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In January 1995 the earthquake which struck Kobe, Japan, exposed a sloppy emergency rescue operation. Peter Hadfield’s revised edition of Sixty Seconds That Will Change the World (Pan, £6.99, ISBN 0 330 34580 X) brings a chilling account of an ill-prepared, unsuspecting city confronted by an imminent earthquake still to hit Tokyo. This urban horror story waiting to happen is predicted to kill millions, cause catastrophic destruction, and ultimately lead to worldwide recession. A frightening read.