Quakeland: Preparing For America's Next Devastating Earthquake

(Hardback)

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Description

A journey around the US in search of the truth about the threat of earthquakes leads to spine-tingling discoveries, unnerving experts, and ultimately the kind of preparations that will actually help guide us through disasters. It's a road trip full of surprises.

Reviews

[Miles] peppers her book with quick bits of information about scientists and the work they do in eservice of understanding our planet and its earthquakes. Her book becomes, in part, a love letter to the tedium and wizardry that is scientific discovery.
The New York Times Book Review

That fear you feel It's intended...Quakelandseeks to rattle us free of the ignorance, uncertainty and short memory that have paralyzed plans for prevention and survival.
Time Magazine

Miless treatment of earthquake mechanics is clear and crisp... Does she succeed in shaking us out of our complacency I will confess that, although I dont live in a seismic hot zone, the day I finished reading Quakeland I found myself in a grocery store stocking up on bottled water.
Wall Street Journal

an earthquake-themed road trip that is popular science in theMary Roachmold: the writer as intrepid explorer of science and amiable, wisecracking proxy for the lay reader.
Oregonian

"fascinating and frightening...a startling reality check."
Christian Science Monitor

Thanks largely to Miless conversational, somehow cheery writing style, I was riveted throughout and heartily recommend this book to people living everywhere. For policymakers,Quakelandshould be required reading.
Sierra Magazine

[Quakeland] takes the form of a road trip to visit seismic disasters both past and potential, and seismologists and earthquake engineers who have first-hand knowledge of them. Their colourful personalities, opinions and prejudices tell a story of scientific discovery and engineering remedy...a engaging read.
Nature

Quakeland is everything a popular science book should be: well-researched, anecdotal, sometimes humorous, and easily understood.
Shelf Awareness

"Quakeland is a mesmerizing, eye-opening readnot only for those interested in science but for anyone who wants to be better informed about these enigmatic phenomena.
Bookpage

Engrossing, timely, thoroughly researched Smart, compelling, and fearless in its embrace of science, Quakeland is full of fascinating people imparting big truths. We ignore their knowledge at our peril.
Booklist

Accessible... Readers interested in the history of plate tectonics, seismic risk, and our societys vulnerability would likely enjoy...
Science

Journalist Kathryn Miles charms and entertains as she crisscrosses the US, talks with experts, draws deft profiles of scientists and engineers and citizens, heads deep into mines or the NYC subway system and ultimately makes clear that earthquakes are the least trackable natural disaster and are NOT just a problem for San Franciscans And somehow she does it with a light touch, though any homeowners will be sure to check up on their insurance plan right after reading it....
Huffington Post

A wide-ranging account of earthquakes, the least understood of natural disasters, with vivid stories of the havoc they create and a warning about what will someday happen in the United States readable and engagingnot to mention eye-opening, as the author delivers a firm warning to policymakers as well as individual citizens.
Kirkus Reviews

"Mixing geological primer with apocalyptic warning, Miles makes clear how fragileand volatilethe ground beneath our feet really is.
Publishers Weekly

"It would be hard to imagine a more vividly readable extended warning than this book by Kathryn Miles, butQuakelandmakes one conclusion all but inescapable: nobodys listening."
Open Letters Monthly

Quakeland by Kathryn Miles scared the hell out of me. If you think earthquakes happen only in California, you need to read this book. What an eye opener! Based on the latest unimpeachable and carefully sourced scientific research, this book lays out not only the extreme danger of massive quakes in unexpected places (like the Northeast, Memphis, and Salt Lake City) but also documents the crazy things we are doing that are vastly increasing the frequency and threat of earthquakes. Well-written, gripping, fascinating, harrowingQuakeland is a book we all need to read, if only to know how to survive when the big one hits.
--Douglas Preston, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story

This book is as terrifying as it is enthralling. With eye-opening historical context, Kathryn Miles describes the surprisingly wide scope of seismic hazards, the frightening deficiencies of our infrastructure, and the people striving to protect us all. Quakeland is an urgent call to action, one that we would be witless to ignore.--Nathalia Holt, New York Times bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us From Missiles to the Moon to Mars

With seismic prose and John McPhee's gift for translating science with metaphor, Kathryn Miles makes you wonder at the tremendous forces continuously shaping our landscape.You need not live near a fault line (spoiler: you probably do) to enjoy this well-reported, entertaining foray into the scientific subculture of earthquakes. Miles is sparring with Mary Roach for top spot on my science bookshelf.
--Kim Cross, New York Times best-selling author of What Stands in a Storm

Full of wit and wisdom, Quakeland takes readers on a journey into what for most of us is an unknown worldthe planet beneath our feet. Read this book and you will return from the unknown not only informed and entertained, but even more in awe of the world than you might already have been.
--Paul Bogard, author of The Ground Beneath Us

Quakeland was a mesmerizing companion on a trip I took to the Northwest. It's arevelation about the treachery of the crust beneath your feet. This could be the most important book you ever read.
--Alanna Mitchell, author of Sea Sick


Praise forSuperstorm

"Superstormreads like the script of a blockbuster movie, transforming that Halloween storm into a nightmarish monster come to life. She provides horrifying vignettes of the storm's many personal tragedies." Washington Post

"Wise and harrowing." TheAssociated Press

"Fascinating...Meticulous...Heartbreaking...Miles's account--this year'sFive Days at Memorial--is an important record for future planners and a gripping read." Library Journal(starred review)

"Deeply reported and richly detailed narrative...A masterful job of telling the human tale of the storm." Miami Herald

"Explains how a storm so strong it filled the windows of the International Space Station managed to catch the nation flat-footed." New York Post

"[A] wide-angle, ticktock account of the massive Atlantic storm system that slammed the Eastern Seaboard on Oct. 29, 2012." Newsday

"Thrilling...Even for those of us who have heard countless hurricane stories,Superstorm, is a valuable addition. It goes beyond the scary radar screens and harrowing photos of the aftermath to the ongoing, massive problems of predicting and surviving such storms." Tampa Bay Times

"Deftly describes the intricacies of meteorology, government bureaucracy and maritime travel while weaving together several narrative strands into a compelling tapestry." Roanoke Times

Author Bio

KATHRYN MILES is an acclaimed journalist and writer-in-residence for Green Mountain College, as well as a faculty member for Chatham University's MFA program. With a BA in Philosophy from St. Louis University and a PhD in English from the University of Delaware, Miles is also a scholar-in-residence for the Maine Humanities Council and a member of the Terrain.org editorial board. Her work has appeared inTheBest American Essays,Popular Mechanics,Outside, andThe New York Times.