In his new book, Dr Roger Musson, one of the world's leading seismologists, looks at the dangers of megaquakes, and explains where they'll next strike, why they're becoming more lethal, and what science and engineering are doing to save lives.
For centuries, Californians and the Japanese have known that they were at risk of catastrophic earthquakes, and prepared accordingly.
But when a violent magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti in 2010, hardly anyone knew the island nation was even at risk for disaster, and, tragically, no one was prepared.
Over 300 000 people died as buildings, that had never been designed to withstand such intense shaking, toppled over and crushed their inhabitants.
Now, scientists warn that it won’t be long before a single, catastrophic quake kills one million people — and that it is going to strike right where we least expect it.
In this groundbreaking book, renowned seismologist with the British Geological Survey, Roger Musson takes us on an exhilarating journey to explore what scientists and engineers are doing to prepare us for the worst.
With riveting tales of the scientists who first cracked the mystery of what causes the ground to violently shake, Musson makes plain the powerful geological forces driving earthquakes and tsunamis, and shows how amazing feats of engineering are making our cities earthquake-proof.
We have weeks of warning prior to volcanic eruptions, days of warning before a blizzard, and hours of warning before tornadoes. Yet scientists are still unable to predict when and where an earthquake will strike next.
Thousands of quakes occur every year around the globe and many densely populated cities are at risk of experiencing the next catastrophic earthquake that could kill millions.
Seismologist Roger Musson has been studying earthquakes for three decades. In this original book, he takes the reader on an informative journey of everything you wanted to know about earthquakes
Highlighting hotspots around the world from Mexico City to New York this is a compelling scientific adventure into nature at its fiercest.