Witness to Disaster: Earthquakes. National Kids Geographic

      

      Earthquakes

       WITNESS TO DISASTER

      “It is amazing how the Earth tells us that it is alive, that it moves and changes like any living organism.”

      Dr. Alberto M. Lopez-Venegas, United States Geological Survey

      Earthquakes

       WITNESS TO DISASTER

      JUDITH BLOOM FRADIN & DENNIS BRINDELL FRADIN

      Text copyright © 2008 Judith Bloom Fradin and Dennis Brindell Fradin

      Published by the National Geographic Society. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission from the National Geographic Society is strictly prohibited.

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      Fradin, Judith Bloom.

       Earthquakes: witness to disaster / by Judy and Dennis Fradin.

       p. cm.—(Witness to disaster)

       Includes bibliographical references.

      1. Earthquakes—Alaska—Anchorage region. I. Fradin, Judith Bloom. II. Fradin, Dennis B. III. Title.

       QE535.2.U6F68 2008

       551.22—dc22

      2007044164

      ISBN: 978-1-4263-0979-3

      National Geographic Society

       John M. Fahey, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer;

       Gilbert M. Grosvenor, Chairman of the Board;

       Tim T. Kelly, President, Global Media Group;

       Nina D. Hoffman, Executive Vice President; President, Books Publishing Group

      Staff for This Book

       Nancy Laties Feresten, Vice President, Editor-in-Chief of Children’s Books

       Amy Shields, Executive Editor

       Bea Jackson, Director of Design and Illustration

       Jim Hiscott, Art Director

       Lori Epstein, Illustrations Editor

       Jean Cantu, Illustrations Specialist

       Carl Mehler, Director of Maps

       Jennifer A. Thornton, Managing Editor

       Priyanka Lamichhane, Assistant Editor

       R. Gary Colbert, Production Director

       Lewis R. Bassford, Production Manager

       Maryclare Tracy, Nicole Elliott, Manufacturing Managers

      Photo Credits

       cover, Reza / NG Image Collection; back, Emory Kristof / NG Image Collection; spine, Bill Roth/ Anchorage Daily News/ Associated Press; 2-3, James Balog/Getty Images; 5, Koji Sasahara/ Associated Press; 6, Ward W. Wells/ Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center; 9, Pratt Museum; 10, Stan Wayman/Life Magazine, Copyright Time Inc./ Time Life Pictures/Getty Images; 11, Central Press/Getty Images; 12, Chiaki Tsukumo/ Associated Press; 13, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Reproduced with permission. c2000 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. All Rights Reserved; 15, NG Image Collection; 16 up left, Susan Sanford/ NG Image Collection; 16 up right, Susan Sanford / NG Image Collection; 16 lo left, Susan Sanford / NG Image Collection; 16 lo right, Susan Sanford / NG Image Collection; 18, Ann Johansson/ Associated Press; 19, Kashuhiro Nogi/ AFP/ Getty Images; 21, J.R. Stacy/ USGS; 22, Library of Congress; 23, National Information Service for Earthquake Engineering, EERC, University of California, Berkeley; 25, USGS; 26, Newspaperarchive.com; 27, Library of Congress; 28, J. B. Macelwane Archives, Saint Louis University; 29, USGS; 31, T. Kuribayashi, National Information Service for Earthquake Engineering, EERC, University of California, Berkeley; 32, Chris Sattlberger/ Photo Researchers, Inc.; 33, Banaras Khan/ AFP/ Getty Images; 35, Mike Poland/ USGS; 37, Commander Emily B. Christman/ NOAA; 38, Chuck Nacke//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images; 39, C.E. Meyer/ USGS; 40-41, Farzaneh Khademian/Corbis; 42, Jim Holmes/ Axiom/ Getty Images; 43, Reza / NG Image Collection; 44, Keystone/ Getty Images;

      Version: 2017-07-06

      CONTENTS

      Introduction: Japan Earthquake

      Chapter 1: “The Ground Would Not Stop Shaking”: Alaska, 1964

      Chapter 2: “As If a Giant Foot Had Stepped On It”: Why Does the Earth Quake?

      Chapter 3: “The Heart of This Old Earth Was Broken”: Famous Earthquakes

      Chapter 4: “Only a Matter of Time”: Predicting and Preparing for Earthquakes

      Glossary

      Bibliography

      Further Reading and Research

      Interviews by the Authors

      Acknowledgments

      Index

      Introduction: Japan Earthquake

      As one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, Japan is well prepared for such disasters. Buildings on the island nation are designed to withstand large earthquakes. Schoolchildren are taught how to protect themselves when they occur. Drills are held regularly to make sure citizens react safely when the ground shakes.

      But nothing could prepare the Japanese people for what occurred on March 11, 2011. At 2:46 on that Friday afternoon, giant slabs of the Earth’s crust nearly 200 miles (320 kilometers) long and 100 miles (160 kilometers) wide fractured and were thrust beneath Japan’s northeast coast. The result was the fourth biggest earthquake to strike our planet over the past century. It was so powerful that it pushed northeastern Japan 13 feet (4 meters) to the east and dropped the island’s coastline two feet. Buildings toppled as if they were children’s toys, and people were buried beneath the rubble.

      But the quake wasn’t done with Japan. The upheaval lifted the sea floor and sloshed the ocean water, spawning giant waves known as a tsunami. Walls of water moving as fast as a jet plane struck the Japanese coast and pounded it with waves as tall as a three-story building.

      The earthquake and the tsunami waves it created killed an estimated 25,000 people. In addition, the disaster damaged a cluster of nuclear reactors, leaving survivors without electricity. Leaking radioactive fumes from the reactors forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate the area. Many fear that radioactive contamination from