Dowbrigade

The
tsunami that devastated south Asia coastlines and killed more than 200,000
people last December is a powerful reminder of just how dangerous those
waves can be to humans.

Such reminders have been delivered periodically, sometimes several decades apart,
during the last half-century. But the lessons have been largely ignored or forgotten
by most people who didn’t suffer direct consequences, said Jody Bourgeois, a
University of Washington Earth and space sciences professor who studies historic
and pre-historic tsunamis.

Bourgeois this week will urge fellow scientists to find ways to use the current
heightened awareness of tsunamis as a means for broad public education about
tsunami dangers and prudent safeguards. Such education should be conducted matter-of-factly,
without playing on the fears engendered by December’s events, she said.

from a University of Washington press release