Living with Earthquakes in California

Over the past century, California has moved from denying the hazards posed by earthquakes — they were bad for business — to adopting building codes and protective Legislation that are today the most advanced in the world. In Living with Earthquakes in California, Robert Yeats, a leading expert on earthquake geology, describes California's revolutionary efforts to grapple with the earthquake threat. His book is a general reader's guide to California earthquakes, combining current research with practical safety information.

Beginning with a brief introduction to the geological setting of earthquakes, Yeats leads readers through a lively and lucid narrative that

• describes the major faults that threaten Northern and Southern California and Nevada,
• explores topics ranging from earthquake forecasting and catastrophe insurance (the California Earthquake Authority is the largest residential insurer in the world) to the risks of tsunamis and soil liquefaction,
• reviews the current level of earthquake preparedness and disaster response, including the role of government, scientists, and the public in creating awareness and policy,
• suggests actions that citizens can take to protect their families and homes.

Living with Earthquakes provides a detailed account of California's violent geologic past and a concise history of the state's innovative approaches to earthquake awareness and preparation. It also serves as a how-to-manual for life in earthquake country. Most importantly, however, it's a call to action. Earthquakes cannot be prevented, but the California experience provides a model for how society can learn to live with earthquakes — and survive them.

Preface

I. Boosters and Quakers: Three Centuries of People and Earthquakes in California

 

II. Tectonic Plates, Geologic Time, and Earthquakes

1. A Concept of Time

2. Plate Tectonics

3. Earhquake Basics

4. The San Andreas Fault System: The Big One

5. The Transverse Ranges: LA in the Squeeze

6. Shakes in the Back Country: Decades of Violence, Millennia of Silence

7. Cascadia

8. Memories of the Future: The Uncertain Art of Earthquake Forecasting

 

III. Shaky Ground and Big Waves

9. Solid Rock and Bowls of Jello

10. Tsunami!

 

IV. Prevention and Countermeasures

11. Earthquake Insurance: Betting Against Earthquakes

12. Is Your Home Ready for an Earthquake?

13. Earthquake Design of large Structures

14. The Federal Government and Earthquakes

15. The Role of State and Local Government

16. Preparing for the Next Earthquake

17. An Uncertain Appointment with a Restless Earth

Appendix A. Table of Significant Earthquakes in California
Appendix B. Glossary
Appendix C. Credits
Bibliography
Index