The Great Quake
How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet
Crown · Print & ebook · August 7, 2018
New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice • A riveting narrative about the biggest earthquake in North American recorded history—the 1964 Alaska earthquake that demolished the city of Valdez and swept away the island village of Chenega—and the geologist who hunted for clues to explain how and why it took place.
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- Who it’s for
- A vivid account of Alaska’s 1964 earthquake, where disaster and geological discovery meet.
- Genres
- Earthquakes & Volcanoes, Natural Disasters, Western U.S. History
- Published
- Crown, August 7, 2018
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For younger readers: I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964 (i Survived #23), Blizzard of Glass, Can You Survive an Earthquake?
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New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice • A riveting narrative about the biggest earthquake in North American recorded history—the 1964 Alaska earthquake that demolished the city of Valdez and swept away the island village of Chenega—and the geologist who hunted for clues to explain how and why it took place. At 5:36 p.m. on March 27, 1964, a magnitude 9.2. earthquake—the second most powerful in world history—struck the young state of Alaska.
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The violent shaking, followed by massive tsunamis, devastated the southern half of the state and killed more than 130 people. A day later, George Plafker, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, arrived to investigate. His fascinating scientific detective work in the months that followed helped confirm the then-controversial theory of plate tectonics. In a compelling tale about the almost unimaginable brute force of nature, New York Times science journalist Henry Fountain combines history and science to bring the quake and its aftermath to life in vivid detail. With deep, on-the-ground reporting from Alaska, often in the company of George Plafker, Fountain shows how the earthquake left its mark on the land and its people—and on science.
Disaster, Decoded
A vivid account of Alaska’s 1964 earthquake, where disaster and geological discovery meet.
Come here for
- A major earthquake told through history and scientific detective work
- The human and scientific marks left by disaster
Expect
- On-the-ground reporting alongside a geologist’s investigation
- A layered view of the quake’s impact on people, land, and science
Where it sits
| Earthquakes & Volcanoes | 65% |
|---|---|
| Western U.S. History | 41% |
| Natural Disasters | 26% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- 20th-Century America
- Geology
- Disaster & Crisis Studies
- Authors
- Henry Fountain
- Publisher
- Crown
- Published
- August 7, 2018
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- 20th-Century America