The Earthquake That Never Went Away (Gutenberg-Richter Earthquake Series) [Paperback]

David Stewart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0934426546 | ISBN-13: 978-0934426541

A series of great earthquakes struck the central Mississippi River valley during the winter of 1811-12 and changed the landscape forever. At five of these more than 2,000 events were at least 8.0 on the Richter scale. In their wake, an area about the size of New Jersey, about 150 miles long and 80 miles wide, was left with thousands of gashes and scars still visible today, almost 200 years later. Sand boils, explosion sand craters, fissures, crevasses, seismic sand ridges, earthquake ponds, sunk lands, earthquake lakes, surface faults, landslides, and a host of other morphoseismic features abound throughout the region. This book contains 150 photos, maps, and drawings of these with a description of their impact on life there today--how it effects transportion, construction, agriculture, and the lives of those who live in or near the fault zone. For example, vast areas were turned into temporary quicksand during the temblors (seismic liquefaction), leaving numerous places sensitive to vibration, even today. One of these locations is just outside of New Madrid, Missouri, where a railroad crosses. When trains happen to cross at just the right speed, weight, and length, the rumbling of the cars triggers temporary quicksand conditions, causing the rails to sag and derailing the train. The last time this happened was in 1993. So here we have trains being derailed today by an earthquake that happened 200 years ago. That's why we call it "The Earthquake that Never Went Away."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book has been a wonder text for my students, especially in conjunction with the set of slides that correspond with the many photographs of earthquake features found in the book. It is a great resource for earthquake engineers everywhere."

Professor Shamsher Prakash, Earthquake Engineer, University of Missouri, Rolla -- Testimonial letter

About the Author

Dr. David Stewart is a seismologist, hydrologist, author, and lecturer and is considered to be one of the foremost authorities on the New Madrid fault zone of the central U.S. He is a former engineer with the U.S. Geological Survey in Southern California, a former instructor at the Emergency Management Institute (FEMA) in Emmitsburg, MD, a former Director of the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC), and former professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapen Hill, and Southeast Missouri State University, where he was the Director of the Center for Earthquake Studies. He served from 1990-93 on the editorial board of Earthquake Spectra, internatiional journal of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI). He is author or coauthor of more than a dozen books and over 200 published articles, some of which have been translated into more than ten languages. His brochure, "Earthquake Guide to Home and Office," has distributed more than a million copies. He is author of the book, "Damages & Losses from Future New Madrid Earthquakes," published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) which is used by National Guard units, Red Cross chapters, insurance companies, hosipitals, state and county emergency management agencies as a basos for earthquake planning in the Midwest. He has been quoted in many newspapers and magazines throughout the world and has been on television in 44 countries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 222 pages
• Publisher: Gutenberg Richter Pubns (February 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0934426546
• ISBN-13: 978-0934426541
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,580,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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