Coming Quake: Science and Trembling on the California Earthquake Frontier

by T.A. Heppenheimer

Offers historical and scientific evidence for the inevitability of a major California earthquake, and discusses earthquake lore and precautionary measures

290 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 1988

About the author

Thomas A. Heppenheimer (January 1, 1947 – September 9, 2015) holds a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan, and is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He has held research fellowships in planetary science at California Institute of Technology and at the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg, Germany.

He has been a freelance writer since 1978. He has written extensively on aerospace, business and government, and the history of technology. He is a frequent contributor to American Heritage and its affiliated publications, and to Air & Space. He has also written for the National Academy of Sciences, and contributed regularly to Mosaic of the National Science Foundation. He has written some 300 published articles for more than two dozen publications.

Reviews

[Reader]

Loved reading this book. Anyone who lives in California knows about earthquakes and what the future of California it holds.
When will the big one hit, how big will it be, how much damage will it make, and other questions that need to be answered. Past earthquakes that have happened in this state and what they might tell us of the coming quake.

[Fredrick Danysh]

Heppenheimer explores the reasons that massive earthquakes will re-occur in California. He provides technical data and photographs to back up his assessments