T HE H ISTORY O F T SUNAMI ’ S, H URRICANES T ORNADOES V OLCANOES AND E ARTHQUAKES By: Heidi Norris

W HAT ARE THEY ? Tsunamis: A Tsunami is the Japanese for “Harbour Wave” and is caused by an under water disturbance such as a earthquake or volcanic eruption. Hurricanes: A Hurricane is a fierce storm which can cause flooding and damages to buildings such as house or shops. Tornadoes: A Tornado is a violent rotating column of extending air from a thunderstorm to the ground. Earthquakes: An Earthquake is caused by the earths plates colliding. This can cause flooding and also cause damage to buildings. Volcanoes: A volcano is a mountain that opens downwards to a pool of molten rock below the surface of the earth.

PICTURES

W HAT IS THE R ICHTER S CALE ? The Richter scale was developed by Charles Richter in It is used to measure the strength of the earthquake. The Richter scale is measured from being the lowest and 10 being the highest

T SUNAMI ’ S : J APAN On March 11 th 2011 a tsunami hit off the coast of Honshu in Japan. The Earthquake/Tsunami churned up to 10metres high. The official amount of deaths from the tsunami was 12,690. On March 14 th more than 1,000 bodies washed up on shores. The coast was hit by more than 150 aftershocks in the three days after the Earthquake. The Japanese Prime Minister has described this as one of Japan’s worst disasters since World War II.

T HE J APAN T SUNAMI !

T SUNAMI ’ S : T HAILAND On December 26 th 2004 the Indian Ocean Tsunami was caused by an earthquake that is thought to have had energy of 23,000 atomic bombs. It was under the Indian Ocean near the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a magnitude of 9.0 at epicentre. The movement of the tectonic plates in the Indian Ocean caused a break of more than 600 miles long. The tsunami slammed into the coastline of 11 Indian Ocean countries from far east Africa to Thailand. The Tsunami took its victims completely by surprise killing 150,000 people with the final death toll of 238,000. The food and water got contaminated by rotting bodies in the tropical heat.

The Thailand Tsunami

H AITI E ARTHQUAKE The Haiti earthquake was a magnitude of ,500,000 people were affected by this Earthquake. The estimated death toll was 220,000 people. More than 300,000 people were injured. Over 188,383 house were badly damaged, 105,000 destroyed and1.5 million were left homeless. 4,000 schools were damaged or destroyed.

T ORNADOES About 1,000 Tornadoes hit the U.S.A every year. Tornadoes have occurred in every continent expect Antarctica. In 1896, a deadly tornado drove a piece of wood through the Iron Eads Bridge. The deadliest tornado in history was invisible. In 1925, the Tri-State Tornado had up to a mile wide path and travelled for 220 miles across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana at 60 to70mph. About 2,000 people were injured and about 700 killed. Tornadoes last about 10 minutes but the deadliest tornado last up to three and a half hours.

T ORNADOES

H URRICANE K ATRINA On August 24 th Hurricane Katrina formed in the Atlantic ocean. It hit Miami causing major flooding and power loss and death to 11 people. The Hurricane Katrina had winds up to 175mph. Katrina hit Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and may have even hit parts of Canada. Nearly 2,000 people died as cities were flooded, buildings were destroyed and thousands had to flee their houses. Hurricane Katrina was one of the four fiercest US storms ever seen.

H URRICANE K ATRINA

V OLCANOES - P OMPEII On August 24 79AD Mount Vesuvius erupted in Pompeii an ancient Roman city years later archaeologists discovered the city of Pompeii. Pompeii was buried by a volcanic eruption. The people in Pompeii had no chance to escape, the city was quickly buried by volcanic ash. An estimated of 16,000 people died from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. You can now go and visit Pompeii and see how it was 1,933 years ago.

POMPEII Thousands of people were buried by volcanic ash This is Mount Vesuvius today

VOLCANOES There is approximately 1,500 active volcanoes in the world and about 10 dormant volcanoes in the world. The exact amount of volcanoes in the world is unknown but it’s roughly 1,510. There 168 volcanoes in the U.S.A. There 452 volcanoes in Asia. There are 65 volcanoes in New Zealand. There are 83 volcanoes in Europe but none of them are active they are all dormant. Kraktoa was a gigantic explosion. Scientists said it was as powerful as 25 atomic bombs.

R EFERENCE I used the internet Google images and books for this project!

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