Natural Disasters-What We Know vs. What We Do: Kerry Sieh

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Recent devastations by south and southwest Asian earthquakes, by the Indian Ocean tsunami and by hurricane Katrina are dramatic proof that many communities are both woefully ignorant of and inadequately prepared for natural hazards. Lamentably, these events presage the norm for the 21st century, during which losses in individual events approaching a trillion dollars and a million persons are nearly certain. Western Sumatra, Iran and New Orleans provide important illustrations of the disparity between what earth scientists know about natural hazards and what has been done to mitigate their effects.

Kerry Sieh is the Robert P. Sharp Professor of Geology at Caltech.

Kerry Sieh

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