Earthquakes, From Above and Below: Live Chat

Earthquakes: they’re among the most frightening and deadly of all natural disasters. A live videocast and chat from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., will give viewers an opportunity to ask questions of NASA scientists who are using space-based technologies to advance our understanding of these mysterious phenomena.

The live event will air on the “NASAJPL” channel available on Ustream TV at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasajpl on Monday, July 6, beginning at 5 p.m. PDT (8 p.m. EDT and 2400 UTC).

Scientists use a broad array of tools to study earthquakes and their processes from the ground, air and space. Space-based technologies like those being developed at JPL can image minute Earth movements to within fractions of an inch, measuring the ground deforming along faults before and after earthquakes. Among these tools are the Global Positioning System, interferometric synthetic aperture radar, and the latest technology JPL is now using to map major California earthquake faults: the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar, or UAVSAR. JPL scientists are also applying complex computer models to simulate earthquake processes.

Participants include:

– Andrea Donnellan, JPL geophysicist and program area lead for natural disasters in NASA Headquarters’ Science Mission Directorate, Washington

– Maggi Glasscoe, JPL geophysicist

Viewers may submit questions over Ustream or via Twitter. Twitter users may send their questions to @NASAJPL using the hashtag #quakechat .

In addition, if you are unable to take part in the live chat, you may submit questions in advance to chatquestion@jpl.nasa.gov and watch the archived video at a later time.

More information about JPL’s earthquake research is available at: http://uavsar.jpl.nasa.gov and http://quakesim.jpl.nasa.gov .

JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.