Quakeland: On the Road to America's Next Devastating Earthquake by Kathryn Miles

In July, 1964 my husband and his family took a vacation out West. He never forgot the "road that went into the lake" at Yellowstone National Park.  In 1959 there had been an earthquake that caused a massive landslide into a lake. The lake rose 22 feet, so that the roads that once went to the Cabin Creek Campground ended at the lake, and new roads had to be made.

The dirt road going into the lake is blocked off by pylons. The new road goes up the hill.
Yellowstone, 1964, photo by Herman L. Bekofske

Here he was, camping with his family in an area that had been hit by a killer earthquake in his time. It was memorable.

"Earthquake Lake," 1964. Photo by Herman L. Bekofske

Across the road was the canyon wall that caused the country's largest landslide ; it had buried nineteen people.

The mountain face that collapsed into the lake.
Yellowstone, 1964, photo by Herman L. Bekofske

The first chapter of Quakeland recounts the story of a family, just like my husband's, who had gone camping in Yellowstone. The author takes us through their day, searching for the 'right' camping spot, setting up camp, and getting ready for bed. And then we are taken through the horrendous experience the campers endured when the earthquake collapsed the mountain side, sloshed the lake back and forth, creating winds so strong it ripped the clothing off campers, and then deluged the area with a wall of water that drove a stick into a camper's knee socket. Afterwards the lake was 22 feet higher.

The mountain face that collapsed into the lake.
Yellowstone, 1964. Photo by Herman L. Bekofske

It's enough to make me grateful my folks never took me out West camping.

Quakeland is full of stories that will send shivers up your spine. Not only because naturally occurring fault lines that transverse our country cause quakes, which in our ignorance we have built upon--cities like Memphis and Salt Lake City--but also because of human activity that causes earthquakes: dams and mines and fracking and even building tall buildings.

I used to be pretty smug about my home state being 'safe'. We can be hit by tornadoes, but no hurricanes. We aren't known for earthquakes. Yet, Michigan has had its earthquakes and likely will again. There are fault lines in the Upper Peninsula, through the center of the state, and on the Lake Huron side in the "thumb." The state can be shaken by quakes from the New Madrid fault.

When our son was growing up we went to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to camp. We took day trips, apparently all along fault lines! One day we toured the Quincy Mine. This copper mine was effectively closed in 1946. We were almost the only ones there that day. The tour took us to the 7th level of the mine. In 1914 the miners working at the Quincy mine caused a rock burst. Any time we redistribute pressure the earth will respond. Mining is a human-created cause of earthquakes, and the Keweenaw mining area has a history of quakes.

The closed Quincy copper mine

The biggest earthquake in Michigan history, magnitude 4.6, occurred in 1947 near Coldwater, MI, a flat, agricultural area in Southern Michigan just above the state line. In 1994 the state was hit by a magnitude 3.4 quake centered near Potterville, just west of Lansing. And in 2015 a magnitude 4.2 quake was centered in Galesburg  just south of Kalamazoo. We have lived in Lansing, and a half-hour down the road from Coldwater and Kalamazoo. Four months ago a 2.2 quake occurred in Grosse Point, just east of Detroit.

So much for being 'safe' from earthquakes.

Miles style was entertaining and the information very accessible. Readers who enjoy learning about the natural world, disasters or potential disasters, and the implications of the energy industry's impact on our natural world will enjoy this book. Just be warned: this book may keep you awake at night.

I received a free book from the publisher through a Goodreads giveaway.

Quakeland: On the Road to America's Next Devastating Earthquake
by Kathryn Miles
Dutton
$28 hard cover
ISBN: 978-0-525-95518-4

I also recently reviewed The Great Quake by Henry Fountain about the 1964 Alaska earthquake, mentioned in Quakeland several times. Read my review at:
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-horrendous-1964-alaskan-earthquake.html