http://laist.com/attachments/la_zach/Calif-Quake-Scenario.jpg

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/07/29/PH2008072901783.jpg

Earthquake-Los Angeles

On the 18th of May 2009 Los Angeles was hit with an earthquake of a magnitude of 4.7. It happened at around 8:30 pm local time and was around 10 miles south-west of downtown Los Angeles. There were three aftershocks after this earthquake with a magnitude of 3.1. Books and items fell crashing to the ground and windows where smashed. This was a light earthquake compared to some of the ones Los Angeles face as sometimes bridges and houses are knocked down. If you are ever somewhere and there is an earthquake drop to the ground. Crawl under a sturdy table and don’t come out until the shaking as stopped. If there is no table crawl into a corner away from windows or stand under a doorway. You have to do these things because the doorway is a lot more sturdy so it will be more likely to stay standing during the shaking.

hondo-tsumani

On the 15th of June 1896 the main island of Japan known as Hondo was struck with a tsunami. It was caused by an earthquake out at sea. The earthquake was formed by two plates colliding 90 miles off shore. It took 35 minutes to reach the Japanese shore. The coast line for 175 miles was hit by this great wave. It was 125 feet high. The tsunami only lasted 30 minutes but had devastating results as it killed around 27000 people and left over 9000 houses in ruins. Unfortunately there was many people on the shore as they where celebrating the home-coming of their soldiers. It destroyed property worth over 6 million yen and it left acres and acres of land turned to waste.

how volcanoes work

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4469061453115836229&hl=en#

mt. Vesuvius- Volcano

Mt Vesuvius is 1277 meters high and is one of the most famous eruptions which happened in 79 A.D. it destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum, but the lava persevered the city and the bodies. This meant that it provided a great opportunity for the historians. They didn’t discover the buried city of Pompeii until they were rebuilding a town which had been destroyed in 1631. The volcano then erupted again in 1944 during the second world war. There where signs of the volcano erupting for a few months before because of small explosions over several days. On the 18th of March it erupted and the towns on the slopes had to evacuate. Black stones fell on the towns which broke branches and tore through metal and the tents the armies where staying in.
This is the only active volcano in Europe and its name means un-extinguished. This volcano erupts around every 100 years. Many people still choose to live by Mt. Vesuvius because the ash is a great soil and good for growing vines. Mt Vesuvius is still an active volcano today and is a big threat to the 3000 people living nearby.

introduction

hi. I am Elaine and i am in 4th year. I am writing my blog on places which have been affected by natural disasters. This week I will be writing about Mt. Vesuvius,Italy. I will look at a few different natural disasters around the world. I chose to do this because I am very interested in what happens around the world and how these disasters happen. I hope you enjoy.