The Great Quake

Robert Fass's narration of this audiobook may remind listeners of when their ancestors told stories to remember great disasters. Fass uses an evenhanded reporting style, enhancing the story of the 1964 Alaska earthquake and letting the magnitude of the events shock and awe listeners. And the facts are overwhelming: a 9.2 magnitude 'quake, five minutes of shaking, 100-foot waves, 70 million tons of water slamming into the port community of Valdez, six-foot-wide cracks in the ground. The audiobook is loosely constructed around the personal experiences of two people, a geologist and a teacher, and also explains the development of plate tectonics theory. Fass's narration and the author's excellent research and writing will make this audiobook a science classic. R.W.S. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine