Launch of When Worlds Quake, by Hrvoje Tkalčić

Join us at Paperchain Bookstore for the launch of When Worlds Quake: The Quest to Understand the Interior of the Earth and Beyond, by Hrvoje Tkalčić. In conversation with Hrvoje will be Anna-Maria Arabia.

When Worlds Quake is a fascinating account of how scientists around the globe seek to use quakes to answer tantalising questions about the structure and inner dynamics of our planet and to discover the deepest secrets of our nearest neighbours in the solar system.

Briefly traversing the history of seismology, Hrvoje Tkalčić describes the women and men who sought to understand major seismic events - from the catastrophic 1556 Shaanxi earthquake and the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 to more recent events such as the 2020 earthquakes in Tkalčić's native Croatia - and thus shaped the field. Modern global seismologists now not only study the behaviour of earthquakes but also use seismic waves as tools to image Earth's deep interior. To do this work, they need seismographs positioned around the globe, including in remote, challenging regions. Tkalčić takes the reader along on his own daring expeditions to install seismographs and collect seismic wave data from the wilds of the Australian Outback to the rough depths of the Southern Ocean, and even farther afield to the Moon and Mars, where quakes can be used to image the interiors of these worlds.

A riveting and often personal narrative about the cutting-edge science of global and planetary seismology, When Worlds Quake reveals how quakes can help scientists to understand the mysterious inner architecture and ongoing evolution of our planet, as well as worlds beyond our own.

Hrvoje Tkalčić FAA is Professor of Geophysics at the Australian National University, where he leads a research group in global seismology and mathematical geophysics, and serves as Director of the Warramunga Seismic and Infrasound Monitoring Facility. He received his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. From the depths of the Southern Ocean, where he led the first Australian academic deployment of ocean-bottom seismometers, to the surface of the Moon, where he will lead efforts to analyse data from SPIDER, the first Australian-made seismometer deployed there, his work spans the frontiers of Earth and planetary interior science. Recipient of the Price Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society and an honorary doctorate from the University of Zagreb, he is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and the American Geophysical Union. He currently holds an Australian Laureate Fellowship for his program "Echoes from the Planetary Cores: Seismic Insights into Deep Worlds." His books include The Earth's Inner Core.

Anna-Maria Arabia OAM is a science executive and strategic leader with over 25 years' experience at the intersection of research, policy, government, and global affairs. As CEO of the Australian Academy of Science for a decade, she shaped national decision-making, advanced science diplomacy from the Asia-Pacific to the UN, and ensured science remained influential in Australia's most consequential policy debates. A former neuroscientist, her career spans the public service, politics, senior executive leadership, whilst serving on a number of boards. Anna-Maria combines intellectual depth with practical judgement and has fluency across government, business, philanthropy, the media, and the research sector. She was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia and the Order of the Star of Italy for her contributions to science and society. In 2026 she founded Scientia Advisory, continuing to place knowledge and knowhow in the rooms that matter.

This event is free but as space is limited please book to secure your place.