GEOLOGICAL JOURNAL

Geol. J. 40: 121–126 (2005)

BOOK REVIEWS

EARTHSHAKING SCIENCE: WHAT WE KNOW (ANDDON’T KNOW) ABOUT EARTHQUAKES by Susan Eli-zabeth Hough. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ,2002. No. of pages: 238. Price: £17.95 (hardback). ISBN0 691 05010 4.

In Earthshaking Science, Susan Hough, a research scientistat the USGS in Pasadena, California, presents an introductionto a wide range of topics related to earthquake science andengineering. The stated objectives of the author are to give abasic understanding of earthquake science and to conveysome of the excitement of current research and controversiesto readers without a background in seismology. In my opinion,Hough does an admirable job of achieving her goals.

The book starts with a chapter outlining the basic ideas ofplate tectonics and follows with chapters on earthquakemechanisms and size (fault models, magnitudes, etc.) andearthquake interactions (what triggers earthquakes andwhy they often occur in sequence). In a fourth chapter,Hough discusses ground motion caused by earthquakesand what factors affect how strongly the ground shakesunder different geological conditions. The topics of earth-quake prediction and seismic hazard analysis are dealt within the next two chapters. How scientists study ancient earth-quakes (paleoseismology) is introduced in Chapter 7 and afinal chapter summarizes what the present state of hazardand preparedness for earthquakes is in different regions,particularly in the USA.

The book is an excellent summary of the major ideas andresearch frontiers as seen by one of the most active workersin the field. Earthquake interactions, a topic in which therehas been a lot of recent interest, are introduced as a possiblenew breakthrough in the understanding of earthquake mech-anisms and the hope is cited that it may lead to more reliableforecasting of events. Limitations of earthquake predictionare well covered in Chapter 5. Procedures of seismic hazardanalysis, such as the collection of previous earthquake data,the development of recurrence models and the estimation ofattenuation and local site effects, are adequately explainedin Chapter 6, and it is shown how these lead to the proposalof probabilistic estimates of seismic hazards in differentregions of the USA. The next chapter on paleoseismic

methods should particularly appeal to geologists becausethis is where there is an interface between the geologicalmapping of faults and estimates of previous slip and whereidentification of features in the geological record, such assand blows, help in the determination of recurrence intervalsof earthquakes.

Many sections of the book are related in a narrative style,because the author and her colleagues were intimatelyinvolved in the research leading up to several of the advancesof the science, and this makes the book relatively easy to read.Sidebars on personal experiences, interactions of seismolo-gists and related topics also add human interest to the subjectof the book and give an insight into the everyday activities ofpeople engaged in seismological research. The largely non-mathematical treatment should enhance the text’s appeal tothe non-specialist. Geologists, in general, will find new infor-mation to help them when they are consulted as earth sciencespecialists after an earthquake occurs in their region.

A few figures in the book, particularly in the chapter onground motions, are confusing. In a scientific text that doesnot use mathematical equations, clear and lucid figures arevital in conveying quantitative ideas in graphical form. Forexample, in Figure 4.6, the lack of arrows on the rays in thebasin leads one to wonder what their relationship to theearthquake source is. Again, although Hough quite rightlypoints out the problems of incorrect and misleading earth-quake information on many web sites on the WWW, sheneglects to give reference to those sites which are reliable.The web site at http://www.geophys.washington.edu/ seis-mosurfing.html provides links to national and academicsites, which provide useful and appropriate information onearthquakes for most of the countries of the world.

In spite of the latter criticisms, Hough has produced areadable and thorough account of the progress made inunderstanding earthquakes and their effects at the beginningof the 21st century. The book is well worth a place on anyearth scientist’s bookshelf.

KENNETH BURKE

Published online in Wiley InterScience(www.interscience.wiley.com).

DOI: 10.1002/gj.974

THE EARTH INSIDE AND OUT: SOME MAJOR CON-TRIBUTIONS TO GEOLOGY IN THE TWENTIETHCENTURY edited by David R. Oldroyd, GeologicalSociety of London Special Publication No. 192, 2002.No of pages: 369. Price: £85.00 (hardback). ISBN1 86239 096 7.

This book is a collection of 15 papers from a symposiumheld at the International Geological Congress in Rio deJaneiro under the auspices of the International Commissionon the History of Geological Sciences.

My first thought on reading the Introduction was that Iwas in for a long and tedious read. However, with only

Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.