Graham Kent, the director of the University of Nevada, Reno’s Nevada Seismological Laboratory, will give a talk about Tahoe Basin geological hazards on Feb. 23 at Incline Village.

Kent, who is also a professor in the Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering in the University’s College of Science, will speak from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Assembly Rooms 139 and 141 at the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, 291 Country Club Drive on the campus of Sierra Nevada College.

Researchers in recent years have made several key discoveries regarding the possibilities of major earthquakes and even tsunamis at Lake Tahoe.

Kent’s presentation will give a decadal review of geophysical and geological work at the basin. Three major fault zones have been mapped in detail, including West Tahoe-Dollar Point, Stateline-North Tahoe and Incline Village Faults, each capable of large ruptures that could lead to earthquakes of great magnitude, which could potentially create a tsunami/seiche wave of up to 10 meters high. Kent’s presentation will investigate basin hazard potential using sonar and laser techniques, paleoseismic trenching, coring and other interesting techniques.

Kent has served as director of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory and professor in the Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno since July 2009. Previous to his appointment, Kent was a Research Geophysicist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and had been Director of the Visualization Center at Scripps from 2001-2009. He is a native of Lake Tahoe and graduated from South Lake Tahoe High School in 1980.

A $5 donation will be requested at the door.

For more information, call: (775) 881-7560.