“Only fools, charlatans and liars predict earthquakes.”

So quipped the late Charles Richter, who knew enough about nature’s ultimate upheavals to invent the scale by which they are measured.

Nevertheless, prediction is the siren song of earthquake studies—the alluring problem on which reputations can be won or wrecked. Not just careers, but million of lives and billions of dollars depend on the ability of scientists to say just when and where the earth will move. In fact, much of the entire history of earth science has been a struggle to account for the periodic lurching of solid ground. Follow as NOVA  takes a look at the high-stakes quest to predict earthquakes.

Special DVD features include: scene selections; and access to the NOVA Web site.

On one DVD5 disc.  Region coding: Region 1.  Audio: Dolby stereo.  Screen format: 4 x 3 full frame.