Roger Musson

I think a better title for this book would be its subtitle, “The Science of Predicting Earth’s Deadliest Natural Disaster” because the bulk of this work is just that – the science of earthquakes. Written by British Geological Survey seismologist Roger Musson, the book describes the different types of earthquakes and how they happen, how they’re detected and rated by intensity, and how the effects can cause damage to both natural and man-made structures and environments. I found it to be an interesting, concise, and well-illustrated scientific and historical work and record.… (plus d'informations)

This is a nice history and overview of earthquakes, how they are caused, how people have perceived them over the centuries, how people study them and quantify them, and probably most importantly, how to minimize damage and loss of life resulting from them.

The author is good at describing his field in a way that non-seismologists can understand, using simple examples such as bending a plastic ruler with your hands to get a concept about how earthquakes work. His writing style is simple and easy to read.

I am a member of a neighborhood emergency team. It's a program that my city funds and conducts training for, teaching you how to do things like turn off gas and water mains, check buildings for survivors, deal with medical emergencies, etc. The main reason my city (Portland, Oregon) is doing this is apparently because we (or, probably more accurately, our coastline, which is less than 100 miles west of us) are at risk of the most damaging kind of earthquake, a subduction zone earthquake where one tectonic plate moves under or on top of another one. We had some basic training on earthquakes which was mostly geared towards individual actions you can take to be prepared for such an event (earthquake proofing your house, keeping flashlights handy, having a food stash and water stash in the event of supply being cut, etc). This was one of the reasons I asked for this book - I wanted to better understand earthquakes. I feel like it served that purpose very well.

The reason I am not giving this book more than 3 1/2 stars is that I found the writing to be a bit repetitive at times (how many times does the author have to say "predictions are hard especially about the future"?) and the middle chapters were sort of hard for me to get through, which is why it took me so many moons to review it. But, I am very glad I read it, and I plan to pass it on to others on my team who will be interested in the topic.… (plus d'informations)