Part I. Earthquakes, Deep Time and the Population Explosion: 1. Plate tectonics and why we have earthquakes; 2. An earthquake primer; 3. Deep time; 4. When's the next big one?; 5. Population explosion and increased earthquake risk to megacities; Part II. Earthquake Time Bombs: 6. San Francisco Bay Area; 7. Los Angeles metro area; 8. Seattle, Portland and Vancouver; 9. Wellington, New Zealand; 10. Santiago, Chile; 11. Prologue in Central China; 12. Age of Enlightenment and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake; 13. Jerusalem; 14. Istanbul; 15. Tehran; 16. Kabul; 17. Earthquakes in the Himalaya; 18. Myanmar and the Sagaing Fault; 19. Metro Manila, the Philippines; 20. Lima, Peru; 21. Andean earthquakes in Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador; 22. Caracas; 23. Haiti (which lost its gamble), and Jamaica and Cuba (not yet); 24. Mexico City; 25. Central America and the earthquake that brought down a dictator; 26. East African Rift Valley; Part III. Summary and Recommendations: 27. Where do we go from here?; References; Index.
This book assesses the cities and communities at critical risk of devastating earthquakes, and asks what we can do to protect them.
Robert Yeats is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Geological Society of America. He is senior consultant and partner in Earth Consultants International, an international firm focusing on earthquake hazards, and also an Emeritus Professor at Oregon State University, where an endowed professorship has been named in his honour. He has decades of experience in earthquake geology worldwide, including acting as chair of an active fault working group of the International Lithosphere Program for several years and writing four previous books: Geology of Earthquakes (with Kerry Sieh and Clarence R. Allen), Living with Earthquakes in California, Living with Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest, and Active Faults of the World.
'This book highlights the appalling reality of the threat to the
world's growing population that is exposed to earthquakes,
especially those concentrated in vulnerable megacities. The recent
calamities of the earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal are simply
foretastes of what is to come, unless decisive action is taken. It
is written by someone perhaps uniquely qualified to do so: an
earthquake scientist whose long and personal engagement with many
of the cities he writes about is accompanied by an extremely well
informed, up-to-date and widely respected grasp of his subject. It
is written in an easy semi-populist, non-technical style that will
make it accessible to non-specialists, but with the completely
convincing authority and balance that accompanies an author who is
utterly confident and secure in his knowledge. It is an impressive
achievement to distil decades of global scientific effort into a
compelling narrative and call to action.' James Jackson, University
of Cambridge
'An excellent and very timely book! Professor Yeats places the
disaster potential of urban earthquakes within a varied context of
history, local culture, public planning and politics, in a
comparative manner. He presents a massive amount of information in
a clear, concise, and readable style, which will be of interest to
anyone working on mitigating the urban earthquake risk on a global
scale. The book is also a must-read for policymakers, city
administrators, risk managers, emergency planners, scientists and
students.' Mustafa Erdik, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul
'In Earthquake Time Bombs, Yeats provides the proverbial wake-up
call for earthquake-prone major cities around the world. History,
politics, economics, and seismology are interwoven in order to
demonstrate the unique challenges each city faces, as well as the
lessons to be shared with the others. This book should be required
reading for both public and private sector leaders in these cities,
heads of international development agencies and multinational
corporations, students and practitioners of earthquake science and
engineering, and others who may implement existing solutions or
develop innovative approaches for diffusing at least some of these
bombs before it's too late.' Mark Benthien, Director of
Communication, Education and Outreach, Southern California
Earthquake Center, and Global Coordinator, Great ShakeOut
Earthquake Drills
'… [the] style of writing is very engaging and the reader feels
privileged to accompany Yeats in these important reconnaissance
trips and to share his thoughts and observations … fascinating and
well worth reading …' Risa Palm, The AAG Review of Books
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