Plate tectonics and great earthquakes : 50 years of earth-shaking events / Lynn R. Sykes.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Transform faults : my road to seafloor spreading, continental drift, and plate tectonics -- Childhood, high school, MIT, and Columbia University -- Earthquakes along fracture zones and mid-oceanic ridges, 1963-1965 -- Earthquakes at subduction zones, 1965-1967 -- Subduction, plate tectonics, and the new global tectonics, 1967-1969 -- Earthquakes in the Caribbean and Alaska -- Long-term earthquake prediction, seismic gaps : Alaska, Mexico, and South America -- The 1906 earthquake and long-term prediction for California -- My work with the U.S. National Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council -- Japanese earthquakes and the Fukushima nuclear disaster -- Earthquakes in the eastern and central United States -- Earthquake risks to nuclear power reactors : Indian Point and North Anna -- Nuclear power reactors in the United States : lessons learned from the Fukushima disaster -- Travels to earthquake countries and a trip to the Earth's mantle in Newfoundland -- Advances in long-term earthquake prediction : future prospects.

The theory of plate tectonics transformed earth science. The hypothesis that the earth's outermost layers consist of mostly rigid plates that move over an inner surface helped describe the growth of new seafloor, confirm continental drift, and explain why earthquakes and volcanoes occur in some places and not others. Lynn R. Sykes played a key role in the birth of plate tectonics, conducting revelatory research on earthquakes. In this book, he gives an invaluable insider's perspective on the theory's development and its implications. Sykes combines lucid explanation of how plate tectonics revolutionized geology with unparalleled personal reflections. He entered the field when it was on the cusp of radical discoveries. Studying the distribution and mechanisms of earthquakes, Sykes pioneered the identification of seismic gaps--regions that have not ruptured in great earthquakes for a long time--and methods to estimate the possibility of quake recurrence. He recounts the various phases of his career, including his antinuclear activism, and the stories of colleagues around the world who took part in changing the paradigm. Sykes delves into the controversies over earthquake prediction and their importance, especially in the wake of the giant 2011 Japanese earthquake and the accompanying Fukushima disaster. He highlights geology's lessons for nuclear safety, explaining why historic earthquake patterns are crucial to understanding the risks to power plants. Plate Tectonics and Great Earthquakes is the story of a scientist witnessing a revolution and playing an essential role in making it.