RIVERSIDE — David Oglesby, an associate professor of geophysics at UC Riverside, will give a free public lecture on campus this week to discuss the basic facts about earthquakes, how people can prepare for them, and what the best course of action is during an earthquake.

Oglesby’s lecture, "Earthquakes and Earthquake Safety, or Five Things You Need to Know about Earthquakes," is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 8 in Humanities 1501. Oglesby also will demonstrate earthquake concepts during his hour-long lecture.

"Earthquakes are common, inevitable, unpredictable and dangerous," he said. "But we can prepare for them and make ourselves safer. A large earthquake is expected to hit Southern California in the future. Southern Californians need to know what to do before it happens, what to do when the ground starts shaking and what to do afterwards."

The Oct. 8 lecture kicks off UC Riverside's participation in The Great California ShakeOut, an earthquake drill involving the participation of millions of Californians and an opportunity for them to prepare for the Big One. The Great California ShakeOut will take place at 10:15 a.m. Oct. 15.

Oglesby obtained his Ph.D. in geological sciences at UC Santa Barbara in 1999. After a postdoctoral position at San Diego State University, he joined UC Riverside's Department of Earth Sciences in 2000.

His research focuses on the physics of earthquakes and the generation of strong ground motion. His specialty is computer models of earthquakes. He has authored numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals on the physics of earthquakes and ground motion and has served as the co-group leader for Earthquake Source Physics in the Southern California Earthquake Center. He is a member of the editorial board for the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.

Oglesby teaches general-education classes on earthquakes and other natural disasters at UC Riverside.

"One of my interests is bridging the gap between earthquake science and the public," he said.

The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UC Riverside's enrollment of about 18,000 is expected to grow to 21,000 students by 2020. The campus is planning a medical school and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.