The University of California, Davis, has experts available to discuss earthquake-related topics. The following researchers can provide assistance in the subject areas listed.

• Earthquakes in Latin America
• Why earthquakes happen
• Earthquake forecasting
• When the ground shifts
• Simulating an earthquake
• Bridges and earthquake safety
• The California connection
• History of earthquakes in Latin America
• Organizations and disaster response

Earthquakes in Latin America

History professor Charles Walker, who is director of the Hemispheric Institute on the Americas at UC Davis, can speak to South America’s experience with devastating earthquakes. In 2008, Walker published the book “Shaky Colonialism: The 1746 Earthquake-Tsunami in Lima, Peru, and Its Long Aftermath,” which examines the social and political repercussions of a massive earthquake that destroyed Peru’s capital city. In August, while doing research for a book about 20th Century earthquakes in South America, Walker visited Chile and was impressed by the high caliber of that country’s building codes and emergency plans. He is available to do interviews in Spanish or English. Contact: Chuck Walker, History, (530) 752-3046, jbrundle@ucdavis.edu.

When the ground shifts

Ross Boulanger is a professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of the Center for Geotechnical Modeling at UC Davis. He studies liquefaction and other ground responses to earthquakes. He combines field observations and measurements with laboratory work to create predictive conceptual and physical models of liquefaction risk. In March 2011, he visited Japan to inspect earthquake damage as part of a team from the Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance association. He has also visited earthquake sites around the world including Loma Prieta (1989), Northridge (1994), Kobe (1995), Turkey and Taiwan (1999). Contact: Ross Boulanger, Civil and Environmental Engineering, (530) 752-2947, rwboulanger@ucdavis.edu.

Simulating an earthquake in the laboratory

UC Davis is home to one of the world's largest geotechnical centrifuges, at the Geotechnical Modeling Facility. It consists of a testing table, capable of carrying loads of 5 tons, mounted on the end of a 30-foot-long arm. The assembly spins around at speeds up to 70 revolutions per minute, generating forces up to 50 times the force of gravity. When the desired speed is reached, the table is shaken to simulate intense earthquake shaking. Researchers from around the world use the facility to study geotechnical problems such as the strength, stiffness and capacity of foundations for bridges and buildings; settlement of embankments; stability of slopes; earth retaining structures; tunnel stability; ports and seawalls. Contact: Dan Wilson, Civil and Environmental Engineering at (530) 754-9761 office or (530) 574-0781 cell, mcclain@geology.ucdavis.edu

Why organizations won't plan for disasters

Organizational sociologist Tom Beamish studies how organizations and institutions deal with disasters. Beamish, an associate professor of sociology, can talk about how organizations -- governmental, commercial and social -- respond to human-induced disasters. He says many disasters reflect long-term problems actively ignored or simply not seen by the organizations charged with protecting the public. "These organizations are generally reactive," he says. "Being proactive requires making difficult choices over funding and priorities, choosing among the risks, and overcoming a basic inertia in organizational routines." Beamish wrote "Silent Spill: The Organization of an Industrial Crisis" (2002). Contact: Tom Beamish, Sociology, (530) 754-6897,