Rafael Benites

Rafael is a geophysicist who specializes in numerical modeling of seismic wave propagation and earthquake fault ruptures. One of his main projects is to combine numerical techniques and observed earthquake data to predict strong ground motion in the Wellington metropolitan region in the event of a large earthquake on the Wellington Fault. Rafael's work on different subjects of wave propagation has led to numerous collaborations with international colleagues. In 1998 he won a Japanese Fellowship for the Promotion of Science, and in 2003 he worked as a consultant in the Bullard Laboratory, University of Cambridge, England. In 2005 he was an invited speaker at the Department of Geophysics of Beijing University, China, and in 2008 at the Earthquake Research Institute, Tokyo University, Japan.