Cascadia's fault : the coming earthquake and tsunami that could devastate North America

Format:

Book

Title:

Cascadia's fault : the coming earthquake and tsunami that could devastate North America

Author:

Thompson, Jerry, 1949-

ISBN:

9781582436432

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

xxii, 337 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Contents:

Mexico City : preview of coming events -- Lessons from the rubble : a front-page story -- The Alaska megathrust : Cascadia's northern cousin -- Against the wind of convention : Plafker, Benioff, and Press -- Cauldron and crust : the rehabilitation of continental drift -- Nuke on a fault : early clues in Humboldt Bay -- Proving the doubters wrong : the Chile connection -- Mount St. Helens : Cascadia's smoking gun? -- Mud cores and lasers : the search for evidence -- The whoops factor : Cascadia's true nature revealed -- Quake hunters : finding Cascadia's ghost forest -- Cedars, peat, and turbidites : a tipping point at Monmouth -- Cascadia's segmented past : apocalypse or decades of terror? -- Digital water : catching waves in a computer -- Defining the zone : hot rocks and high water -- Cracks, missing rings, and native voices : closing in on a killer quake -- The orphan tsunami : final proof of Cascadia's last rupture -- Episodic tremor and slip : tracking Cascadia with GPS -- Turbidite timeline : Cascadia's long and violent history -- When's this going to happen? : the problems with prediction -- Facing reality : Cascadia equals Sumatra -- The next wave : thinking the unthinkable -- Watching it happen, wishing it wouldn't -- Cascadia's fault : day of reckoning -- Survival and resilience, a state of mind.

Summary:

Explains that a major earthquake and resulting tsunamis are likely to occur off the Pacific Northwest coast any time within the next two hundred years, arguing that the effects of the disaster will be far worse than the damage from the 2004 Sumatran quake and tsunamis.

Subject(s):

Earthquakes -- Northwest, Pacific.

Tsunamis -- Northwest, Pacific.

Earthquake prediction -- Northwest, Pacific.

Tsunamis -- Northwest, Pacific -- Forecasting.

Natural disasters -- Northwest, Pacific.

Natural disasters -- North America.

Natural disasters -- Pacific Area.

Cascadia Subduction Zone.

Geographic Term:

Cascadia Subduction Zone.

North America.

North America -- Cascadia Subduction Zone.

Pacific Area.

Pacific Northwest.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Monmouth Public Library	551.22091 Thompson, J. 2011	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Dallas Public Library	551.22 Thompson	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Newberg Public Library	551.2209 THOMPSON	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Salem Main Library	551.2209 Cascadia 2011	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Sheridan Public Library	551.2209 Thompson	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Silver Falls Library	551.2209 THOMPSON	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Woodburn Public Library	551.2209 Thompson 2011	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

There is a crack in the earth's crust that runs roughly 31 miles offshore, approximately 683 miles from Northern California up through Vancouver Island off the coast of British Columbia. The Cascadia Subduction Zone has generated massive earthquakes over and over again throughout geologic time--at least thirty-six major events in the last 10,000 years. This fault generates a monster earthquake about every 500 years. And the monster is due to return at any time. It could happen 200 years from now, or it could be tonight.

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is virtually identical to the offshore fault that wrecked Sumatra in 2004. It will generate the same earthquake we saw in Sumatra, at magnitude nine or higher, sending crippling shockwaves across a far wider area than any California quake. Slamming into Sacramento, Portland, Seattle, Victoria, and Vancouver, it will send tidal waves to the shores of Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, damaging the economies of the Pacific Rim countries and their trading partners for years to come.

In light of recent massive quakes in Haiti, Chile, and Mexico, Cascadia's Fault not only tells the story of this potentially devastating earthquake and the tsunamis it will spawn, it also warns us about an impending crisis almost unprecedented in modern history.

Author Notes

Jerry Thompson is an award-winning documentary filmmaker living outside of Vancouver. For twenty years, he worked as a as a network news correspondent and a documentary film producer for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He has written articles for Equinox and Vancouver magazine, and has produced and narrated a half-dozen highly regarded television documentary specials on Cascadia's fault that received wide critical praise.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

The recent seismic catastrophe in Japan is a foretaste of a similar cataclysm brewing in America, according to this alarming geological expose. Thompson, a former Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reporter and documentarian, investigates the Cascadia Subduction Zone, an 800-mile-long fault where the ocean floor slowly grinds away underneath the North American continental plate. The fault has a millennia-long history of causing major quakes, including magnitude-9 monsters and 90-foot waves that could lay waste to Vancouver, Seattle, and dozens of coastal towns. But because no written records of this history exist and the fault has been quiescent since 1700, geologists were unaware of the danger. How they uncovered the violent history of this deceptively placid area, long a subject of academic controversy, is the fascinating scientific detective story at the heart of Thompson's account. He follows along as researchers piece together clues from ocean sediment core samples and tree rings, antique Japanese manuscripts, and laser gadgets and GPS devices that measure the inch-a-year movements of mountain chains; he blanches as their computer models illustrate the devastating impact of tsunamis and the fatal rhythms through which skyscrapers resonate to a temblor's shocks. The result is a lucid, engrossing look at the Earth's subtle dynamics-and a timely warning about their awesome power very close to home. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Despite its fear-mongering subtitle, this is a level-headed look at a potentially devastating natural disaster. Prompted by a massive earthquake in 1985 that caused widespread destruction in Mexico City, Canadian television journalist Thompson began researching a potential disaster zone much closer to home: the Cascadia Subduction Zone (once known as the Juan de Fuca plate), an 800-mile fault under the Pacific Ocean that, some experts say, has a 70 percent chance of producing a massive earthquake off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. This fascinating book explores the Cascadia Subduction Zone and the research surrounding it, while, at the same time, offering readers a broader picture: the story of earthquake science and the researchers who, even today, are making new discoveries that could help predict (if not actually prevent) major earthquakes before they happen. The book is tailored for readers interested in weather science, and it is not written in the liveliest of styles; still, given recent events in Japan, a thoughtful, serious book on the subject of earthquakes in the Pacific should be most welcome.--Pitt, Davi. Copyright 2010 Booklist

Choice Review

Thompson, a journalist and film producer, seeks to alert and engage residents of coastal areas from northern California through British Columbia about actions to ameliorate the coming earthquakes and tsunamis that will be generated in the offshore Cascadia subduction zone. The geologic research into the movement of tectonic plates there is recent, and Thompson's zest for this topic is tangible. He explains the science clearly and shows the methodical development of ideas on the accumulation and release of strain on this plate margin. Without being shrill, he reveals the current thinking that strong earthquakes have occurred simultaneously along the whole zone for thousands of years at approximate 300-year intervals, most recently in 1700 when the plate movements created tsunamis that devastated the North American coast and beyond. Thompson discusses recent subduction zone events, including the 2011 New Zealand and Japan disasters. He explores the siting of power plants on faults and the resilience of tall buildings during extended motion. Although the next big earthquake cannot be predicted or prevented, Thompson emphasizes communities' need to educate citizens about timely response and survival skills. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above. L. S. Zipp formerly, State University of New York College at Geneseo

Simon Winchester

Maps	p. v
Foreword	p. ix
Introduction	p. xv
Part 1 Tremors and Ripples
1 Mexico City: Preview of Coming Events	p. 3
2 Lessons from the Rubble: A Front-Page Story	p. 13
3 The Alaska Megathrust: Cascadia's Northern Cousin	p. 29
4 Against the Wind of Convention: Plafker, Benioff, and Press	p. 43
5 Cauldron and Crust: The Rehabilitation of Continental Drift	p. 53
6 Nuke on a Fault: Early Clues in Humboldt Bay	p. 61
7 Proving the Doubters Wrong: The Chile Connection	p. 70
8 Mount St. Helens: Cascadia's Smoking Gun?	p. 78
Part 2 Setbacks and Breakthroughs
9 Mud Cores and Lasers: The Search for Evidence	p. 95
10 The Whoops Factor: Cascadia's True Nature Revealed	p. 113
11 Quake Hunters: Finding Cascadia's Ghost Forest	p. 125
12 Cedars, Peat, and Turbidites: A Tipping Point at Monmouth	p. 134
13 Cascadia's Segmented Past: Apocalypse or Decades of Terror?	p. 147
14 Digital Water: Catching Waves in a Computer	p. 161
15 Defining the Zone: Hot Rocks and High Water	p. 177
16 Cracks, Missing Rings, and Native Voices: Closing In on a Killer Quake	p. 190
17 The Orphan Tsunami: Final Proof of Cascadia's Last Rupture	p. 200
18 Episodic Tremor and Slip: Tracking Cascadia with GPS	p. 212
19 Turbidite Timeline: Cascadia's Long and Violent History	p. 221
20 When's This Going to Happen? The Problems with Prediction	p. 233
Part 3 Shockwaves
21 Facing Reality: Cascadia Equals Sumatra	p. 269
22 The Next Wave: Thinking the Unthinkable	p. 278
23 Watching It Happen, Wishing It Wouldn't	p. 288
24 Cascadia's Fault: Day of Reckoning	p. 300
Epilogue: Survival and Resilience, a State of Mind	p. 309
Acknowledgments	p. 319
Suggestions for Further Reading	p. 321

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Booklist Review

Choice Review

Table of Contents