Terrifying Tectonics
By Irelynn, Kaitlyn, Ryan, and Kara
Welcome to the Danger Zone
There are many gorgeous places on the Earth. There is a lot of scenery and wildlife to enjoy too. After carefully analyzing the top most dangerous places, our science group has come up with Maule, Chile; Sumatra, Indonesia; Sumbawa, Indonesia; and San Diego, California as the most dangerous places to live. We are not here to persuade you into thinking that these places are the most perilous, that’s for you to decide.
Mount Sinabung, Northern Sumatra
Why Live There?
Tectonic Plates?
Why Is It So Dangerous?
The Indian oceanic plate was shoved under the Eurasian continental plate (as a result of being located on a convergent boundary) which formed the Volcanic Arc in western Indonesia. Sumatra itself was formed by volcanoes just like Hawaii. The Indonesian Earthquake was caused by subduction (one plate pushed under another plate). It formed in the Indian ocean and triggered many tsunamis that hit Indonesia. Sumatra was hit by earthquakes 25 times since 1797. Since 1997, there have been at least 294,728 deaths as a result of earthquakes. Mount Sinabung is located in North Sumatra Indonesia and has erupted at least 55 times since 2010 after being inactive for 400 years. While volcanic eruptions happen quite frequently, they haven’t taken as many lives as earthquakes. Indonesia is one of the most dangerous places on the earth due to tectonic activity.
San Diego, California
Welcome
Welcome to San Diego, California. Home of beautiful beaches and many family friendly activities. This city has a population of 1,388,348 and is a wonderful place to live. This city draws in numerous home buyers every year. People move to the city because of its great weather, safe neighborhoods and U.S. navy base. However, there are some dangers with living in San Diego.
Tectonic Plates
The city of San Diego is located on a transform plate boundary. With a transform boundary, the tectonic plates slide horizontally by each other causing earthquakes. Transform boundaries cause the worst of earthquakes. San Diego is located along the San Andreas fault line. This is famous for many awful earthquakes. Transform boundaries can also cause mountains.
Why Is It Dangerous?
Sumbawa, Lesser Sunda Islands Chain, Indonesia
Why Live There?
Tectonic Activity
Evidence
Maule, Chile
Magnificent Maule
Danger Down Deep
Beautiful Beast
So sure, some mountains have formed, but don’t those make Chile a prettier, more attractive place? It seems that tectonic plates don’t cause much harm. This is entirely, extremely, without a doubt incorrect. The history of earthquakes in and around Maule suggest that tectonic plates do, in fact, cause harm. A major example of this is the 2010 earthquake. This earthquake reached an 8.8 magnitude on the Richter Scale- and the Richter Scale measures out of 10! This earthquake was, quite simply, massive. Over 4,000 people were killed- 4,332 to be exact. This earthquake caused damage amounting up to 66.7 million dollars. This quake was easily the biggest one in Maule history. But what’s one earthquake going to hurt? Well, to start things off, this earthquake was huge! And this isn’t the only earthquake the city has experienced. There have been several other quakes in the past with magnitudes of 3.1, 3.5, 3.9, and 4.2. These may be smaller and less damaging, but they happen frequently. How frequently? Why, they are still happening today! In fact, there was an earthquake on October 30, 2013 which reached a 6.3 on the Richter Scale. These earthquakes will continue to happen, as long as the Nazca and South American plates are converging. And those two huge land masses don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon. ⃞
Dirty Destruction
Thanks for Visting the Danger Zone
After reading this article you can now ask yourself, what location has the most risky environment? Out of the top four locations listed above, which is the least treacherous? Are you lucky enough that you do not have to worry about such a crisis in your area? Can your family withstand mother nature’s powerful weather? Looks can be deceiving, the prettiest places and things in the world can turn out to be the most hazardous. Being prepared for things like this to happen is very important when visiting one of the above locations. Don’t be distracted by the beauty. Natural disasters are more common than one might think.
Sources
http://www.columbia.edu/~vjd1/subd_zone_basic.htm
(Kara)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_Chile
(Kara)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Andreas_Fault
(Irelynn)
(Irelynn)
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/The_Geology_of_Indonesia/The_lesser_Sunda_Islands
(Kaitlyn)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tambora
(Kaitlyn)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sumatra
(Ryan)