:15 Fifteen Seconds: The Great California Earthquake of 1989 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Fifteen Seconds is a photo journal that commemorates the 1989 earthquake. The book is a series of pictures, quotes and captions that are put together to show the reader how terribly destructive the 1989 San Francisco earthquake really was. This is a book definitely worth reading. It gives the reader a good view of what happened on October 17, 1989. If you want detailed information in written form, this is not a book to read. If you enjoy learning through art and photographs, this book will be a fun and interesting read.
With photographs, quotes, and captions this book tries to show you how it might seem if you were in the position of one of the many victims of the earthquake. Fifteen Seconds has many quotes that give you even more of a feel for how the victims viewed their situations and how this disaster affected so many lives of so many innocent people.
For example on page 35 a Santa Cruz resident compared the earthquake to her experience in a hurricane and tornado. She found the earthquake to be much worse.
The book sends a message through every single picture. Each picture is individual and has its own significance in its own way. The book Fifteen Seconds starts out with pictures of the great World Series game that was disrupted by the tremendous tremble. It also features a large section on the Marina District fire. Damage to the the Bay Bridge is included as well as the memorial services after the quake.
Even though all of the pictures are still without movement, as I read this book it was almost like I was reliving the great catastrophe of 1989. I could just feel the ground shaking below my feet and I could watch as the Marina fire started to burn. I could just imagine the tears streaming down my neighbor's face as if I were at the memorial service for a loved one who had died. Every picture is worth a thousand words.
One of the pictures that made the biggest impression on me is a picture of I-880. The picture on page 18 and 19 of the book gave me a good idea of how destructive this quake really was. In the picture there is a long stretch of highway which at one point used to be straight. In the picture the highway is twisted and turned and formed into an almost water wave like shape. There is smoke rising from the newly formed wave of cement and the caption read simply enough:
"Smoke rises from the mangled top span of I-880 in Oakland minutes after it collapsed, killing forty two people"
That small little note on the bottom of page 18 sums up the picture in what I thought just the best way possible. It tells me what I need to know and lets the picture tell the rest of the story as my imagination carried me away. There is also a quote on that page that read like this:
"I said to myself ` Lord don't let this span collapse,' and just about that time the span collapsed" Dave Rieman
That small quote tells whatever part of the story that had been left out. It tells me something about the people who had actually been there and actually experienced it. It brings me that last missing piece of the puzzle and really pulls me into the scene.

Click Here to see more reviews about: :15 Fifteen Seconds: The Great California Earthquake of 1989

Click here for more information about :15 Fifteen Seconds: The Great California Earthquake of 1989