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One in two people living west of the 100th meridian in the United States resides in California. Crammed into the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles Basin is a population greater than that of Texas. Both these drought-prone regions need to import water over seemingly improbably distances. Reliance on imported water, however, is not their Achilles heel; it is the fact that each sits astride one of the most violently active seismic zones in the world. This study chronicles the man-made eruption...

On April 17, 1906, San Francisco was a dense city bustling with people, and thriving businesses. On April 18, it was in ruins, the victim of a terrifying earthquake and dreadful fire. Over 170 vintage, photographs, some never published before delve into the first earthquake ever photographed. Images include photographs of various buildings and neighborhoods in the city before the earthquake and the fire, photographs of the fire as it burns through Front and Market Streets, the ruins and those le...

In England, perhaps more than most places, people's engagement with the landscape is deeply felt and has often been expressed through artistic media. The popularity of walking and walking clubs perhaps provides the most compelling evidence of the important role landscape plays in people's lives. Not only is individual identity rooted in experiencing landscape, but under the multiple impacts of social fragmentation, global economic restructuring and European integration, membership in recreationa...

Did you know that there are more than 60 active volcanoes in Europe today? Or that the longest-existing lava lake is in Ethiopia? Or that Mount Stromboli off the coast of Italy has been in almost continuous eruption for the past 2000 years? Illustrated with 200 spectacular photographs, Volcano is a fascinating visual journey around the globe, selecting the most striking live and extinct volcanoes from Alaska to Antarctica, from Tanzania to Tasmania, from Kamchatka in Russia's far east to Indones...

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Special Publications Series. Purpose. The Preliminary List of Significant Earthquake Precursors (the List) is intended to serve as a preliminary assessment of the state of the art in the identification of earthquake precursors which may be useful in earthquake prediction attempts. It will be updated periodically during the International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR). Placing a precursor, a method, or a case history on this...

What causes an earthquake? When will another big shock shake Tokyo or Los Angeles? Can people create deserts and eventually wipe out a civilization? Or are deserts and droughts entirely beyond human control? How are ozone layer and greenhouse effect interlinked? Is global warming a force of Nature - or of man? This book, illustrated with photographs and specially commissioned artwork, explains the latest scientific insights into these fiercely debated, life-and-death questions. Our predecessors,...

How do volcanoes erupt, what makes earthquakes so destructive, and why do tsunamis happen?Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunamis answers these questions and more, giving you everything you need to know about these powerful natural phenomena. It covers the plate tectonic background to Earth processes, where magma is made and how it erupts, volcano types, eruption hazards and how they are monitored, faults and earthquakes, the causes of tsunamis and tsunami preparedness. You will examine many example...

This series introduces readers to natural events that can change people's lives and the landscape, with case studies of recent and historic disasters and incidents. Each book looks at what causes natural disasters to happen, how people are affected by them, and the work of the emergency services and aid organizations. The books introduce measuring equipment, how it is used and who collects it. They look at how professionals use weather data to predict local and national weather, and climate chan...

Capricious, vibrant, and volatile, Vesuvius has been and remains one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes. In its rage, it has destroyed whole cities and buried thousands alive. In its calm, its ashes have fertilized the soil, providing for the people who have lived in its shadows. For over two millennia, the dynamic presence of this volcano has fascinated scientists, artists, writers, and thinkers, and inspired religious fervor, Roman architecture, and Western literature. In Vesuvius, Alwyn...

In Volcanoes, Robert Decker and Barbara Decker provide a brief introduction to volcanology, the study of volcanoes, with the drama due such awesome phenomena. Dynamic prose and photographs and drawings enliven their discussion of the science behind the natural disaster. For the new edition, the authors have rigorously updated their material, adding new findings, a listing of Web sites carrying breaking news of volcanic activity around the world, and 50 new images. The third edition also contains...

Scientists who specialize in the study of Mississippi Valley earthquakes say that the region is overdue for a powerful tremor that will cause major damage and undoubtedly some casualties.The inevitability of a future quake and the lack of preparation by both individuals and communities provided the impetus for this book. Atkinson brings together applicable information from many disciplines: history, geology and seismology, engineering, zoology, politics and community planning, economics, environ...