Karen and John Huff School Chair and Professor Reginald DesRoches appears in the "Deadly Earthquakes" episode of National Geographic's Forecast: Disaster due to air on Friday, October 5, 2012 at 9:00 pm ET.
The premise of the National Geographic series is to reconstruct the Earth’s most devastating natural forces. Each episode examines the science behind the planet’s most destructive weather forces using experts, advanced engineering technology and science, as well as firsthand accounts of what it feels like to be caught in the midst of nature’s fury. The episode is hosted by adventurer and NBC News special correspondent Ben Fogle. DesRoches is a structural engineer and worked behind the scenes with the producers to assist them in conveying as "technically accurate" as possible information. DesRoches also provides informed narrative onsceen.
Dr. DesRoches is a native Haitian and has travelled to the country more than a dozen times since the devastating earthquake of 2010. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti at a depth of 8.1 miles. The epicenter was located 15 miles WSW of Port-Au-Prince. He continues to provide technical expertise to the Haitian community as they look for ways to rebuild and retrofit structures with the goal of mitigating damage and loss of life in future seismic events.
More information about Dr. DesRoches and National Geographic's Forecast Disaster: Earthquake! can be found at http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/forecast-disaster/galleries/deadly-quakes/#falling-down-57569
Pictured below:
DesRoches examining damage to the Port-Au-Prince courthouse from the January 12, 2010 Earthquake
