International Handbook of Earthquake & Engineering Seismology, Part A (Volume 81A) (International Geophysics, Volume 81A)

I've been coveting this book for a while but was put off by the price. When I stumbled on it advertised for almost half the list price in the Amazon Marketplace I was ready to purchase. I then wondered if it was too good to be true. The description was in "as new condition" but who knew what that actually meant and since this is a reference book, I didn't want coffee stains on pages. But my excitement about owning them won out and I decided to purchase the book. They arrived well before the estimated arrival date which was a nice surprise but the really big surprise was that the book was immaculate. I couldn't be more happy with my purchase. I also bought Part B which was also in excellent condition.

International Handbook of Earthquake & Engineering Seismology, vol. 81-Aedited by William H.K. Lee, Hiroo Kanamori, Paul C. Jennings, and Carl Kisslinger, 2002,Academic Press, a division of Elsevier Science, vol. 81-A, 933 p. with 54 chapters, $150.00one CD-ROM, with 2,000+ additional pages of text and seismology software.Includes the following seismology chapters that will be of interest to engineering geologists in California:Agnew, Duncan Carr, History of Seismology, Chapter 1, p. 3-11.Housner, George W., Historical View of Earthquake Engineering, Chapter 2, p. 13-27. Professor George Housner of Caltech is considered the father of earthquake engineering, so this chapter is particularly insightful.Aki, Keiiti, Synthesis of Earthquake Science Information and its Public Transfer: a History of the Southern California Earthquake Center, Chapter 5, p. 39-49. Professor Aki taught seismology at MIT for several decades, then moved to USC to become the Science Director of SCEC which officially began in 1991. His historical insights are particularly useful to younger geologists and seismologists in California. In 1996, Dr. Aki retired as Professor Emeritus of Seismology. The Science Director of SCEC is currently Dr. Thomas H. Jordan.McNutt, Stephen R., Volcano Seismology and Monitoring for Eruptions, Chapter 25, p. 383-406. Professor Steve McNutt received his PhD from Lamont-Doherty at Columbia University. Steve worked for a decade at the California Geological Survey in Sacramento where he was deeply involved with monitoring of the Long Valley Caldera near Mammoth Lakes. He is now professor of seismology at the University of Alaska and monitoring active volcanoes in Alaska and elsewhere.Satake, Kenji, Tsunamis, Chapter 28, p. 437-451. In the aftermath of the December 26, 2004 tsunami and M9 earthquake in Sumatra that killed over 213,000 people, this chapter on tsunamis has gained added relevance to engineering geologists working in the United States.Sibson, Richard B., Geology of the Crustal Earthquake Source, Chapter 29, p. 455-473.Grant, Lisa B., Paleoseismology, Chapter 30, p. 475-489; plus complete archive of figures as .pdf files on CD-ROM. A highly useful chapter for practicing engineering geologists by Dr. Lisa Grant, professor of geology at the University of California, Irvine. She specializes in trenching active faults in California, especially the San Andreas Fault in the Carrizo Plain.Brune, James N., and Thatcher, Wayne, Strength and Energetics of Active Fault Zones, Chapter 35, p. 569-588.Utsu, T., Relationships Between Magnitude Scales, Chapter 44, p. 733-746.Toppozada, T.R., and Branum, David, California earthquakes of M'5.5' their history and the areas damaged, Chapter 48.2, p. 793-798, plus complete archive .pdf file on CD-ROM. This concise summary will be particularly useful to practicing engineering geologists in California.Please refer to the separate book review for the companion Volume 81-B; it contains a large number of chapters of interest to engineering geologists.Robert H. SydnorEngineering Geologist and SeismologistFair Oaks, CaliforniaLM-AEG, LM-SSA, LM-AGU, M-EERI