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Earth Shattering Earthquakes
An introduction to earthquakes discusses the causes and characteristics of quakes, earthquake folklore, notable earthquakes and seismologists, aftershocks, methods of predicting and surviving earthquakes, and future quakes.
127 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 28, 2025
The general information Anita Ganeri provides in Earth-Shattering Earthquakes (and I have been reading the 2010 edition on Open Library), this is, this seems to be (from what I personally have learned from my own non fiction reading pursuits and from what I was taught regarding earthquakes, what they are, what are the signs that often precede quakes, how to survive earthquakes, information regarding seismologists etc. and of course also details regarding plate tectonics both at school and equally so when I took a first year geography course at university) mostly and decently factually correct.
And yes, Earth-Shattering Earthquakes very nicely and equally delightfully engagingly presents lots and lots of interesting earthquake facts, it shows how the Pacific Ocean is hugely seismically active (in other words that the area is due to the above mentioned plate tectonics quite prone to large and destructive quakes) although Ganeri does not in Earth-Shattering Earthquakes only showcase destructive earthquakes of the Pacific Ocean area such as the 1906 San Francisco, California earthquake and the 1995 quake in Kobe, Japan but is also featuring with the 1755 Lisbon, Portugal earthquake a hugely and all encompassingly destructive quake that was situated in the Atlantic Ocean (and not to mention that I do really appreciate Earth-Shattering Earthquakes also containing some global earthquake themed folklore) albeit I do kind of have to wonder why Anita Ganeri in Earth-Shattering Earthquakes never actually mentions that Alfred Wegener was German, that the only textual clue regarding Wegener's nationality encountered in Earth-Shattering Earthquakes is his name (and that in my opinion Ganeri should certainly be pointing out that one of the reasons Alfred Wegener's continental drift theory, which was later renamed plate tectonics, was originally so roundly rejected not just due to the lack of scientific proof and evidence but also because of specific anti-German sentiment for political and cultural reasons).
But just to say that most of my questions and complaints regarding the factuality of Anita Ganeri's contents and themes for Earth-Shattering Earthquakes, these are very very minor, these are truly almost insignificant and that Earth-Shattering Earthquakes is very nicely suitable as well as entertainingly enlightening for readers from about the age of eight or so onwards, although the general lack of sources and no suggestions for further reading in Earth-Shattering Earthquakes is definitely something I do find pretty frustrating (even though and admittedly, the newer editions of Earth-Shattering Earthquakes such as this one from 2010 now list relevant websites, which is of course good, but that I for one indeed want and also even need both book and online titles, that I simply cannot really consider only online sources being provided in the 2010 edition of Earth-Shattering Earthquakes and seemingly in all of the newer editions of the Horrible Geography books to be sufficient as far as bibliographical materials go, although of course better online sources than none at all).
However (and yes, this is also a pretty humongous however for me), even though I like and also majorly appreciate the solid facts Anita Ganeri provides in Earth-Shattering Earthquakes, sorry, but aside from my personal issues and my frustrations with Ganeri not including any bibliographical information except those above mentioned websites, I also have two further bones of textual contention which cause me to rate Earth-Shattering Earthquakes with only a three star rating, a rather high three stars to be sure, but not yet in any way enough for me to even remotely consider four stars. For one, first and foremost, I have found the humour Anita Ganeri uses in Earth-Shattering Earthquakes for the most part annoyingly crass, too artificial, often actually leaving me feeling majorly uncomfortable when this tongue-in-cheek textuality is juxtaposed with stories of earthquake related devastation and destruction (not to mention that Ganeri's pretty much constant denigrations of geography teachers and of teachers in general throughout Earth-Shattering Earthquakes as well as specifically of seismologists, this truly does make me rather cringe and be filled with more than a bit of annoyance). And for two, while Mike Phillips' black and white cartoons for Earth-Shattering Earthquakes are adept, personally speaking, I have found them much too silly and caricature-like for my personal aesthetic tastes and also too visually unorganised and occasionally even a bit annoyingly confusing (and that I also would definitely prefer colour illustrations and some both archival and current earthquake themed and related photographs to be included in Earth-Shattering Earthquakes).
Thus while Earth-Shattering Earthquakes is definitely nicely educational and engagingly penned, I am indeed with regard to text and images just a wee bit bah humbug and that especially what the author, what Anita Ganeri thinks is humorous and is meant to lighten up Earth-Shattering Earthquakes for the most part just does not really work all that well for me (and actually, and truthfully not at all). But yes, for the right kind of audience and in particular for boys, the exaggerated humour and Phillips' parodistic artwork for Earth-Shattering Earthquakes will or should probably be a huge hit (even if this has not been the case for me with Earth-Shattering Earthquakes and indeed with all of the Horrible Geography books I have encountered and read thus far on Open Library, in particular for adult me of course but also to be honest, to be entirely truthful here, more than somewhat, more than a trifle for my inner child as well).
And yes, Earth-Shattering Earthquakes very nicely and equally delightfully engagingly presents lots and lots of interesting earthquake facts, it shows how the Pacific Ocean is hugely seismically active (in other words that the area is due to the above mentioned plate tectonics quite prone to large and destructive quakes) although Ganeri does not in Earth-Shattering Earthquakes only showcase destructive earthquakes of the Pacific Ocean area such as the 1906 San Francisco, California earthquake and the 1995 quake in Kobe, Japan but is also featuring with the 1755 Lisbon, Portugal earthquake a hugely and all encompassingly destructive quake that was situated in the Atlantic Ocean (and not to mention that I do really appreciate Earth-Shattering Earthquakes also containing some global earthquake themed folklore) albeit I do kind of have to wonder why Anita Ganeri in Earth-Shattering Earthquakes never actually mentions that Alfred Wegener was German, that the only textual clue regarding Wegener's nationality encountered in Earth-Shattering Earthquakes is his name (and that in my opinion Ganeri should certainly be pointing out that one of the reasons Alfred Wegener's continental drift theory, which was later renamed plate tectonics, was originally so roundly rejected not just due to the lack of scientific proof and evidence but also because of specific anti-German sentiment for political and cultural reasons).
But just to say that most of my questions and complaints regarding the factuality of Anita Ganeri's contents and themes for Earth-Shattering Earthquakes, these are very very minor, these are truly almost insignificant and that Earth-Shattering Earthquakes is very nicely suitable as well as entertainingly enlightening for readers from about the age of eight or so onwards, although the general lack of sources and no suggestions for further reading in Earth-Shattering Earthquakes is definitely something I do find pretty frustrating (even though and admittedly, the newer editions of Earth-Shattering Earthquakes such as this one from 2010 now list relevant websites, which is of course good, but that I for one indeed want and also even need both book and online titles, that I simply cannot really consider only online sources being provided in the 2010 edition of Earth-Shattering Earthquakes and seemingly in all of the newer editions of the Horrible Geography books to be sufficient as far as bibliographical materials go, although of course better online sources than none at all).
However (and yes, this is also a pretty humongous however for me), even though I like and also majorly appreciate the solid facts Anita Ganeri provides in Earth-Shattering Earthquakes, sorry, but aside from my personal issues and my frustrations with Ganeri not including any bibliographical information except those above mentioned websites, I also have two further bones of textual contention which cause me to rate Earth-Shattering Earthquakes with only a three star rating, a rather high three stars to be sure, but not yet in any way enough for me to even remotely consider four stars. For one, first and foremost, I have found the humour Anita Ganeri uses in Earth-Shattering Earthquakes for the most part annoyingly crass, too artificial, often actually leaving me feeling majorly uncomfortable when this tongue-in-cheek textuality is juxtaposed with stories of earthquake related devastation and destruction (not to mention that Ganeri's pretty much constant denigrations of geography teachers and of teachers in general throughout Earth-Shattering Earthquakes as well as specifically of seismologists, this truly does make me rather cringe and be filled with more than a bit of annoyance). And for two, while Mike Phillips' black and white cartoons for Earth-Shattering Earthquakes are adept, personally speaking, I have found them much too silly and caricature-like for my personal aesthetic tastes and also too visually unorganised and occasionally even a bit annoyingly confusing (and that I also would definitely prefer colour illustrations and some both archival and current earthquake themed and related photographs to be included in Earth-Shattering Earthquakes).
Thus while Earth-Shattering Earthquakes is definitely nicely educational and engagingly penned, I am indeed with regard to text and images just a wee bit bah humbug and that especially what the author, what Anita Ganeri thinks is humorous and is meant to lighten up Earth-Shattering Earthquakes for the most part just does not really work all that well for me (and actually, and truthfully not at all). But yes, for the right kind of audience and in particular for boys, the exaggerated humour and Phillips' parodistic artwork for Earth-Shattering Earthquakes will or should probably be a huge hit (even if this has not been the case for me with Earth-Shattering Earthquakes and indeed with all of the Horrible Geography books I have encountered and read thus far on Open Library, in particular for adult me of course but also to be honest, to be entirely truthful here, more than somewhat, more than a trifle for my inner child as well).
January 18, 2020
'Does Geography grind you down?
Fed up with miserable maps, rotten rock piles and dire diagrams?
Wave goodbye to boring geography lessons as you brace yourself for the shocking world of 'Earth-shattering Earthquakes'......
Gasp! ...at the earthquake that made a river run backwards.
Run for your life! ...as an earthquake sends the sea surging towards you in a gigantic wave.
Giggle!...at the hamster shaken out of its cage by an earthquake.
And..... if that is not ground-breaking enough for you.......find out what it takes to become an earthquake expert, learn how to survive if an earthquake strikes and discover how rats and snakes can predict tremors.
It's earth shatteringly exciting!
Geography has never been so horrible!'
127 pages, split over 10 chapters:
Introduction
A shocking true story
Cracking up
Whose fault is it?
Shattering shock waves
On very shaky ground
Earthquake experts
Shocking warning signs
Surviving the shock
A shaky future?
Written with the typical humour of this series of books, in a variety of fonts, interspersed with numerous black and white illustrations/cartoons.
Fed up with miserable maps, rotten rock piles and dire diagrams?
Wave goodbye to boring geography lessons as you brace yourself for the shocking world of 'Earth-shattering Earthquakes'......
Gasp! ...at the earthquake that made a river run backwards.
Run for your life! ...as an earthquake sends the sea surging towards you in a gigantic wave.
Giggle!...at the hamster shaken out of its cage by an earthquake.
And..... if that is not ground-breaking enough for you.......find out what it takes to become an earthquake expert, learn how to survive if an earthquake strikes and discover how rats and snakes can predict tremors.
It's earth shatteringly exciting!
Geography has never been so horrible!'
127 pages, split over 10 chapters:
Introduction
A shocking true story
Cracking up
Whose fault is it?
Shattering shock waves
On very shaky ground
Earthquake experts
Shocking warning signs
Surviving the shock
A shaky future?
Written with the typical humour of this series of books, in a variety of fonts, interspersed with numerous black and white illustrations/cartoons.
January 14, 2022
This book is seriously funny, well written and, I suppose, interesting for children.
Being a seismologist, I noticed several mistakes in the text, ranging from not so important (there were much more than 2 miracle babies rescued in Mexico City in 1985) to very inadequate (magnitude 6 earthquake is approx. 32 times - and not 10 times - stronger than magnitude 5, as the formula is logarithmic).
But in general I see it as a good thing to give to your science-loving child, to laugh and learn at the same time.
Being a seismologist, I noticed several mistakes in the text, ranging from not so important (there were much more than 2 miracle babies rescued in Mexico City in 1985) to very inadequate (magnitude 6 earthquake is approx. 32 times - and not 10 times - stronger than magnitude 5, as the formula is logarithmic).
But in general I see it as a good thing to give to your science-loving child, to laugh and learn at the same time.
April 30, 2013
A fun and entertaining read. A very enjoyable way to learn about this topic.
September 25, 2024
I didn’t know Horrible Geography was even a series but I’m glad I found it. Healing my inner child has never been better! A new collection to my bookshelf may be pending…
July 26, 2017
This was a book that I picked up ironically I was flicking through the pages and had no intentions of actually reading it. But after glancing the first page I was slightly more interested and ended up reading the whole thing in the space of an hour. I was never a big geography fan when I was at school but this book shed a little more light onto things. It's true what they say, you learn something new every day. How was I to know that I would gain a good insight into earthquakes from a book designed for children and teenagers?
September 22, 2015
This book has a lot of information about earthquakes-why they happen, where it might occur, and how they happen. It also has information about body waves, surface waves and tsunamis. It has many stories about earthquakes and even that the Mississippi River ran backwards.
November 5, 2009
It is shattering fun stuff
March 28, 2012
it's ment to be glory gardens c.c world cup fever
May 16, 2016
Earthquakes remind me of Poseidon. Haha. I need to have the other books or else I'll dessicate right away. I have learned to love this book but I hate to take the quizzes.
May 23, 2016
394 - 2016
December 7, 2016
This is earth-shattering good.
I feel the earth moved a little and the readers for this title got smarter a little.
I feel the earth moved a little and the readers for this title got smarter a little.
April 16, 2017
Some useful basics, but rather dull tbh. Most likely, because the case studies used are sooo old, when new editions are published, Ganeri should update the earthquakes within.
April 20, 2017
Highly entertaining way in to the subject of plate tectonics and earthquakes. Superb for kids, and not a bad way for adults to expand their horizons in an easy, entertaining way. Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews