The Buzz...About Books

I really felt that tremor yesterday afternoon, but many friends, family, even people a few feet away missed it entirely.  Fortunately, Toronto escaped undamaged, but these events always lead one to reflect on the awesome power of nature.  Toronto Public Library has a large selection of books about earthquakes in its collection. 

This is a small sampling of titles about real life earthquakes.

A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 by Simon Winchester
On April 18, 1906, an 8.25 earthquake struck northern California.  It lasted little longer than a minute but reduced San Francisco to rubble, destroying 25,000 buildings and leaving 250,000 people homeless. 

• Audiobook

Haiti After the Earthquake by Paul Farmer
Paul Farmer is a doctor who worked with the injured in Port-au-Prince following the deadly 2010 earthquake.  Farmer not only writes about his own experiences but also examines the social and political issues that made post-disaster recovery so difficult.

The Last Day: Wrath, Ruin, and Reason in the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 by Nicholas Shrady
In 1755, a massive earthquake struck Lisbon.  The initial quake was devastating and was followed by firestorms and tsunamis that levelled the city.  Shrady looks beyond the physical damage to examine the emotional impact on the survivors and on European society.

When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrigue, and Murder and the New Madrid Earthquakes by Jay Feldman
The earthquakes that struck the Mississippi River Valley in 1811-1812 were among the strongest in US history, however loss of life was minimal.  Feldman examines the earthquakes in the context of the era, a period of great social and political change in America.

Yokohama Burning: the Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II by Joshua Hammer
Journalist Hammer uses diaries, letters, and interviews to recreate the disaster that killed 140,000 in Yokohama, Japan.  The book also examines the science of seismology that emerged at this time.