** Kathleen Tierney, director of the CU-Boulder Natural Hazards Center and a nationally recognized expert on disasters, is available to talk with the media about the Haitian earthquake. The center is the nation's leading repository of knowledge on human behavior in disasters. Tierney, a professor of sociology at CU-Boulder, was the senior author of "Facing the Unexpected: Disaster Preparedness and Response in the United States," a volume analyzing the current state of theory and research on societal readiness for, and response to, extreme events.
Tierney can be reached by calling 303-492-6315 or by e-mailing tierneyk@colorado.edu.
** Dennis Mileti, a research associate and former director of the CU-Boulder Natural Hazards Center, has studied earthquake-related issues for decades and can talk about the Haitian earthquake. He said three factors contributed to the severity of the Haitian event: the shallow location of the earthquake resulting in high shaking intensity, the low-quality construction of structures in the area and the lack of earthquake preparedness and increased vulnerability resulting from Haiti being a poor country.
Mileti, a professor emeritus of sociology, is a member of the advisory council of the Southern California Earthquake Center and a former California seismic safety commissioner. He led a massive national effort funded by the National Science Foundation and several other agencies to evaluate everything that is known about natural hazards and to develop ways of reducing their social and economic costs.
Mileti can be reached on his cell phone at 303-520-3400.
** Roger Bilham, professor of geological sciences, has studied the impact of major earthquakes on populous regions around the world for decades. He said the Haitian earthquake occurred along what is known as a "strike-slip zone" similar to the San Andreas Fault in California, where one side of a vertical fault moves past another one.
"Porte-au-Prince is probably one of the worst constructed cities in the world, and even the presidential palace collapsed," said Bilham. "This is an earthquake many of us were expecting to occur sooner or later."
More information on Bilham's earthquake research is available at /. Bilham can be reached at 303-492-6189 or 303-408-9125 or by e-mailing him at roger.bilham@colorado.edu.
More information on the CU-Boulder Natural Hazards Center is posted on the center's Web site at . The center is part of CU-Boulder's Institute of Behavioral Science.
Media also can contact Jim Scott in the CU-Boulder Office of Media Relations and News Services at 303-492-3114 or jim.scott@colorado.edu or Peter Caughey at 303-492-4007 or caughey@colorado.edu.