A leading expert in natural disaster from Oxford University is visiting Portsmouth to speak about the risk of the UK being hit by tsunami.
Professor David Smith will be talking at the University of Portsmouth on February 20.
Professor Smith’s work involves remodelling seascapes from the past in order to understand why tsunamis happen and what we can learn from them.
Professor David Smith
The UK has been hit by two major tsunamis in the distant past.
In the 18th century an earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal caused the south coast of England to be hit by a large wave, centring on Cornwall where the waves were up to three metres high.
The other large tsunami to affect the UK occurred approximately 8,000 years ago, in 6,100 BC, when a giant underwater landslide off the coast of Norway meant the Scottish coast was hit by a series of waves. This tsunami is generally considered to have been the cause of the UK’s detachment from Denmark and The Netherlands.
Professor Smith will look at the causes of these tsunamis, and the likelihood of such events reoccurring in our lifetimes.
The event is organised in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society.
Date: Wednesday 20 February 2013
Time:6.00-7.00pm, followed by a drinks reception
Venue: Portland Building, Portland Street, Portsmouth PO1 3AH
Tickets are free, but by ticket only from eventbrite
Aidan Karley
February 11, 2013
Good to see attention being said to this, as a good example of small (but NOT zero) hazard risks.
(Disclaimer – I raised this topic a few months ago in a BBC Money Box programme, to the evident confusion of the Insurance Industry’s “talking head”. An effect, I hope.)