Newswise — University of Arkansas earthquake expert Brady Cox is available to answer questions about the effects of Saturday’s magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile, which has displaced 2 million people and destroyed or damaged hundreds of structures.

Cox, an assistant professor of civil engineering, specializes in geotechnical engineering issues related to earthquake loading, soil dynamics and nondestructive material characterization using stress waves.

As a member of Geo-Engineering Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER), a national organization that partners with the National Science Foundation to conduct reconnaissance efforts of extreme events, Cox recently traveled to Haiti to document construction failures and collect additional data on the devastating effects of the earthquake that occurred in that country on Jan. 12.

He also participated in GEER deployments immediately following the 2008 earthquake in Iwate-Miyagi, Japan, and the 2007 earthquake in Pisco, Peru.

Cox’s research has focused on the development of a new test method for directly measuring the dynamic-pressure response and behavior of liquefiable soil deposits. He currently operates a Vibroseis shaker truck as part of his earthquake and dynamic material characterization research. He is a member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Arkansas Governor’s Earthquake Advisory Council.

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