The Great Quake

How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet

By: Henry Fountain

Narrated by: Robert Fass

New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

A riveting narrative about the biggest earthquake in North American recorded history - the 1964 Alaska earthquake that demolished the city of Valdez and swept away the island village of Chenega - and the geologist who hunted for clues to explain how and why it took place.

At 5:36 p.m. on March 27, 1964, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake - the second most powerful in world history - struck the young state of Alaska. The violent shaking, followed by massive tsunamis, devastated the southern half of the state and killed more than 130 people. A day later George Plafker, a geologist with the US Geological Survey, arrived to investigate. His fascinating scientific detective work in the months that followed helped confirm the then-controversial theory of plate tectonics.

In a compelling tale about the almost unimaginable brute force of nature, New York Times science journalist Henry Fountain combines history and science to bring the quake and its aftermath to life in vivid detail. With deep on-the-ground reporting from Alaska, often in the company of George Plafker, Fountain shows how the earthquake left its mark on the land and its people - and on science.

©2017 Henry Fountain (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

" The Great Quake explains how one of North America's worst recent natural disasters led to a fascinating insight. Henry Fountain offers a gripping tale of loss, heroism, and, ultimately, discovery." (Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction)

"Henry Fountain knows earthquakes, and he knows how to spin a yarn. The Great Quake is the fascinating result. It takes meticulous research and real narrative skill to tell a story that moves this fast yet still feels so complete. The book shines on two levels: as a portrait of two quirky frontier communities before, during and after a stunning disaster, and as the story of an unpretentious geologist whose brilliant analysis of the great quake's causes provided crucial backing for one of the biggest ideas in all of science." (Dan Fagin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Tom's River)

"For five terrifying minutes in 1964, the earth shook beneath Anchorage, Alaska. It devastated the city, and towns and villages throughout the state. In this fast-paced, engaging account of that disaster, Henry Fountain tells us what it was like to be there. His interviews with fortunate survivors bear witness to the pluck and determination of the human spirit - and reveals the better side of our natures in times of crisis. Read this book to better understand nature's power - and our human resilience. Fountain's riveting, 'you were there' account pulls you in, and keeps you turning the pages to find out who survived - and how." (Virginia Morell, author of Animal Wise, a New York Times best-seller)

Very Compelling and Humbling Story

A cautionary tale that's filled with resilience and the pursuit of facts, facts that someday may save lives. I'd recommend our current CIC take a listen and a lesson about the power of nature. and how things once not understood or believed, ultimately have been proven by decades of science. The truth is not false simply because there are doubters .

Extremely interesting!

I didn’t know much about this event, but I also learned a lot about earthquakes and geology. Read well too.

Reads like a page-turner crime story

Fascinating and well written. I arrived in Alaska less than a decade after the earthquake and its impact was still very visible in many places. Half of Fourth Avenue was still sunken and not yet rebuilt. I visited Chenega village and stood in the schoolhouse.

I loved the way the author follows several people in different places throughout the book and how he develops the necessary background in stages. We get a great understanding of plate tectonics written for everyone.

For me, having lived and visited most of the places he describes, it was thrilling and vivid but I think it would be so even for someone who had never been there.

A fabulous read and performance. Five stars all around.

Pacific NW readers take notice

This book is a good blend of personal stories and science. It is estimated that another quake of this size in Alaska is 600 to 800 years away. On the Oregon and Washington coasts a big quakes has happened every 3 to 4 hundred years. The last one was 350 years ago.

Tectonic plate primer + a good story

A good integration of geology theory development with a good retelling of the great earthquake in 1964.
I enjoy Simon Winchester's books. This feels like one of his books.

Enjoyed this one

story is gr8. one or 2 chapters on technicalities and science were not 4 me, but have 2 b there. if u love the science, it's a bonus.

A good history

Not as much geology as i had hoped. It was a good history of the before, during and after, though

Gripping and Suspenseful

Great blend of personal stories, vivid descriptions of the disaster, and the science behind it.

There is Nothing about the Book I Didn't Like!

Where does The Great Quake rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Of the 45 audio books I have finished this year, I would rank The Great Quake in the top 10.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Great Quake?

I would highly recommend Henry Fountain as an author. This book is about the Alaskan earthquake of 1964. I had only experienced this tragic event in documentaries and articles. Henry Fountain does something amazing in the story line, which I am a fan of, in a big way. He blends the story of George Plafker, who was a geologist with the US Geological Survey (a major character in the book) with the story about the victims of the quake, focusing on the early years of a school teacher, Kris Madsen Van Winkle, another major character in the book.

The story involves an emotional tale of the heartache with the loss of life among the residents in the village of Chenega, where Kris Madsen was a teacher in a one room school house at the time of the earthquake. The story is also about the residents of Valdez, and how hard there community was struck by the destruction and loss of life from the earthquake.

However, the story involves a great triumph involving the genius of George Plafker, geologist par excellence! What an amazing piece of journalism. Fountain made many trips to see Plafker and get his story (stated in the Acknowledgments). He provided an excellent background on Plafker's life and accomplishments. He also visited Kris Van Winkle and provided another human interest story on the background of her life as well.

Which scene was your favorite?

I am not a professional scientist, rather a technologist. But I have a great passion for science. My favorite part in this book was describing the detective work by George Plafker during the aftermath of the quake. I have a fairly good understanding of plate tectonics, which causes continental drift. However, I had no idea what a pivotal role George Plafker played in the eventual acceptance of the theory, first put forth by Alfred Wegener in the early 20th century.

If you have little, or no interest in the science of geology, this book may not be the book for you. But is you like to read a well blended story about human interest in communities affected by the earthquake that hit Alaska in the early 1960s, along with an in-depth explanation of what caused the quake and created such profound after-effects, you would certainly enjoy this book.

Any additional comments?

A big thank you to Henry Fountain for telling the story of George Plafker, along with his major contribution to geology and our understanding about the causes of earthquakes. If I had never read this book, I am not sure I would have ever learned about such a great man and his direct contribution to science.

Story of the 1964 earthquake

But much more about the people it impacted and the growth of earthquake geology. Wonder story!