How past disasters can help us prepare for the future
In ‘The Big Ones,’ Lucy Jones discusses planning for the next catastrophe
DEVASTATING DISASTERS The magnitude 9.1 earthquake and resulting tsunami that hit the island of Sumatra (shown) in Indonesia in 2004 was one of the world’s first truly global disasters, argues seismologist Lucy Jones in her new book, The Big Ones.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
The Big Ones
Lucy Jones
Doubleday, $26.95
People call Lucy Jones the “earthquake lady.” For nearly 40 years, Jones, a seismologist, has been a leading voice in California on earthquake science and safety. A few months after retiring from the U.S. Geological Survey in 2016, she founded the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society to bring policy makers and scientists together to discuss disaster resilience.
Now Jones is bringing that discussion to the public in her new book, The Big Ones. She offers a fascinating history of how catastrophic natural events — including the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, Iceland’s
