The three largest earthquakes ever to strike the continental United States occurred in December 1811 and January 1812 near New Madrid, Mo.; the third quake is estimated to have reached magnitude 8.3. (The 1906 San Francisco quake, by comparison, was a magnitude 7.6.) Journalist Page and Dartmouth geologist Officer (who also coauthored Tales of the Earth
) use the 1811–1812 events to provide a brief history of the science of seismology and a basic primer on the current state of geological knowledge. Although the writing is uneven, the authors do a credible job of describing the horrors of a cataclysm that occurred almost two centuries ago. They conclude that earthquakes of the New Madrid sort, which occur in the middle of a continental plate rather than at the confluence of two plates, such as those along the San Andreas Fault, are much less well understood and thus more difficult to predict. Moving further afield, they describe failed attempts to predict earthquakes, focusing in large part on the gullibility of the press to "false prophets" of doom. Given that a repeat of the events of 1811–1812 would likely kill thousands and wreak havoc in such cities as St. Louis, Cincinnati and Memphis, this light volume is worth perusing. Agent, Joe Regal.
(June 17)
