CONTACT:  Patricia Viets, NOAA            FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                          June 8, 1998

James Lander, former deputy director of the National Geophysical Data Center in Boulder, Colo., was recently honored by The Tsunami Society for his contributions to the awareness of the hazards of tsunamis -- great sea waves caused by underwater earthquakes, landslides, or volcanoes. Lander received the society's Award for Long Term Contributions to Tsunami Science at a scientific conference in Greece.

Lander has made significant contributions to awareness of the tsunami hazard through his efforts to educate the international community on the nature of tsunamis and teletsunamis, and to awareness of the need for preparation and mitigation of the hazard. He has led international cooperation efforts by bringing together members of countries around the world to workshops to study the hazard and make recommendations.

Among his contributions are a number of catalogs of tsunamis (U.S. West Coast, Hawaii, Alaska, and others) published by the National Geophysical Data Center. These catalogs contribute to the body of knowledge about this potentially devastating hazard. He is currently compiling a catalog of tsunamis worldwide since 1983, which includes more than 130 events. He is also helping the Caribbean area to develop a warning system. He has information on more than 80 tsunamis that took place in the Caribbean over the past 150 years.

In 1985 Lander retired from the National Geophysical Data Center, an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He is a Research Scientist Emeritus with the University of Colorado and is working with the geophysical center as a guest worker.