Eyewitness to Disaster:
California Earthquakes

Books about Earthquakes


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The Earth in Turmoil : Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Their Impact on Humankind
by Kerry E. Sieh, Simon Levay

A million and a half people have died in the last century as a result of geological cataclysms--a small number compared to those who have died in storms, floods, or wars, to be sure, but still enough to give us a reasonable fear of the planet's unpredictable motions. In this handy primer, Sieh and Levay explore the scientific issues surrounding such matters as making buildings and roadways earthquake-tolerant, noting that the behavior of seismic energy cannot be reliably forecast "because the rupture is not a small focus of energy like a light bulb but an event that propagates across a large surface over an appreciable period of time." They also note that plenty of places besides California and Japan are due for quakes and volcanoes in the near future.




Assembling California
by John McPhee

At various times in the past 15 years, McPhee, accompanied by tectonicist Eldridge Moores, has made geological field trips across California. The result of their treks is a cross-section of the state in both human and geologic time, from the Sierra Nevadas to the Great Central Valley, from wine country to the fault lines.




Magnitude 8 : Earthquakes and Life Along the San Andreas Fault
by Philip L. Fradkin

The tectonic history of any one part of the earth, like the life of a soldier, consists of long periods of boredom and short periods of terror." With this quotation from geologist Derek Ager, Pulitzer Prize-winning environmental journalist Philip Fradkin, "a literary geologist with a notebook in one hand and a hammer in the other," begins his trip along the San Andreas Fault. His persistent question is how "a culture could ignore this powerful natural agent while simultaneously being shaped by it."




Active Faults of San Francisco & Hollister (CD-ROM)
by Burt Amundson

A fascinating insight into some of the most active geological areas in the United States, by renowned educator, Burt Amundson. Over 200 aerial views, ground photos and maps of the San Andreas, Hayward, Calaveras and Concord faults. Wonderful San Francisco building photography. Geology includes San Francisco, Daly City, Almaden Winery, Hollister, Hayward, Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, Richmond, Point Pinole and Concord. Learn about faults, slumps, creep, land and rock slides, subsidence, and liquefaction.




The Next New Madrid Earthquake : A Survival Guide for the Midwest
by William Atkinson

Just because you don't live in California doesn't mean that you are safe. A lively (and at places lurid) popular explication of the natural history of quakes, and projections of damage at various intensities.




California Fault; Searching for the Spirit of State Along the San Andreas
by Thurston Clarke

Acclaimed travel writer Thurston Clarke sets off on a journey down the San Andreas Fault, searching for the lost California Dream and for the places and the people who can enlighten him by answering the provocative question: What is it like living in a place that, no matter how beautiful, might suddenly, while you opened the cereal, combed your hair or bathed the baby, strike you dead? From the answers a unique profile of the Golden State emerges: fascinating, slightly loony, appealingly complex, and enduringly optimistic.




Aftershocks
by Richard S. Wheeler

In Aftershocks, Richard S. Wheeler plunges the reader into the midst of the earthquake in which thousands died, and tens of thousands were left homeless and destitute. Acts of heroism, self-sacrifice, depravity, and horror took place in equal numbers against a backdrop of such monumental destruction that many thought it Armageddon.




The Earth Shook, the Sky Burned : A Photographic Record of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire
by William Bronson

Relive the greatest natural disaster in Twentieth Century America with photos and text.



Earthquake Country
by Fred W. Fisher (Editor), Robert L. Lacopi, Robert L. Iacopi


Denial of Disaster : The Untold Story and Photographs of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire or 1906
by Gladys Hansen, Emmet Condon, David Fowler

With beautiful laser scanner duotones and 365 previously unpublished photographs, this is a fascinating study of the "great quake" in San Francisco in 1906--and of the likelihood of a similar quake today.


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