Customer Reviews

Earthquakes in Human History: The Far-Reaching Effects of Seismic Disruptions

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This work was more than I expected. I learned as much about anscient history as I did about earthquakes! It is well written and focuses on specific earthquake events rather than over-generalizing on the broad topic. I only wish all the metric distances and measures would have had U.S. conversions in parentheses.

All in all, a worthwhile read.

Earthquakes are not just natural events; they are messages to our civilizations. "Earthquakes in Human History" is a look at how these 'acts of God' have changed the affairs of mankind from biblical times to the twentieth century. Not just calamities, great earthquakes have also been agents of regime change, sometimes in surprising ways. We are lucky to have their stories told so well here; maybe our own civilization can do better the next time the ground shakes. On About.com I rate this book with five stars, and maybe I'll look for the same authors' similar book on volcanoes.

I have a baccalaureate degree in geology with an emphasis in paleontology, and although I have never actually used the degree, I enjoy reading about various aspects of geology. Earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis, all of which are interrelated phenomena, are particularly intriguing as they so often impact human society where ever they occur. Probably one of the most poetic and stirring artifacts of this very fact are the ancient footprints of two of what are believed by some to be our prehistoric ancestors, preserved in the ash of a volcanic eruption at Leotoli inTanzania, Africa.

De Boer and Sanders' book, Earthquakes in Human History goes a long way to pulling together the geology and sociology of various seismic events through recorded time. Without a doubt the frailty and vulnerability of the human being is graphically demonstrated in the face of these catastrophic events.

The authors begin by examining ancient literature for evidence of earthquakes and earthquake damage in human terms. They look to the authors of the Biblical narrative for evidence of seismic activity in the Levant, and it's effects on the course of history there. Although many of the stories they analyze are very likely to have seismic components irrespective of their ultimate cause, I think that some might well be attributable to volcanic explosions as well. Although not familiar with the geologic activity in the area beyond its part in the rifting activity in the Afar triangle in Africa, I believe that volcanoes are customarily associated with such rifts. Certainly they are in the mid-Atlantic system of which Iceland is a part and in the Rift Valley in Africa itself. Although the Levant/Dead Sea portion is considered a "failed" arm of the rifting system, it might still partake of volcanism. Whatever the cause, the geologic activity in the Levant had a major journalistic impact on the narrators that witnessed them, and on the redactors that structured the Bible as we know it today.

DeBoer and Sanders also discuss the various earthquakes and geological phenomena in the Greek world of the pre-classical and classical authors. Both the Trojan epics and the historic narratives of Herodotus and others are examined for the effects of geology on mankind and the course of history. Although they discuss several episodes, they missed my favorite, the massive tsunami that swept away a sizeable portion of the Persian land army when it was about to attack a coastal city-Potidea, as I recall. Seeing that the city was fortified everywhere but on the seaward side from which the sea was rapidly receding, the general determined to attack the city for that side. No sooner did he embark on the attack than a massive wave swept them all away.

The authors discuss modern era quakes in England, the southeastern colonial US-an area most of us would consider tectonically quiescent-San Francisico-everyone's favorite earthquake story--Peru, Chili, Nicaragua, and Japan. All these stories are placed into retrospective history with a discussion of the social and political events of the times, and how the earthquake derailed things one way or another. My guess is that most of the changes would have occurred anyway, they were just hurried along by the unexpected intercession of mother nature.

I was disappointed in that nothing was mentioned of China, whose quakes can be formidable and have caused some greater devestation by virtue of the fact that China achieved a denser population at an earlier stage of its historical career. It is also interesting, because a quake prediction that turned out correct, saved thousands, if not millions from death. Oh well, another book, perhaps.

The volume discusses the geologic aspects of each of these quakes as they are presented. I found it particularly interesting that some of the epicenters for very serious quakes, like that which occasioned the destruction of Lisbon and of San Francisco were actually located out at sea and far under ground. These of course also included tsunamis which sort of "topped" everything off and produced more widespread devastation. It was also interesting to note that the substrate of buildings, not just how they were constructed had a direct impact upon their capacity to survive the encounter.


That building codes are the key in earthquake prone areas seems abundantly apparent. Lloyd Wright's hotel in Tokyo was a brilliant case in point. The fact that most of the civil supports such as water, electricity, power, communication, emergency care and effective fire control can all be hampered or even prevented is of great concern, as most of the cities that have been hit in the past with such catastrophic effect, are still where they were and are now much more densely settled. The authors point out that many schools, hospitals and even nuclear plants have been built on the San Andreas Fault, despite the fact of the quake of 1906, and the very strong likelihood that it will rift again with a magnitude like that of 1906 or higher. It will certainly cause more damage.

This is a very interesting book. It is accessible to anyone who can read at grade 5 or above. Since the world seems to be sustaining a fair number of earthquakes recently in heavily populated areas with little or no quakeproofed buildings, it seems appropriate that the population of the world recognize the danger of unpreparedness and of disinterest. Furthermore, just because it doesn't occur in your own back yard, doesn't mean it doesn't have some kind of impact on you, as the authors occasionally point out.

This book covers some of the most infamous quakes in the world's history, along with the sociological and economical impact that isn't always considered in historical review. Each chapter details the society that is about to be hit with disaster, describes the quake and damage, and how (or if) the society recovers. From the demise of Sparta, to the fall from grace of the Roman Catholic church in Portugal, to the rise of San Francisco from the ashes, this book is an entertaining and informative read. The unpredictable effects of these disasters is interesting and valuable knowledge, as future disasters can and will present some of the same issues. I couldn't put it down!

"Volcanoes in History" offers what its authors call a "vibrating string" metaphor for the interaction of volcanoes and people.
When there's a big, explosive eruption -- say, at Mount St. Helens -- the immediate effects are dramatic but then everything slows down.
The blast lasts just hours; the cooling of the climate, famines and epidemics last years; the recovery of the landscape takes at least decades; and the cultural effects can continue working their process for centuries.
It is not unlike the damping of the amplitude and lengthening of the frequency that happens after a taut string is twanged.
Not all the effects have to be bad. Scientists now think that most, perhaps all the water on the planet was produced through volcanoes.
Besides killing people, volcanism has destroyed empires (maybe), and, more trivially, kept Mary Shelley indoors, where in her idle moments she wrote "Frankenstein."
Zeilinga de Boer teaches a course about the interaction of volcanoes and humans at Princeton that he says "demonstrates to liberal arts students that the sciences are not 'bloodless'."
In this effort, he quotes a lot of poetry about volcanoes by Tennyson and otherwise attempts to show that volcanoes can be interesting, if not for themselves, then for the exalted thoughts they inspire.
This approach suggests that the Princeton undergrad is a dull fellow. Volanoes are complicated enough to be interesting for their own sakes.
There is a lot we still don't know about them. What we have learned -- most of it only recently -- is more interesting than the musings of an elderly Englishman who never saw a live volcano in his life.
For example, it was only in 1985 that the geologist Harold Stearns persuaded his colleagues that Haleakala crater on Maui -- the world's biggest volcanic crater (about the size of Manhattan Island) -- is an artifact of erosion, not eruption.
That seems firmly nailed down now. Some of the authors' other ruminations are more doubtful, as they stride through history in seven-league boots.
No one doubts any more that Thera (Santorini) blew up explosively about 3,500 years ago, causing much trouble in the eastern Mediterranean. But whether we can link Thera's blast to the origin of Greek literacy is a stretch.
And Zeilinga de Boer and Sanders' attempt to cross-date Thera and the Israelite exile in Egypt will not persuade Biblical scholars, many of whom no longer believe there ever were any Israelites in pharaonic Egypt , because not a single artifact there can be associated with them until many centuries later.
Nevertheless, the concept of looking at the big social picture is novel and entertaining. For people who worry about global warming, the ability of volcanoes to cool the Earth ought to be a comfort.
For people who live on a volcano -- even such placid ones as in Hawaii -- "Volcanoes in Human History" combines well with Alwyn Scarth's 1999 book "Vulcan's Fury," which takes what might be called a civil defense approach to volcanism.
Both use the casebook approach, with similar but not identical lists of famous eruptions. Both are full of information that might be useful to know at some unpredictable point in the future.
For example, if you decide not to evacuate from a volcano that is erupting and throwing big rocks into the air, it is helpful not to have to relearn the lesson that Icelanders picked up while trying to save their houses during the extended eruption at Vestmannaeyjar in 1973: "Red-hot lava bombs continually rained down upon Vestmannaeyjar, plunging through the roofs of buildings and keeping firefighters busy. As in wartime, people out of doors kept an eye peeled for incoming missiles. They learned not to run from them, but to simply watch until they were sure of their trajectory, then step aside if necessary."
Although most of "Volcanoes in History" is devoted to violent eruptions, which almost never occur in Hawaii, there is a long chapter on Hawaiian volcanoes, used to illustrate the forces that cause volcanoes to wax and wane.
And, you never know, every once in a while even Hawaiian volcanoes act up.
The last serious killer eruption was from Kilauea in 1868, but at intervals of some hundreds of thousands of years, Hawaiian volcanoes tend to fall apart, generating tsunami of unbelievable proportions -- one swept the soil off of Lanai up to a height of 900 feet above present sea level.