The Million Death Quake: The Science of Predicting Earth's Deadliest… (edition 2012)

This is a nice history and overview of earthquakes, how they are caused, how people have perceived them over the centuries, how people study them and quantify them, and probably most importantly, how to minimize damage and loss of life resulting from them.

The author is good at describing his field in a way that non-seismologists can understand, using simple examples such as bending a plastic ruler with your hands to get a concept about how earthquakes work. His writing style is simple and easy to read.

I am a member of a neighborhood emergency team. It's a program that my city funds and conducts training for, teaching you how to do things like turn off gas and water mains, check buildings for survivors, deal with medical emergencies, etc. The main reason my city (Portland, Oregon) is doing this is apparently because we (or, probably more accurately, our coastline, which is less than 100 miles west of us) are at risk of the most damaging kind of earthquake, a subduction zone earthquake where one tectonic plate moves under or on top of another one. We had some basic training on earthquakes which was mostly geared towards individual actions you can take to be prepared for such an event (earthquake proofing your house, keeping flashlights handy, having a food stash and water stash in the event of supply being cut, etc). This was one of the reasons I asked for this book - I wanted to better understand earthquakes. I feel like it served that purpose very well.

The reason I am not giving this book more than 3 1/2 stars is that I found the writing to be a bit repetitive at times (how many times does the author have to say "predictions are hard especially about the future"?) and the middle chapters were sort of hard for me to get through, which is why it took me so many moons to review it. But, I am very glad I read it, and I plan to pass it on to others on my team who will be interested in the topic. ( )

Layman's guide to understanding the science behind earthquakes. Written in highly accessible style, the author goes to great lengths to makes things understandable. Interesting review of historical events that added to the developing science explaining earthquakes. Final section on what should this mean for us today was lacking. Recommended for anyone living in an active earthquake zone who wishes to more accurately assess the risks. ( )

The Million Death Quake by Roger Musson is not alarmist (despite the title); it is not dry; it is not for other people somewhere else. It is eminently readable and useful for us all, and covers all of the bases.

What do you want to know about earthquakes? What causes them, why I should care (if I don’t live in California) and how to understand the Richter Scale notations in the news. Also, what have we learned in the last hundred years, and why can’t we predict them better? Musson answers it all.

The core strength of this book lies in how well it is organized. It builds from simple basics to more complex concepts, and uses anecdotes of live history along the way. While Musson supplies all the scientific terms and facts, he never gets boring. I imagine him to be just like the “Mr. Wonder” type of guy hosting a children or young-adult television science program who hits the right chord for viewers (readers) of all ages.

I would have enjoyed many more graphics and pictures to illustrate both the anecdotes and the concepts, though his written explanations were quite clear. In fact Musson’s chief talent does seem to be clarity, allowing the reader to get to know and share his passion along with him. He’s the kind of author one would like to invite over to dinner. ( )

Tectonics can be a complicated subject but Musson writes in a down to earth language that makes the subject not only clear and understandable, but engrossing.

He discusses areas on faultlines that were at one time sparsely populated, such as San Francisco and Mexico City, where an earthquake now would affect millions of people. Although this is an alarming prospect, Musson is not a doom and gloom writer. He reminds the reader that when considering the likelihood of a "big one" happening, it will be in geological time, not "human" time, and could be in hundreds of years.

A short segment I found interesting was about myths related to earthquakes, such as the claim that animals know when an earthquake is about to happen.

Well written and highly recommended! ( )

The Million Death Quake is an excellent introduction to earthquakes (and tsunamis) for the general reader. The book consists of two distinct sections. Part I explains the science of earthquakes and seismology.
Part 2 describes solutions available to protect lives. Of course earthquakes do not kill people. Buildings, landslides and water do. And predicting a quake? Highly unlikely if not totally impossible.

If you know next to nothing about natural disasters or you think that your pet can somehow sense a quake before it happens, this is the book for you. Who knows, it could save your life someday. Just ask an English schoolgirl who remembered her geography while on vacation in Thailand (December 2004). ( )