Most Dangerous Places Worldwide
By: Gabrielle Larson, Madison Haas, and Mackenzie Baker
Sumatra, Indonesia
Sumatra; Paradise
Sumatra, Indonesia has a welcoming warm climate between sixty-nine, and ninety-one degrees Fahrenheit year round. The tropical scenery, the high mountains, and many forests create a paradise for the people. Many exotic plants and animals call this place home as do over two hundred million people. But below the surface, volcanoes and earthquakes are stirring.
Tectonic Activity
Indonesia is one of the most seismically and volcanically active zones of the earth. The subduction zones, created by the Australian plate diving underneath the Eurasian plate, form volcanoes when magma, hot gases, and fragments of rock burst through the surface. The Philippine plate and Pacific plate also collided with island, the plates under the Pacific Ocean are plunging beneath the plates carrying the continents. The grinding of the colder, brittle ocean plates beneath the continental plates creates huge strains that are released in the world's largest earthquakes. A major strike-slip fault lies directly over Sumatra, similarly caused by horizontal compression, but they release their energy by rock displacement in a horizontal direction.
Damage Done
Over three hundred earthquakes hit Sumatra each year, more than half over a magnitude of six. An average of over six thousand people die in Sumatra due to the natural disasters. The third largest earth quake with a magnitude of 9.1 was recorded in 2004. Earthquakes are known to cause tsunamis, heavy flooding, and mud flows that wipe out cities. Tsunamis are known to spread to other countries, spreading the damage with waves over ninety-eight feet tall. The volcanoes are known for violent eruptions spewing ash and debris, and causing tsunamis, lahars, and mudflows. This paradise island is a beauty, but in action, one of the deadliest places on Earth.
Kanto Region, Japan
The Residents
The Kanto region is located around the middle of Japan. It’s a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The seven prefectures of Kanto are Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Gunma, Tochigi, and Ibaraki. A bit more than 40% of the region is Kanto plane. Almost all views of the Kanto region are beautiful. The rest of the region is mountains and hills that form the land’s boarders. According to the 2010 census the region’s population is 42,607,376 people. That’s about one third of Japan’s population. The main reason people stay is because they believe Japan is their natural home, and the love all the natural beauty.
The Eurasian Plate
The Kanto region is located right on the boarder of the Eurasian plate. The Eurasian plate is one of the most dangerous plates. It’s very dangerous because it’s mostly known for having highly dangerous volcanoes and earthquakes. This plate is oceanic and continental. This plate has multiple volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. The Japan Meteorological Agency states that there are 108 active volcanoes in Japan.
Worldwide Effects
One of the most dangerous places in the world is Japan solely because of all of the volcanoes. The earthquakes cause tsunamis, and the tsunamis can travel to America to the west coast. These earthquakes, even though they are happening in a place across the ocean, can still damage America. To sum it up, if there is an earthquake in Japan, it could cause damage to America as well. If a person would like to live there they had better be prepared, and should expect for the worst.
Honiara, Solomon Islands
About
Between Australia and the Pacific Ocean is the capital of The Solomon Islands, Honiara. Honiara has a population of roughly 50,000 people. People chose to live in Honiara because of its large spread out town with its own airport. It’s surrounded by water so it is very easy to catch fish and other aquatic animals. Honiara also has a tropical rainforest climate with no dry season, thus making the areas within 25 miles of this place is covered with oceans and seas, forests, grasslands, and/or croplands.
Where
Facts
Cited Sources
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"Indonesia facts - Travel & Cultures - National Geographic." 2010. 25 Feb. 2013 <http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/indonesia-facts/>
"Eurasian Plate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." 2004. 25 Feb. 2013 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Plate>
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