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Detailed Reference Information
Ni 2004
Ni, J.F. (2004). Early Earthquakes of the Americas. Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union 85: doi: 10.1029/2004EO450012. issn: 0096-3941.

Robert Kovach's second book looks at the interplay of earthquake and volcanic events, archeology, and history in the Americas. Throughout history, major earthquakes have caused the deaths of millions of people and have damaged countless cities. Earthquakes undoubtedly damaged prehistoric cities in the Americas, and evidence of these events could be preserved in archeological records. Kovach asks, Did indigenous native cultures-Indians of the Pacific Northwest, Aztecs, Mayas, and Incas-document their natural history? Some events have been explicitly documented, for example, in Mayan codices, but many may have been recorded as myth and legend. Kovach's discussions of how early cultures dealt with fearful events such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are colorful, informative, and entertaining, and include, for example, a depiction of how the Maya would talk to maize plants in their fields during earthquakes to reassure them.

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Abstract

Keywords
History of Geophysics, Seismology, Seismology, Paleoseismology, Books
Journal
Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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