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This is a good introductory text on plate tectonics and the processes behind quakes. Bolt also investigates related items, such as volcanos, tsunami and continental drift. He explains the different kinds of faults and how that affects the kinds of quakes that are produced. He also explains the implications of all this for engineering and prediction. This book is well illustrated with plates and diagrams that work with the text to make things clear.
Review from Book News, Inc.
Looks at the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12 and their place in
American culture and history, exploring earthquake prediction and
stories of figures including Thomas Jefferson, Daniel Boone, Chief
Tecumseh, and Abraham Lincoln. Includes first-person accounts of the
Midwest earthquakes and aftershocks, plus information on modern methods
of seismology and how to protect self and family during an earthquake.
Includes b&w illustrations. For general readers. Annotation c. by
Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
Living
with Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest by Robert Yeats
This book focuses on the causes and probable effects of earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest. It is designed as a text for Professor Yeats' college class and can get fairly technical. It covers just about everything you would want to know about earthquakes in this area, from the science to insurance and how you can prepare.
The Pacific Northwest has not suffered many large earthquakes since the American settlement began 150 years ago. However, there is evidence of very large quakes occuring every few hundred years, caused by the subduction of the Juan de Fuca plate under the North American Plate. This is the same process that produced the massive Good Friday Anchorage quake of 1964. This book sounds the alarm, with one section discussing whether to expect one Magnitude 9 quake or a series of Magnitude 8 up and down the coast.
Professor Yeats also discusses shallower crustal quakes in the
eastern part of Washington and Oregon. The cover demonstrates his
contention that the Northwest is due for some major quakes with a
picture of damage from a recent quake in Klamath Falls, Oregon. There
are detailed descriptions of this and other Northwest quakes, including
a magnitude 7 in Seattle, along with a good helping of scientific
explanations of earthquakes.
Agents of Chaos : Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Other Natural Disasters by Stephen L. Harris
A nicely presented discussion of the causes, effects and likely places of future occurences of these events. Includes a bibliography. For the general reader.
Gladys Hansen has spent years working in the archives of the San Francisco library to uncover the whole story of what happened in San Francisco's 1906 Earthquake. She has collected eye witness accounts and official records that show many more casualties than had previously been reported. This book has beautiful photographs of the earthquake and fire as well as a detailed study of the quake and likelihood of a similar one today.
The
Earth Shook, The Sky Burned: A photographic Record of the 1906 San
Francisco Earthquake and Fire by William Bronson
Striking photos document the quake damage, fire fighting and people
affected by the disaster. This was the biggest earthquake to hit an
American city. First we see tilted houses and buckled streets from the
quake itself. The fire that followed actually caused more damage as it
raged out of control. Since the quake had broken many water mains
firefighters had little to work with. They had to dynamite houses to
create a firebreak. Thousands of people lost their homes and had to
camp out in Golden Gate Park and temporary housing. They say a picture
is worth a thousand words. These pictures convey in a way mere words
cannot the enormity of this disaster.
Selected Resources on Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics from the US Geological Survey
This is a good list of books, maps, charts, and software about the geological processes that contribute to earthquakes.
Annals
of the Former World by John McPhee
Composed of the four books by McPhee listed below along with a new essay, Crossing the Craton. This work is an entertaining introduction to the theory of plate tectonics and the forces that created the North American continent we know today. John McPhee is without a doubt the most entertaining non-fiction writer I know. He approaches any subject with enthusiasim and dedication to detail. He allows the experts to talk about their work and about themselves. When he discusses geology he gets the science right and introduces us to the scientists to boot. We not only learn the subject but find out why geologists love what they do.
This series concentrates on a line following Interstate 80 across the country. Along the way, we stop to look at roadcuts and landscape while we listen to McPhee's geologist buddies explain it all to us. It turns out that when the highway builders cut into the hillsides they give us a glimpse of what lies underground and that in turn can tell us fascinating stories of how the landscape was built long ago.
Of course, with John McPhee leading the way, we are just as liable to take a detour to Hawaii or the South China Sea if it will help him explain a point. His goal is not much short of the entire history of the earth as a planet. He will do anything to keep non-technical readers interested, including diversions into the family histories of his geologist informants.
I have loved reading anything John McPhee has written for years. It
was reading these books that really sparked my interest in geology and
the forces that cause earthquakes.
Basin
and Range by John McPhee
While Basin and Range starts in the East, its main focus is the
great basin between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada. Here, parallel
ranges of mountains with basins between represent an area where the
earth's crust is being stretched. In the course of explaining this we
are treated to an explanation of the major processes of geology, not
least of which is plate tectonics. We also get a glimpse of the way
scientists gathered evidence and came to accept plate tectonics as a
true explanation of the way things came to be.
In
Suspect Terrain (hardcover) by John McPhee
In
Suspect Terrain (paperback) by John McPhee
McPhee continues his study of North America with a grand overview of
the Appalaichan Mountains and the processes that created them. His
discussion of the pros and cons of plate tectonics as an explanation
for the world as we know it gives us some insight into how scientists
evaluate a new theory to see if it makes better sense of the world than
the old way of looking at things.
Rising
from the Plains (hardcover) by John McPhee
Rising
from the Plains (paperback) by John McPhee
By now, McPhee has made his way out to Wyoming to see how the Rocky Mountains were formed. He starts the book with excerts from the journal written by a woman in 1905, who turns out to be the mother of McPhee's geologist informant. The book jumps back and forth between the present the past and the geologic past in which 10 million years ago counts as recent.
This is the story of mountains rising, eroding and rising again.
Seas come and go. Huge basins between the mountains fill up until the
mountains themselves are completely covered. Rivers run on the new
ground level above the mountaintops. The whole surface of the land is
pushed upwards and worn away. Old mountains are uncovered once again
and the rivers cut canyons right through the ancient ranges. Reading
this is like seeing millions of years on fast forward rushing before
your eyes.
Assembling
California (hardcover) by John McPhee
Assembling
California (paperback) by John McPhee
This geological history of California explains how different
Terrains have crashed into Western America to become California. McPhee
starts at the spot where the San Andreas fault goes into the ocean near
San Francisco and goes on to talk about the origin of the Sierra Nevada
and how they came to have veins of gold, among other things. California
is an amalgamation of bits and pieces of land that have attached
themselves to the west coast of the continent. We find that plate
tectonics is more complicated than just a few plates jostling
eachother. Island Arcs travel halfway around the world, one after the
other, to crash into America and become part of California. Looking at
the Eastern Pacific today, we see similar processes operating as the
Phillipines, Japan and Korea are in various stages of adding themselves
to Asia.
A graphic presentation of the causes and results of earthquakes, including research methods scientists employ as they investigate the origin, nature and control of this force. For Children age 9-12.
Janice
Vancleave's Earthquakes: Mind-Boggling Experiments you can turn into
Science Fair Projects (Spectacular Science Projects) By Janice
Pratt Vancleave
Contains 20 simple experiments explaining earthquakes that kids can
do with materials found around the home, plus dozens of additional
ideas for turning the experiments into unique science fair projects.
Illustrated
