New Guinea
Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Why people want to live here
New Guinea is a beautiful island in the Pacific Ocean. It is north of Australia connected to a chain of islands called the Mariana islands or 5.9054° S, 147.4080° E. The capital is Port Moresby. Green trees dot the land while clear sky blue water snake though the island. White sandy beaches with everlasting crushing waves splash against the sand in a never ending rhythm. 7,013,829 people lived there in 2011. People love the scenery, the people, food, and the fun that wait. The official languages are English, Tok Pisin, and Hiri Motu. The currency is Papua New Guinean kina.
Tectonic Plates in the area
The plates that shift around New Guinea cause the volcanoes and earthquakes. The movement of the plates causes earthquakes to happen due to the breaking of the rock. The South Bismarck Plate pushes towards the Australian Plate causing one plate to move under the other making a way for lava to escape. The Solomon Sea Plate pulls away and towards the Australian Plate at once. Two plates pulling away simply makes a gap for the lava to get out.
Why its so Dangerous
New Guinea seems to be a nice place to live but, watch out where you live on the island. Volcanoes and earthquakes are common on the island. The plates make sure of that. Most of the volcanoes on the island are composite. These types of volcanoes do not go down easy. Usually they take half the mountain created with it to the ground causing lots of death. It’s not the lava and the eruption that does the most killing. The ash clouds and gases from inside the volcano burst out and choke civilians to death. The after effects of the volcano can cause the death line to clime too. People can die from earthquakes, fires, landslides, and tsunamis. Financials can go up too because of the after affects such as railroads bent, pipe lines destroyed, looting, and buildings collapsing due to the earthquakes.