000			01543cam a2200169 a 4500
999			_c338197 _d338197
020			_a9780393080957 (hardcover)
082	0	0	_a363.34 _bKIE.D
100	1		_aKieffer, Susan W.
245	1	4	_aThe dynamics of disaster / _cSusan W. Kieffer.
250			_a1st ed.
260			_aNew York : _bW. W. Norton & Co., _cc2013.
300			_axvi, 315 p. : _bill., maps ;
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
520			_a"Natural disasters bedevil our planet, and each appears to be a unique event. Leading geologist Susan W. Kieffer shows how all disasters are connected. Humans persist in building centers of civilization in places of past disasters. We believe that our technology will protect us next time. Yet we rarely win these battles with the earth because we don't understand natural disasters deeply enough. Susan W. Kieffer has two goals for her unique book. The first is to show how the dynamics--the workings--of disasters are connected by a small number of natural laws. The second is to show that the most obvious process in a disaster is not always the one that causes the devastation. For instance, the transformation of apparently solid ground into a substance like quicksand during the 2010 Haiti earthquake is what caused the destruction of Port au Prince. Kieffer argues that only by truly understanding the dynamics of natural disasters can we begin to institute engineering and policy practices to minimize their impact on our lives"--Provided by publisher.
650		0	_aNatural disasters.
942			_cBK