Earthquake physics on multiple scales

Professor Townend explains how recent observations of earthquakes hugely expanded geoscientific knowledge and improved society’s resilience to future perils.

Inaugural lecture—Professor John Townend

July 2017

In a country as geologically young and complex as Aotearoa, earthquakes provide a regular and sometimes devastating reminder that the Earth is in motion.

To understand the processes governing earthquake formation, propagation, radiation and recurrence, scientists make observations at many different scales—spatial scales of kilometres to millimetres, temporal scales of centuries to milliseconds and magnitudes of eight-plus to zero and below.

Professor John Townend explains how recent observations of large and small earthquakes
have hugely expanded geoscientific knowledge and improved society’s resilience to future perils.

This is Professor Townend’s inaugural lecture as Professor of Geophysics at Victoria University of Wellington.

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