A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 (P.S.)

published	2006 by Harper Perennial
binding	Paperback
isbn	0060572000 (isbn13: 9780060572006)
pages	512
description	Geologically speaking, 1906 was a violent year: powerful, destructive earthquakes shook the ground from Taiwan to South America, while in Italy, Mount...more [close] Geologically speaking, 1906 was a violent year: powerful, destructive earthquakes shook the ground from Taiwan to South America, while in Italy, Mount Vesuvius erupted. And in San Francisco, a large earthquake occurred just after five in the morning on April 18--and that was just the beginning. The quake caused a conflagration that raged for the next three days, destroying much of the American West's greatest city. The fire, along with water damage and other indirect acts, proved more destructive than the earthquake itself, but insurance companies tried hard to dispute this fact since few people carried earthquake insurance. It was also the world's first major natural disaster to have been extensively photographed and covered by the media, and as a result, it left "an indelible imprint on the mind of the entire nation." Though the epicenter of this marvelously constructed book is San Francisco, Winchester covers much more than just the disaster. He discusses how this particular quake led to greater scientific study of quakes in an attempt to understand the movements of the earth. Trained at Oxford University as a geologist, Winchester is well qualified to discuss the subject, and he clearly explains plate tectonics theory (first introduced in 1968) and the creation of the San Andreas Fault, along with the geologic exploration of the American West in the late 19th century and the evolution of technology used to measure and predict earthquakes. He also covers the social and political shifts caused by the disaster, such as the way that Pentecostalists viewed the quake as "a message of divine approval" and used it to recruit new members into the church, and the rise in the local Chinese population. With many records destroyed in the fire, there was no way to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants, and thus many more Chinese were granted citizenship than would have otherwise been. Filled with eyewitness accounts, vivid descriptions, crisp prose, and many delightful meanderings, A Crack in the Edge of the World is a thoroughly absorbing tale. --Shawn Carkonen [close]
date added	12-31-06 edit book

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Curtis rated it:

11/27/07

bookshelves: history, science

Read in October, 2007

recommends it for: Anyone

Much of the discussion of tectonic theory and geology in Winchester's title on the Krakatoa eruption is not covered in this book for obvious reasons. I would recommend those with the interest to read that title at some point.

A fair amount of this book covers not the actual aftermath of the earthquake which most people remember as the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 but rather events leading up to it and the nature of American and world geology.

I'm not going to write a spoiler here bu...more Much of the discussion of tectonic theory and geology in Winchester's title on the Krakatoa eruption is not covered in this book for obvious reasons. I would recommend those with the interest to read that title at some point.

A fair amount of this book covers not the actual aftermath of the earthquake which most people remember as the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 but rather events leading up to it and the nature of American and world geology.

I'm not going to write a spoiler here but I will touch on some points as to why this is an interesting read. To us 100 years seems a lifetime away but in geological times it's pretty much just a heartbeat. When you talk about the '06 event or the 1888 Krakatoa event it is sort of like discussing something that happened in political news just yesterday, or earlier today. It requires a perspective adjustment to see it's significance. The Earth is not on our schedule it has a timeline all it's own.

There is a great deal of research in the area of studying earthquakes but as yet no real way to know when and where one will hit. This book however gives you an idea of how they work and of the different types. Not all earthquakes are the same and his focus is on those occurring along the faults in North America. The book delves into events on the East Coast, the Midwest, and of course the West Coast. It also discusses the role of volcanism in North America including the Super Volcano that is Yellowstone National Park.

Again the Gaia theory of a world that is essentially a big ecosystem or machine is touched upon. Winchester is not an apostle of this hypothesis rather he lays out cooly for the reader. Interesting in 1906 there were a number of significant geological events that occurred ranging from volcanic eruptions to major earthquakes in South America. Is the result of the continual churning of the continents as pressure is released in one area and built up elsewhere? Movement in one region of the world perhaps leading to slippage in another? It is an hypothesis.

Without writing a spoiler I'll provide one very contemporary observation he touches on. In 2002 there was a major earthquake in Alaska that thankfully didn't hurt too many people as it may have. Interestingly a change was observed in the geysers of Yellowstone some 1500+ miles away. Normally erupting in a very precise timetable it has apparently been shown that the timing change at precisely the time the shockwaves came in from Alaska. Of course it doesn't matter where on earth you are or if you feel them, earthquake vibrations can be recorded.

Interesting in that Yellowstone is one of roughly ten volcanoes known by the new term Super Volcano (coined by the BBC in the late 1990s I believe). To perk you interest more? If you have ever been to Yellowstone it's not like other volcanoes with the crater on top of mountain peak. The crater there is essentially an indentation in the tectonic plate, that is the entire park roughly 40 miles wide is the crater. The lava chamber stretches under three states. If it goes you have to think about a nuclear ice age type of thing.

Oh and it's a thousand years overdue :)

So just when you thought it was crazy to live in California and that a 1906 earthquake was an interesting but irrelevant historical fact right?

The gist: the big earthquake also due in California could conceivably effect the magma chamber etc of the largest volcano in the Western Hemisphere if not the world.

Another interesting note. We are seeing some effects of global warming in the weather. About 7/8 of the worlds tectonic plate surface is underwater. What effect might the warming of the oceans have on a interrelated system per the Gaia hypothesis. The amount of energy the warming creates is astounding.

That last isn't in Winchester's book, just an observation of my own.
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A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 (P.S.)

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