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CORVALLIS - Ross Stein, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, will present the 2004 Condon Lecture at Oregon State University on the mechanisms that trigger earthquakes.

The lecture will be at LaSells Stewart Center on the OSU campus on Wednesday, Oct. 6, beginning at 8 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

The presentation is titled "Earthquake Conversations," referring both to an accessible discussion of earthquake mechanisms and to the fact that earthquakes seem to "speak" with each other across time and space.

Stein has been a leader in research on the earthquake danger of "blind" faults that curve over horizontally in their upper reaches, so as to never reach the surface. He has advised international reinsurance companies on the earthquake risks facing Istanbul and Tokyo, and been honored by awards from the USGS, American Geophysical Union, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Stanford University.

Stein's presentation at OSU will include animations of earthquakes in action. He also will demonstrate earthquake triggering using a tabletop model.

The Condon Lecture Series at OSU was established to honor Thomas Condon, a pioneer in Oregon geology. Its purpose is to help interpret the results of significant scientific research for non-specialists.