Desert Hawk Books

 

Living with Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest

by
Robert S. Yeats

 

 

Paperback
304 pages
illustrated, maps
7" x 10"

Quantity: $21.95 & S/H

 

It's only in the past ten years that scientists have discovered that the Pacific Northwest is earthquake country. In Living with Earthquakes, Robert Yeats, a leading authority on earthquake geology in California and the Pacific Northwest, describes the threat posed by one of the world's great earthquake faults the--Cascadia Subduction Zone--which runs for hundreds of miles along the continental slope, from British Columbia to northern California.

Beginning with a brief introduction to the geological setting of earthquakes, Yeats leads readers through a lively and lucid narrative that analyzes earthquake potential in the Pacific Northwest, describes the current level of earthquake preparedness and disaster response, and suggests actions that citizens can take to protect their families and homes. The book explores topics ranging from earthquake forecasting and the locations of major faults in the earth's crust to the danger from tsunamis and the decision whether to buy earthquake insurance and upgrade building codes.

Living with Earthquakes also chronicles the dramatic history of the scientific community's recent discovery that a catastrophe is possible in the Northwest. Yeats introduces researchers who have begun to piece together the region's violent past and the future of earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest. The book includes vivid descriptions of the Puget Sound earthquakes of 1949 and 1965, the 1993 Oregon earthquakes, and the great tsunami that swept down the Northwest coast in 1964.

Robert S. Yeats is senior consultant for Earth Consultants International and professor emeritus in the geosciences department at Oregon State University. He is the author of numerous articles on earthquakes and co-author of The Geology of Earthquakes (Oxford University Press, 1997). He lives in Corvallis and Newport, Oregon.