on the history of the 1906 earthquake and how to cope with major seismic events in the future. The lecture series, which is free and open to the public, is one of several events planned by the 1906 Earthquake Centennial Alliance—a Bay Area-wide consortium that includes Stanford, UC-Berkeley and more than 100 other institutions, agencies and businesses, whose objective is to use the 100th anniversary of the quake to raise public awareness about current earthquake risks.

The lecture series begins with a presentation by Kevin Starr, California state librarian, emeritus, and professor of history at the University of Southern California. Starr's lecture, entitled "The Great Earthquake and Fire of April 1906—Lessons Learned," will take place at Stanford's Kresge Auditorium on Thursday, Sept. 29, at 7:30 p.m., and will be repeated at UC-Berkeley's Dwinelle Hall, Room 155, on Thursday, Oct. 20, at 7:30 p.m.

Six other lectures will be held between October 2005 and March 2006. All of the presentations will begin at 7:30 p.m.:

Historical and Social Perspectives of the 1906 Earthquake
  • Malcolm E. Barker (author, Three Fearful Days: San Francisco Memoirs of the 1906 Earthquake & Fire): "Through the Eyes of the Survivors," Oct. 25 (Stanford, Kresge Auditorium) and Oct. 26 (UC-Berkeley, Sibley Auditorium).
  • Stephen Tobriner (professor of architecture, UC-Berkeley, and author of the forthcoming book, Saving San Francisco): Nov. 15 (Stanford, Kresge Auditorium), Nov. 16 (UC-Berkeley, Dwinelle 155)
    • Earth Science, Earthquake Engineering, Preparedness and Disaster Response
  • Chris D. Poland (president, Degenkolb Engineers): "A Story of Three Buildings: Memorial Church, Art Museum and Mitchell Building," a special lecture focusing on the unique structural repairs and retrofits on the Stanford campus, Jan. 17, 2006 (Stanford, Kresge Auditorium).
  • Mary Lou Zoback (senior research scientist, U.S. Geological Survey): "The 1906 Earthquake: Lessons Learned, Lessons Forgotten and Future Directions," Jan. 31, 2006 (Stanford, Kresge Auditorium), Feb. 1, 2006 (UC-Berkeley, Sibley Auditorium).
  • Eric Elsesser (founding principal, Forell/Elsesser Engineers, Inc.): Feb. 15, 2006 (UC-Berkeley, Sibley Auditorium), Feb. 16, 2006 (Stanford, Kresge Auditorium).
  • Kathleen Tierney (professor of sociology, University of Colorado, and co-author, Facing the Unexpected: Disaster: Preparedness and Response in the United States): Feb. 28, 2006 (Stanford, Kresge Auditorium), March 1, 2006 (UC-Berkeley, Sibley Auditorium).

    • Stanford sponsors of the lecture series are the John A. Blume Earthquake Engineering Center, the School of Earth Sciences and the President's Fund. For directions and more information about the lectures, call Racquel Hagen at the Blume Earthquake Engineering Center at (650) 723-4150 or e-mail her at racquelh@stanford.edu. Additional information is also available online at http://quake06.stanford.edu.

    Other Stanford centennial events planned for next spring include a walking tour of the campus and an exhibition of historical photographs taken in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake.

    Tours of the UC-Berkeley campus and the nearby Hayward Fault also are planned, in addition to an art exhibit at the UC-Berkeley Art Museum and an historical exhibit in the main library. For more information about UC-Berkeley events, call Peggy Hellweg of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory at (510) 643-9449 or e-mail her at peggy@seismo.berkeley.edu.

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    Comment:

    Peggy Hellweg, Berkeley Seismological Laboratory: (510) 643-9449, peggy@seismo.berkeley.edu

    Editor Note:

    Historical photos of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake can be downloaded at http://newsphotos.stanford.edu.

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