On Saturday, the geology lecture series at Southwestern Oregon Community College will continue with a free lecture on “The Orphan Tsunami of 1700: A Trans-Pacific Detective Story” by Dr. Brian Atwater of the United States Geological Survey, at 7 p.m.

Atwater will speak at the Hales Center for the Performing Arts at Southwestern, 1988 Newmark Ave., in Coos Bay.

The focus of the talk will be the last great Cascadia subduction zone earthquake that took place on the evening of Jan. 26, 1700. Atwater will provide a history of the evidence that was used to convince scientists and coastal communities that the Cascadia subduction zone has produced massive tsunami-generating earthquakes in the past and has potential to produce such events in the future.

The Southwestern Geology Club, which sponsors the event along with Southwestern and Methane Energy Corporation, will have copies of Atwater's book, “The Orphan Tsunami of 1700: Japanese Clues to a Parent Earthquake in North America,” available for purchase and autographing following the lecture.

For more information, those interested can contact Ron Metzger, Southwestern's professor of geology, at 888-7216.