Product Description

This is a concise overview of the history of earthquakes and seismology, including topics such as geologic faults, intensity patterns, plate tectonics, side effects of earthquakes (such as tsunamis), and protection of people and property. The book contains descriptions of the 1995 Sakhalin and 1997 Assisi earthquakes, and others such as Northridge, California (1994), Kobe, Japan (1995), Chi Chi, Taiwan (1999) and Denali, Alaska (2003). The sequence of chapters has been re-organized for the fifth edition to better facilitate learning the broad concepts before the detail. New exercises and web references have also been added to give students the opportunity to think and use data the way field seismologists do.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #522370 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

Scientific concepts explained clearly.
This was a book in a long list of recommended preparatory reading for a second level Open University course.
The coverage is usefully broad, and scientific detail is not skimped. For instance, this book contains the best description I have found of the "beach ball" diagram for demonstrating earthquake moments. Other mathematical concepts are also well described.

If you only buy one earthquake book, this should be the one.
I spent a lot of time searching for a book explaining earthquakes that wasn't too simple or a text book. Bolt's book is more toward the textbook end of the scale, but is still quite readable. This is not a simple "what to do" book but an explanation of how quakes happen, how they cause damage, what we can do, etc.

The updated and expanded Fourth Edition just published
The new 4th edition has a new chapter on Plate Tectonics,recent earthquake descriptions,connections with Web pages,and colored illustrative plates.Fresh historical text has been included and more help with seismic safety.