46 pages • 1 hour read
Peg KehretEarthquake Terror
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1996A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Geological Context: Earthquakes
Earthquakes generally occur at fault lines, places of weakness in the earth’s crust where two of the earth’s plates rub together. In California, where the novel is set, the earth’s plates are steadily moving past each other in opposite directions at the slow pace of about 1.5 inches per year. Whenever the plates snag on each other and suddenly snap free, an earthquake occurs. California has hundreds of fault lines, but its longest fault line is the San Andreas Fault. The San Andreas Fault marks the tectonic plate boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. It runs from Cape Mendocino in the north to the Salton Sea in the south, a distance of about 750 miles. In the novel, Jonathan thinks about what he has learned about earthquakes in school and mentions the San Andreas fault. Kehret also provides some general information about earthquakes from Jonathan’s point of view as he reflects on what he knows about them.
Throughout this survival tale, the author crafts a variety of descriptions of the types of damage that earthquakes can cause. The violent shaking of earthquakes can result in structural damage, landslides, tsunamis, fires, ground displacement, and more. One type of damage noted in the novel is surface rupture, which can cause cracks and damage to paved roads. The rescue helicopter notes damage to roads below due to surface rupture. This impacts cars, trains, homes, trees, and the bridge between Magpie Island and the mainland. Kehret also describes the fires in Beaverville that occur because of broken gas lines and explains how the problem is compounded when water lines are broken and the fires cannot be extinguished. The shaking caused by earthquakes can lead to many types of destruction and is often only the first link in a chain reaction of issues. In this novel, Kehret captures the immense power and danger that earthquakes pose and uses this geological phenomenon to showcase The Power of Nature.
Cultural Context: The 1990s
Earthquake Terror was published in the 1990s, several years before most average families had access to modern technology such as cell phones. Although the exact year of the novel’s setting is never mentioned, the lack of modern technology present in the novel suggests that the story is set in the early- to mid-1990s, or what Kehret would have considered to be “modern times” at the time of publication.
For young readers, it is important to consider how drastically technology has changed since the 1990s. For example, most middle-grade readers since this time frame have grown up in a world with easily accessible conveniences such as cell phones, GPS devices, and drones. Access to these technologies would certainly change the events of the story. However, these technologies were not widely available to families and rescuers during the time frame in which the novel is set. Because no members of the Palmer family have cell phones, they have no way to call for help or communicate with each other once they are separated. Furthermore, Mr. Palmer and the helicopter rescuers have no GPS for pinpointing Jonathan and Abby’s locations. The helicopter must therefore wait until dawn to start searching for Jonathan and Abby, further delaying the children’s rescue and increasing the dramatic tension of the story.
Considering the safety benefits that such technology can bring to modern-day adventures and camping trips, the decision to incorporate technological devices into standard camping supplies is a question that each person approaches somewhat differently. Camping is often seen as a way to escape technology and “unplug” temporarily, and therefore, even modern-day hikers and campers sometimes make the conscious choice to leave essential communication gear like cell phones at home. However, technology can save lives if disaster strikes, and choosing to leave cell phones behind may compound dangerous situations. Overall, the novel’s setting in the 1990s is an important element that must be considered in order to fully understand Jonathan and Abby’s dire survival situation. Had the novel been set in the present day with modern technologies, the story likely would have played out quite differently.
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