I'm a geology buff (especially earthquakes and volcanoes) and really enjoyed this book on the '06 SF quake. The Hayward Fault is the one geologists most fear could cause a HUGE quake at any time. Interestingly, a mere 1.8 quake occured yesterday just inside the beltway in northern Virginia and it was big news here. I was surprised in how wide an area people claimed to have felt it at 1:30p yesterday.

"A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906"

http://www.amazon.com/Crack-Edge-World-California-Earthquake/dp/0060571993

"Amazon.com
Geologically speaking, 1906 was a violent year: powerful, destructive earthquakes shook the ground from Taiwan to South America, while in Italy, Mount Vesuvius erupted. And in San Francisco, a large earthquake occurred just after five in the morning on April 18--and that was just the beginning. The quake caused a conflagration that raged for the next three days, destroying much of the American West's greatest city. The fire, along with water damage and other indirect acts, proved more destructive than the earthquake itself, but insurance companies tried hard to dispute this fact since few people carried earthquake insurance. It was also the world's first major natural disaster to have been extensively photographed and covered by the media, and as a result, it left "an indelible imprint on the mind of the entire nation."


Simon Winchester also wrote this interesting book: "Krakatoa - The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AI4...T64NA2DEZE6JQWF


And another interesting read, by the author of Cadilac Desert: "A Dangerous Place - California's Unsettling Fate"

http://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Place-Ca...9835&sr=1-2