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Zusatztext The book would be of interst to meteoroligsts, geophysicists, social scientists, the general public and home security officials. Klappentext Earthquakes rank among the most terrifying natural disasters faced by mankind. Out of a clear blue sky-or worse, a jet black one-comes shaking strong enough to hurl furniture across the room, human bodies out of bed, and entire houses off of their foundations. When the dust settles, theimmediate aftermath of an earthquake in an urbanized society can be profound. Phone and water supplies can be disrupted for days, fires erupt, and even a small number of overpass collapses can snarl traffic for months. However, when one examines the collective responses of developed societies tomajor earthquake disasters in recent historic times, a somewhat surprising theme emerges: not only determination, but resilience; not only resilience, but acceptance; not only acceptance, but astonishingly, humor. Elastic rebound is one of the most basic tenets of modern earthquake science, theterm that scientists use to describe the build-up and release of energy along faults. It is also the best metaphor for societal responses to major earthquakes in recent historic times. After The Earth Quakes focuses on this theme, using a number of pivotal and intriguing historic earthquakes asillustration. The book concludes with a consideration of projected future losses on an increasingly urbanized planet, including the near-certainty that a future earthquake will someday claim over a million lives. This grim prediction impels us to take steps to mitigate earthquake risk, theinnately human capacity for rebound notwithstanding. Zusammenfassung Elastic rebound is the best metaphor for societal responses to major earthquakes in modern times. Focusing on this theme, this book using many pivotal historic earthquakes as illustration. It concludes with a consideration of projected future losses, including the near-certainty that a future earthquake will someday claim over a million lives. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1: Impacts and Reverberations 2: Earthquakes and Ancient Cities: Armegeddon-Not the End of the World 3: The Lisbon Earthquake and the Age of Reason 4: Tecumeseh's legacy: The Enduring Enigma of the New Madrid Earthquakes 5: 19th Century Tremblors: A Science is Born 6: The 1886 Charleston, South Carolina Earthquake 7: Finding Fault in California 8: The 1923 Kanto Earthquake: Surviving Doomsday 9: Hazards of the Caribbean 10: Tsunamis 11: City of Angels or Edge City 12: Demonic Demographics 13: The Age of Construction ...
