An interesting book based on a course taught by one of the authors at Wesleyan University. The intent is to give liberal arts students some exposure to “hard” science by relating seismology to world history; or “Plate Tectonics for Poets”. The approach is to take nine historical earthquakes and discuss short, medium and long term effects on human life.


The first chapter, on earthquakes in the Bible, is the weakest; while the tectonics of Palestinian, Anatolian, and Arabian platelets and the Dead Sea rift zone are explained accurately, the attempt to relate specific earthquakes to the fall of the walls of Jericho and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah greatly overestimates the historical accuracy of the Old Testament. I suppose I have a personal gripe about this; either these events and others mentioned in the Bible are miracles or they aren’t. If they’re miracles there’s not much point in seeking scientific explanation; if they’re not miracles than straining to pound the round peg of Biblical accounts into the square hole of science doesn’t really help either field.


However, things get better after that. The next quake discussed is in 464 BCE and (the authors suggest) contributed to the decline of Sparta. The tectonic background, with the valley of Laconia described as a subsided fault block ( a graben) between uplifted linear mountain ranges made me think of geography of the Peloponnesus in a new light. The claim (of Diodorus Siculus; the authors think it’s exaggerated) that 20000 Spartans died under collapsed buildings in a 7.2 earthquake perhaps could account for Sparta’s loss of military power. I’m not sure; the timing doesn’t seem quite right: Sparta was still a major state after 464 BCE but it’s interesting to think about.


The next earthquake series occurs in England in 1580 along the Artois fault zone. This was relatively mild (Mercalli felt intensity of VII in London); it knocked down a few chimneys and tsunamis in the Channel destroyed some fishing boats. However, the authors relate it to a line in Romeo and Juliet (“Tis since the earthquake now eleven years”) and suggest this pins the date of the play at 1591 (first attested mention was 1595). Other earthquakes along the same fault zone are suggested to contribute to religious changes in England, including the rise of Methodism.


The massive 1755 Lisbon earthquake definitely had a religious and political effect; the secular authorities wanted to “bury the dead and feed the living” but the Jesuit community in Portugal insisted that these actions were futile until the entire population had gathered in the remains of churches and prayed for forgiveness. The obvious inutility of this plan lead to the decline of Jesuit power in Portugal.


The 1811 and 1812 New Madrid earthquakes (which influenced the career of Tecumseh) and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (which destroyed the San Francisco political machine as well as a good chunk of the city) are discussed next, followed by the 1923 Kanto earthquake in Japan. The undamaged survival of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel contributed to his success as an architect, and the generous assistance provided by the United States prompted Prime Minister Yamamoto to say that the ties of peace between the two countries had been strengthened. Well, for a while, anyway. More sinister is the claim that the Kempetai used the chaos to assassinate many opponents of the regime. Thus, it can be argued that the subsequent militarism of Japan was the direct result of the Philippine, Eurasian and Pacific plates intersecting almost underneath Tokyo.


The final two earthquakes are the 1970 Peruvian quake (the largest loss of life from an earthquake in the Western Hemisphere) and the 1972 Managua quake. According to the authors, and not unreasonably, both of these contributed to subsequent political unrest. In both cases, aid poured in from all over the world and in both cases corrupt governments kept it for themselves (the authors quote Daniel Ortega as claiming that the Managua quake changed the Sandinistas from a primarily rural and peasant movement to an urban movement with considerable support from the middle class.


Interestingly, the authors don’t mention the 1992 Dashur earthquake in Egypt. Although few lives were lost – about 16 IIRC – the quake mangled infrastructure in Cairo, cutting sewers, electricity, water lines, and blocking streets. The government response was excruciatingly slow, and fundamentalist mosques quickly took up the slack to provide food, water, and housing to Cairenes. This reportedly greatly strengthened the Muslim Brotherhood; I certainly found a dramatic difference in the outward expression of Islam, especially women’s dress, between my visits to Egypt in 1991 and 1993.


Recommended; both the tectonics and the history are relatively simple but the juxtaposition of the two provides a lot of food for thought. There’s a companion volume dealing with volcanic eruptions; I’ll have to pick that up as well. ( )

The authors explain the geological processes responsible for earthquakes, and describe the powerful influence these events have had on human history. De Boer and Sanders take us to the Holy Land, ancient Sparta, the Great Lisbon Earthquake, medieval England, New Madrid and San Francisco in the US, Japan, and the Andes, and describe the geological processes that caused each earthquake and the changes it wrought in the society and culture of the region.

A fascinating book for anyone interested in earthquakes. history or sociology. ( )