by John Dvorak
Charles Richter in 1927. Photo courtesy of the Archives, California Institute of Technology.
Charles Richter in 1979. Photo courtesy of the Archives, California Institute of Technology.
Collapse of the roadway on the Bay Bridge that connects San Francisco and Oakland, Loma Prieta earthquake, October 17, 1989. Photo courtesy of Charles E. Meyer, copyright 1989.
Destruction in the Marina District of San Francisco, Loma Prieta earthquake, October 17, 1989. Photo courtesy of John K. Nakata, copyright © 1989.
Aerial view of stream offsets along the San Andreas Fault, Carrizo Plain, California. Notice the right-step offset of Wallace Creek near the center of the photograph. Photo courtesy of OpenTopography/Crosby.
Fossil imprints of Hillichnus lobosensis at Weston Beach, Point Lobos, California. Photo by the author.
Offset sidewalk caused by creep along the Calaveras Fault, Hollister, California. Photo by the author.
Lion Gate at the ancient city of Mycenae, Greece. The solid rockface to the left is a scarp produced by a prehistoric earthquake. Photo courtesy of Andrew Selkirk.
index
A
Adams, John, 18
Alaskan earthquake, 171–172
Alleghenian Orogeny, 208
Amazing Stories, 109
ancient earthquakes, 33–35, 193–203, 219, 226–229. See also earthquakes
Anderson, John, 114–115
Antler Orogeny, 209
Arcadian Orogeny, 208–209
Argonaut, The, 84
Aristotle, 33
Ashburner, William, 1–2
Asian earthquakes, xviii, 35
Atwater, 163–166, 210
Audubon, John James, 36
Audubon, John Woodhouse, 39–40
Averill, Chester, 1–2
B
Bakersfield earthquake, 119, 242
Banning Fault, 216
Barka, Aykut, 230
Bass, William Wallace, 95–96
Bay Bridge, 83, 87–89
“belts of seismicity,” 35, 101, 155, 165–167, 219–220
Berkland, James, 177
biblical earthquake, 33
Bikini Atoll, 122–123
Birds, The, 243
Blue Cut, 92, 101–104
Bodega Bay, 243–244
Bong, Iona, 222
Branner, John, 50, 62, 64, 66
Brewer, William, 1–2, 4
bridges, damage to, 44, 87–89, 179, 182
Bronze Age, 226–227
building codes, 75–76, 87–90
Burkhalter, Charles, 58, 64
Buwalda, John, 122
C
Cajon Pass, 9, 100–104, 128, 146, 188, 195, 199, 216, 236–237, 241
Cajon Valley Fault, 213
Calaveras Fault, 136–137, 212, 236, 241
Caliente Range, 140, 144
California, assembly of, 208–209
California, disassembly of, 211–213
California Earthquake Probabilities, 235–237
Campbell, William, 64
Camp Rock Fault, 222
carbon dating, 198
Carr, Ezra Slocum, 12
Carrizo Plain, 134–135, 140–146, 188
Carter, Jimmy, 187
Cascadia subduction zone, 202–203, 236. See also subduction zone
Causes and Cure of Earthquakes, The, 18
central U.S. earthquakes, 35–36
China earthquake, 181–186, 231
“chron” numbers, 165–166
Clemens, Samuel, 41–42
Clemens Well Fault, 210–211
Clement VI, Pope, 202
cliff swallows, 193–194
cluster earthquakes, xvii–xviii, 199, 205, 224
Coachella Valley, 188, 237–238
Collins, Isabel, 80
Collins, William, 80
Cone, Russell, 86
conglomerate, 204–206, 211
continental drift, 152–153, 209
Coulomb-Navier failure criterion, 230, 237
Covell, William, 34
Crespí, Fray, 39
crustal blocks, xv, 21, 23, 220, 245
Cucamonga Fault, 241
D
Daily Evening Bulletin, 41
Daly City earthquake, 87
Darton, Nelson Horatio, 96–97
Darwin, Charles, 32
Davidson, George, 64
Derleth, Charles, 78
Desert Hot Springs, 237–239
Devil’s Punchbowl, 104, 108, 136
Dewey, John, 157
Dibblee, Ebenezer, 129
Dibblee, Thomas Wilson, Jr., 126, 129–142, 147, 159
“Dibblee Sand,” 134
Dieterich, James, 230
Dixon, Jeane, 173
Dolan, James, 234
Downey, John, 4
E
Eagan, Michael, 1–2
earthquake clusters, xvii–xviii, 199, 205, 224
earthquake commission, 51, 57–59, 64
Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act, 187
earthquake kernels, 191–192
earthquake predictions, 171–192, 207
earthquake probabilities, 235–237, 239, 242
earthquake-resistant buildings, 75–76, 87–90
earthquakes. See also specific earthquakes
of 1906, xiii–xviii, 47–70, 61–68, 74–78, 89, 103–105, 173–176, 203, 221, 240
ancient earthquakes, 33–35, 193–203, 219, 226–229
causes of, xv, 199, 205, 224
central U.S. earthquakes, 35–36
early earthquakes, 14–22, 33–35, 40–45, 193–203, 219, 226–229
eastern U.S. earthquakes, 37–38, 43, 124
first earthquakes, 33–35
horizontal movement of, xvi, 22, 104–108, 136, 143, 146
measuring, 48–49, 64–68, 113–123
predicting, 171–192, 207
probability of, 235–237, 239, 242
southern U.S. earthquakes, 36–37
western U.S. earthquakes, 14–22, 40–45, 47–70
earthquake storms
causes of, xvii–xviii
intervals between, 234–235
naming, 224
understanding, 225–242
Eastern California Shear zone, 222
eastern orogenies, 207–209
eastern U.S. earthquakes, 37–38, 43, 124. See also earthquakes
East Pacific Rise, 156, 158–159, 162
Eastwood, Alice, 46, 52–56, 59–62, 69–70
Einstein, Albert, 111
elastic energy, xv, xvii, 66, 67, 224
elastic rebound theory, 67, 224
Elementary Seismology, 116
Elsinore Fault, 124, 216–217
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1
Emerson Fault, 222
energy-magnitude relationship, 122–124
European earthquakes, 18, 34–35
Evans, Cadwallader “Doc,” 97–98
Evans, Deane Mann, 87
Evans, Dorothy, 97–98
F
Fabian, Michelle, 224
facies patterns, 138
Fahrenheit, Daniel Gabriel, 118
failure criterion, 230, 237
Fairbanks, Harold, 45, 63, 100
Farallon Islands, 10, 67, 76, 161–162
Farallon plate, 161–162, 167, 202, 209, 211
“fault gouge,” 101, 103, 200, 238
faults, number of, 235. See also specific faults
faults, strike-slip, 136, 210–211, 221
faults, transform, 148, 157–163, 169, 209–214, 240
Fenner Fault, 210–211
Field, Stephen Johnson, 2–4
fire codes, 75
Fort Tejon earthquake, 142, 197
G
Gales, Alfred “Frenchy,” 71, 85
geologic map, deciphering, 138
geologic map, preparing, 130, 133–136, 152, 196
Geology, 6–8, 11
Gilbert, Grove Karl, 20–23, 31, 46–53, 56–70, 96–97, 218
Glassey, Hobart, 120
Glassey, Lura, 120
global seismicity, 34–35, 38, 158
Goddard, Luisa, 1–2
gold, discovery of, 2
Goldberg, Rube, 112
Golden Age, 1
Golden Gate Bridge
building, 79–87
designing, 76–77
earthquake tests, 84–89
financing, 76–77, 79
retrofitting, 87–88
seismic disturbances and, 84–91
Goldwyn, Samuel, 243
Grand Canyon, 8, 94–99, 121, 214
Greek earthquakes, 226–227
Greenspan, Reuben, 175, 181
Green Valley-Concord Fault, 236
Greenville Fault, 236, 241
Gregory, Herbert, 94
Gribbin, John, 176
ground acceleration, 89
ground displacement, 117–119, 144–147. See also horizontal movement
ground rupture, 42, 68, 179, 190, 195–198
Guatemala earthquake, 186
Guerra y Noriega, José Antonio De la, 129
Gulf of California, 162, 214, 217, 220–222
Gutenberg, Beno, 122–123
Gutenberg-Richter law, 122–123
Gwin, William, 43
H
Haicheng earthquake, 181–185
Hamilton, Edith, 69
Hawaiian Islands, 13, 114, 147–150, 155–156, 165
Hayward Fault, xvii, 74–75, 86, 212, 219, 235–241
Healdsburg Fault, 212
Hector Mine earthquake, 223–224, 241
Hector Mine Fault, 224
Hedren, Tippi, 243
Hennebique, Francois, 72
Hess, Annette, 154
Hess, Harry, 154–159, 164–166
Hill, Mason Lowell, 132–140
Hillichnus lobosensis imprint, 205, 211–212
Hitchcock, Alfred, 243
Hollywood earthquake, 231–232
Hollywood Fault, xvii, 232–234
Homer, 226
homes, designing, 71–76
Homestead Fault, 222
horizontal movement, xvi, 22, 104–108, 136, 143, 146
Hornig, Donald, 172
Hough, Susan Elizabeth, 110, 117
I
Ice Age, 13
Iliad, 226
Indio Hills, 143, 214, 216, 238
Intermountain Seismic Belt, 219–222
International Geophysical Year, 148, 154
Italy earthquake, 34–35, 231
J
Japan earthquakes, 66
Johnson, Lyndon, 172
Johnson Valley Fault, 222
Jones, Charles, 134
Jordan, Thomas, 239–240, 242
Juan de Fuca Ridge, 159, 162–165
Judson, Clarence, xiii–xv
Jupiter Effect, 176, 181
Jupiter Effect Reconsidered, 176
K
Kinsinger, Charles, 109. See also Richter, Charles
Koto, Bunjiro, 66
L
Lake Tahoe, 217–218
Lama, Dalai, 231
Landers earthquake, 222–224, 241–242
Landers Fault, 222
lava, 113, 149, 165
Lawson, Andrew, 24–31, 44–51, 57–68, 71–90, 98–106, 114, 129, 132, 151–152, 166, 204, 212
LeConte, Joseph, 26
“Lecture on Earthquakes: Read in the Chapel of Harvard College,” 19
Lémery, Nicolas, 19
Leuschner, Armin, 48–51, 58, 64
Lick Observatory, 48–51, 64–65, 113
Logan, William Edmond, 25
logarithmic scale, 119
Loma Prieta earthquake, 88, 242
Lone Pine earthquake, 16–17, 20, 22
Long Beach earthquake, 39, 106, 116–119, 179–180, 242
Longmenchan Fault, xviii
Los Angeles Times, 185–186
Lost Lake, 102–103
Lyell, Charles, 3–4, 31–32
M
Maacama Fault, 212, 235
Madison, Dolley, 36
Madison, James, 36
magma, 145, 155
magnetic anomalies, 159–160, 164–166
magnetic isochron numbers, 165–166
magnitude scale, 110, 118, 120, 122
Mallet, Robert, 31–38, 59, 158
Manetti, Giannozzo, 34–35
Marshall Islands, 122–123
Matthes, Francois, 17
Maybeck, Bernard, 72–73
McCain, Candy, 223
Mediterranean earthquakes, 35, 226–228
Mendocino triple junction, 211–213
Merced Formation, 28–29
Merychippus tehachapiensis, 108
Mesozoic Age, 152
Metallic Wealth of the United States, The, 3
Middle East earthquakes, 35
Millikan, Robert, 111, 114
Milne, John, 113, 115
Mission Creek Fault, 216
Mississippi River, 35–37
Morgan, Elvin, 174
Mormon Rocks, 92, 104, 108, 136
Moses, 33
Muir, John, 12–15, 17, 20, 26, 53, 218
Mussel Rock, 28–29, 63, 84, 102
Mycenae, Greece, 225–227
N
Nature, 108
Neenach Volcanic Formation, 144–146
New England earthquake, 18
New Madrid earthquake, 36–38, 40
Newport-Inglewood Fault, xvii, 234
New York Times, 175
New York Tribune, 14
Niagara Escarpment, 24–25
Niagara Falls, 24
Nixon, Richard, 174
Noble, Levi Fatzinger, 92–108, 136, 142
Norris Oil Company, 132–133
North American plates, xvii, 158–162, 165–167, 191, 202, 206–222
North Anatolian Fault, xviii, 228, 230, 240–241
Northridge earthquake, 124–125, 234, 242
nuclear reactor, 244
nuclear tests, 122–123
Nur, Amos, 225–230
O
ocean ridges, 150, 153–166, 208
ocean trenches, 154–158
oil reservoirs, 130–135, 170
O’Mara, John, 43
orogenies, 207–209
Other Worlds, 109
Overland Monthly, 16
Owens Valley earthquake, 16–17, 20, 31, 218, 221
P
Pacific basin, xvi, 156
Pacific plate, 158, 160–161, 207–211, 215–220, 237, 242
Pacific Ring of Fire, 35
Palache, Charles, 27–30, 63, 102
paleontology reports, 6, 160
paleoseismology, 196–202, 215, 224, 231, 234, 237–239
Palmieri, Luigi, 112–113
Pangaea, 160–161
Parkfield experiment, 187–190
Petrarca, 201
piercing points, 22
Pinnacles volcanic rocks, 144–146
Plageman, Stephen, 176
plate boundaries, xvii, 158�
�160
“plates,” 158, 161–162. See also specific plates
plate tectonics, xvi–xvii, 160, 163
Portugal earthquake, 18
“Possible Origin of the Hawaiian Islands,” 156
predictions, 171–192, 207
Press, Frank, 172, 177, 181–187
pressure ridges, 30
Principles of Geology, 3, 31
Puente Hills Fault, 234
R
Raymond Fault, 233–234, 241
Reelfoot Lake, 37
Reid, Doris Fielding, 69, 224
Reid, Harry Fielding, 64–69, 224
Richfield Oil Company, 130–135
Richter, Charles, 108–125, 166, 171, 174, 225, 234, 246
Richter, Lillian, 120
Richter scale, 110, 118, 120, 122
Richter’s Scale, 110, 117
Ring of Fire, 35
Rivera triple junction, 211–213
Rodgers Creek Fault, 212, 235
Romeo and Juliet, 34
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 87
Roosevelt, Theodore, 47
Rose Canyon Fault, 234
Russell, Hubbard “Hub,” 133–134
S
Sacramento Bee, 24
sag ponds, 30
Salinian Block, 11, 220
Salton Sea, xvi, 143, 162, 188, 196, 199, 210, 214–216, 237–239
Salton Trough, 214–217, 222, 237
San Andreas Fault
in 1906, 64, 137, 187–188, 195–197, 203, 236, 240, 244
age of, 165–166
discovery of, 27–28
explanation of, xvii
fault gouge along, 101, 103
length of, xvi
location of, xvi–xvii, 8–11, 98–101, 236–239, 243–244
rupture of, 47–70, 68, 239–241
segments of, xvii, 31, 100, 142, 187–191, 202, 212–221, 236–244
San Andreas Valley, 27–31
San Fernando earthquake, 87, 179–185, 196, 242
San Francisco Chronicle, 87, 186
San Francisco earthquake, xiii–xviii, 47–70, 74–78, 89, 103–105, 124, 173–176, 203, 221, 240
San Francisquito Fault, 210–211
San Gabriel Fault, 212–213
San Gregorio-Hosgri Fault, 206–207, 211–212, 219, 241
San Jacinto Fault, xvii, 216–219, 236–240
San Juan Capistrano, 193–194, 198
Santa Barbara earthquake, 90–91, 242
Santa Monica Fault, 233–234
scarp, 17, 20, 22–23, 100, 179, 226
Schliemann, Heinrich, 226
Schmitt, Harrison, 187
seafloor anomalies, 150–151, 154–161, 164–168
seismic belts, 35, 101, 155, 165–167, 219–222