(No one can say God didn't provide a warning through one of His servants. Through His anointed servants, He is also warning people today about things to come.)
___________________________Christian Professor from California Institute of Technology
gave repeated warnings 7 months ago.by Jonathan Leake
A LEADING geologist repeatedly warned Indonesian officials that an earthquake and tsunami would soon strike their shores, it emerged this weekend.
Kerry Sieh, professor of geology at California Institute of Technology, has been studying the region for nearly a decade.
Last July he became so concerned at the likely massive loss of life that he printed and distributed 5,000 posters and brochures around some of the islands later hit by the earthquake.
He addressed church congregations and schools to tell people what to do in an earthquake. His main advice was for people to live away from shorelines.
Sieh had been due to meet Indonesian officials last month to discuss a wider education programme but the meeting was cancelled at the last minute by city officials because they said they had no money.
Two weeks ago he expressed his fear that a big earthquake and tsunami were overdue in the region at a conference in San Francisco.
Sieh said this weekend: “No one can predict exactly when an earthquake will happen but it was clear that this area was at relatively high risk and such an event would definitely happen one day.
“We told them it would kill people, wreck infrastructure and destroy livelihoods. But our warnings were falling on deaf ears.
“My team and I decided to bypass the national and local government and start warning people directly. I hope our efforts saved some lives.”
Ten years ago Sieh installed monitors on islands off Sumatra. His research focused on the Mentawai Islands, a chain 100 miles south of the epicentre of the Boxing Day quake. Communication has not been re-established with the islands since the tsunami.
At his speech to the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, he pointed out that, historically, such events have occurred in clusters.
Sieh believes this means another quake could be on the way: “There is some evidence that the stresses on the tectonic plates south of the epicentre may now have increased and raised the chances of another major earthquake.”
Dr. Sieh, a Professor of Geology at the California Institute of Technology and a senior partner in Earth Consultants International, is an internationally recognized expert on active faults and earthquake hazards. His documentation of ancient earthquakes and slip rates along the San Andreas, San Jacinto and other California faults set the standard for quantitative estimates of the probability of future destructive earthquakes in California. He has completed three similar studies in Turkey along the North Anatolian Fault for the purpose of evaluating and advising on the future seismic risk to client industrial facilities. He has served on numerous scientific peer-review committees and advisory panels for State and Federal governments and has served as a consultant to various public utilities, municipalities and geotechnical firms.
Kerry Sieh, Ph.D.
Senior Consultant
Dr. Sieh’s principal research involves the study of earthquakes by geological methods. His
documentation of ancient earthquakes and slip rates along the San Andreas, San Jacinto and other
California faults set the standard for quantitative estimates of the probability of future destructive
earthquakes in California. Currently Dr. Sieh’s work is in Taiwan, Turkey and the Caucasus,
Indonesia and California. He has served on numerous scientific peer-review committees and
advisory panels for State and Federal governments and has served as a consultant to various public
utilities, municipalities and geotechnical firms. He formed and led the earthquake geology working
group of the Southern California Earthquake Center and is Professor of Geology in the
Seismological Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology.
EDUCATION
Ph.D.
(Geology), Stanford University
1977
"Late Holocene Displacement History along the South-Central Reach of the San
Andreas Fault"
A.B.
(Geology), University of California, Riverside, with highest honors
1972
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION
Registered Geologist: California, RG 5057 (1994)
PROFESSIONAL HISTORY
1986 – Present
Professor of Geology
1982-1986
Associate Professor of Geology
1977-1982
Assistant Professor of Geology
AWARDS AND HONORS
National Academy of Science, member 1999
Geological Society of America, fellow, 1996
American Geophysical Union, fellow, 2001
E. B. Burwell, Jr., Memorial Award of the Engineering Geology Division, Geological Society of
America, 1980. In recognition of published paper
National Academy of Sciences Award for Initiatives in Research, 1982
Honoree, 1986 Esquire Register: Esquire, December 1986, p. 208
Honoree, 1988 Los Angeles Times, "88 in 88": Los Angeles Times Magazine, IV, January 10,
1988, p. 23
Commendation, for public service, City of West Hollywood, 1997.
Outreach Award, for Knowledge Transfer, Southern California Earthquake Center, 1998