Haiti Earthquake was my Fault

Although the specific risks of the fault zone near Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, may not have been known until recent years, the region has a long history of major earthquakes, including the earthquakes that destroyed Jamaica's capital, Kingston, in 1692 and 1907, that also occurred along the Enriquillo fault, which extends hundreds of miles through the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica. These are the earthquakes I am studying, and a magnitude 7 or 8 quake would be nearly as damaging in Jamaica as in Port au Prince. This earthquake was perhaps timely for my continued funding, since we're waiting to hear from NSF if they'll continue to fund our work. It doesn't hurt to have sudden political interest in our work.

In more cheerful news, I just returned to Austin after a four day stint in Richmond. It was a last-minute trip to get some more sediment analysis done before classes started here. I got a lot of work done, ate Shannon's awesome cooking, and met Meg's 3-month-old son, Henry, who is a very happy baby. I got caught up on all the committee gossip, including the latest ridiculous things Amy M has said.

My classes start today, and I'm looking forward to them. I need a little more structure in my days than I had the past month, it is too easy to just keep pressing the snooze button if I don't have to get to an early class. I'll be studying basic programming languages used for geologic modeling as well as Marine Tectonics, a class co-taught by a slew of geophysicists who don't really get the concept of lesson plans. Fun.

My goals for this new semester are to actually start using the yoga mat I bought myself for christmas, and to show up at work on a regular basis, especially on Wednesdays, when there is free food. And have more dinner parties.