The Great Quake: How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet

from ralphz

Hard to believe, but even 50 years ago, scientists were at odds over the mechanism of earthquakes. Some thought it was a settled debate, that the earth was cooling and cracking. Others said earthquakes were the result of a moving crust. The debate was settled by the largest quake in North America...

from irregularreader

On March 27th, 1964, at 5:36pm, the most powerful earthquake in the United States (measuring a 9.2 on the Richter Scale) struck Southeastern Alaska. The quake leveled large swathes of Valdez and Anchorage, tidal waves inundated native villages (and in fact killed people as far away as California)...

from lamour

On March 27, 1964, one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded hit Alaska killing 131 people. The majority of those killed were swept out to sea by the resulting tsunamis. Fountain begins by giving us a brief history of the development of Alaska and a history of the geology of the area. He als...

from nancyadair

When I was growing up in the early 1960s my grandfather was corresponding with Maurice Ewing and William Donn of the Lamont Geological Observatory. Gramps had been interested in their work since 1958 when he read a Harper's Magazine article by Betty Friedan called The Coming Ice Age about their r...

from Hope.Sloper

I've read quite a few non-fiction books in my years of reading. Last several years most of them were science related. This is the first non-fiction book I've read that is written in a narrative point of view. As it turns out, I freaking love the narrative tone. Most of the time I felt like I was ...