tSunaMi

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5. A tsunami is a series of sea waves caused by an underwater earthquake, landslide, or volcanic eruption. More rarely, a tsunami can be generated by a giant meteor impact with the ocean.
6. A tsunami is not just one wave but a series of waves or a “wave train.”
7. Many witnesses say a tsunami sounds like a freight train.
8. When the ocean is deep, tsunamis may be less than a foot high on the ocean’s surface, can travel at speeds up to 500 mph without being noticed and cross the entire ocean in less than a day.
9. Once a tsunami reaches the shallow water near the coast, it slows down. The top of the wave moves faster than the bottom, causing the sea to rise dramatically, as much as 100 feet at times.
10. Tsunami waves can be as long as 60 miles and be as far as an hour apart. These waves can cross entire oceans without losing much energy.
11. Flooding can reach land 1000 feet (300 meters) from the coastline and the dangerous waves have enough force to lift giant boulders, flip vehicles, and demolish houses.
12. Scientists can accurately estimate the time when a tsunami will arrive almost anywhere around the world based on calculations using the depth of the water, distances from one place to another, and the time that the earthquake or other event occurred.
13. Hawaii is the U.S. state at greatest risk for a tsunami – they get about one per year and a damaging one every seven years. The biggest tsunami that occurred Hawaii happened on April 1, 1946, where the coast of Hilo Island was hit with 30 foot waves coming in at 500 miles per hour. 170 people died as a result.
14. In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami was caused by an earthquake that is thought to have had the energy of 23,000 atomic bombs. Within hours of the earthquake in 2004, killer waves radiating from the epicenter slammed into the coastline of 11 countries, damaging countries from east Africa to Thailand. By the end of the day, the tsunami had already killed 150,000 people. The final death toll was 283,000.
15. Not counting the 2011 tsunami in Japan, there were 26 tsunamis that killed at least 200 people or more in the last century.

aValaNcheS

1. 1.About 250,000 avalanches occur each year in the Alps, a mountain chain in Europe.
2. 2.In the past ten years, France has recorded more avalanche fatalities than any other country.
3. 3.The vast majority of avalanches that occur in the U.S. are found in West Coast states, but in the past six years, Alaska has recorded more avalanche fatalities than any other state.
4. 4.Each year, avalanches claim more than 150 lives worldwide, a number that has been increasing due to the boom in mountainside industries and recreation.
5. 5.Skiing, hiking and other winter sports draw millions of people to the mountains. To support these activities, more roads, buildings and towns are being built in avalanche prone areas.
6. 6.89% of avalanche victims are men and most are between the ages of 20 and 30.
7. 7.¾ of victims are experienced back-country pros who are more likely to enter risky situations.
8. 8.The highest number of fatalities occurs in the winter months (January through March) when the snowfall amounts are highest in most mountain areas.
9. 9.A significant number of deaths occur in May and June, demonstrating the hidden danger behind spring snows and the melting season that catches many people off-guard.
10. 10.Slab avalanches are the most common and most deadly avalanches, where layers of snow pack fail and slide down the slope.
11. 11.In 90% of avalanche accidents, the victim, or someone in the victim's party, triggered the avalanche.

fLo0ds

1. 1.Since 1900, floods have taken more than 10,000 lives in the United States alone.
2. 2.Flash floods often bring walls of water 10 to 20 feet high.
3. 3.95% of those killed in a flash flood try to outrun the waters along their path rather than climbing rocks or going uphill to higher grounds.
4. 4.66 % of flood deaths occur in vehicles, and most happen when drivers make a single, fatal mistake trying to navigate through flood waters.
5. 5.Just 6 inches of rapidly moving flood water can knock a person down.
6. 6.A mere 2 feet of water can float a large vehicle even a bus.
7. 7.1/3 of flooded roads and bridges are so damaged by water that any vehicle trying to cross stands only a 50% chance of making it to the other side.
8. 8.The great Mississippi River Flood of 1993 covered an area 500 miles long and 200 miles wide. More than 50,000 homes were damaged, and 12,000 miles of farmland were washed out.
9. 9.Hurricanes, winter storms and snowmelt are common (but often overlooked) causes of flooding.
10. 10.New land development can increase flood risk, especially if the construction changes natural runoff paths.
11. 11.Communities particularly at risk are those located in low-lying areas, near water, or downstream from a dam, but everyone lives in a flood zone — it's just a question of whether you live in a low, moderate, or high risk area.

t0rNado

1. 1.A tornado appears as a rotating, funnel-shaped cloud that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground with whirling winds that can reach 300 miles per hour.
2. 2.Damage paths can be in excess of one mile wide and 50 miles long.
3. 3.Simply said, tornados may form when a warm front meets a cold front forming a thunderstorm which can spawn one or more twisters.
4. 4.Rotating thunderstorms called mesocyclones (or supercells) are the best predictors of tornado activity. Mesocyclones are well defined thunderstorms on radar that may include hail, severe winds, lightning and flash floods.
5. 5.Most twisters or cyclones travel from southwest to northeast, and can move in the opposite direction for short periods and may even backtrack if hit by winds from the thunderstorm's core.
6. 6.Funnel clouds usually last less than 10 minutes before dissipating with many only lasting several seconds. On rare occasions, cyclones can last for over an hour as many were reported to have done in the early 1900's.
7. 7.They may appear nearly transparent until dust and debris are picked up or a cloud forms in the funnel.
8. 8.Tornadoes can accompany tropical storms and hurricanes as they move onto land.
9. 9.Twisters strike predominantly along Tornado Alley – a flat stretch of land from west Texas to North Dakota. The region is ideal for tornadoes, as dry polar air from Canada meets warm moist tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico.
10. 10.Tornadoes are most likely to occur between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m., but can occur at any time.
11. 11.In the southern states, peak tornado occurrence is in March through May, while peak months in the northern states are during the summer.

v0LcaN0

1. 1.A volcano is a mountain that opens downward to a pool of molten rock below the surface of the earth. When pressure builds up, eruptions occur.
2. 2.In an eruption, gases and rock shoot up through the opening and spill over or fill the air with lava fragments. Eruptions can cause lava flows, hot ash flows, mudslides, avalanches, falling ash and floods.
3. 3.The danger area around a volcano covers about a 20-mile radius.
4. 4.Fresh volcanic ash, made of pulverized rock, can be harsh, acidic, gritty, glassy and smelly. The ash can cause damage to the lungs of older people, babies and people with respiratory problems
5. 5.Volcano eruptions have been known to knock down entire forests.
6. 6.An erupting volcano can trigger tsunamis, flash floods, earthquakes, mudflows and rockfalls.
7. 7.More than 80% of the earth's surface is volcanic in origin. The sea floor and some mountains were formed by countless volcanic eruptions. Gaseous emissions from volcano formed the earth's atmosphere.
8. 8.There are more than 500 active volcanoes in the world. More than half of these volcanoes are part of the "Ring of Fire," a region that encircles the Pacific Ocean.
9. 9.Active volcanoes in the U.S. are found mainly in Hawaii, Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington, but the greatest chance of eruptions near areas where many people live is in Hawaii and Alaska.
10. 10.Even though the volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland was relatively small, the ash cloud that was produced disrupted European air travel for six days in April 2010. The eruption created the highest level of air travel disruption World War II.
11. 11.Crater Lake in Oregon formed from a high volcano that lost its top after a series of tremendous explosions about 6,600 years ago.

HuRRicaNes

1. 1.Hurricanes are giant, spiraling tropical storms that can pack wind speeds of over 160 miles an hour and unleash more than 2.4 trillion gallons of rain a day. These same tropical storms are known as cyclones in the northern Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal, and as typhoons in the western Pacific Ocean.
2. 2.The Atlantic Ocean’s hurricane season peaks from mid-August to late October and averages five to six hurricanes per year.
3. 3.When they come onto land, the heavy rain, strong winds and heavy waves can damage buildings, trees and cars. The heavy waves are called a storm surge.
4. 4.The difference between a tropical storm and a hurricane is wind speed – tropical storms usually bring winds of 36-47 miles per hour, whereas hurricane wind speeds are over 74 miles per hour.
5. 5.Hurricanes are classified into five categories, based on their wind speeds and potential to cause damage.
   • Category One -- Winds 74-95 miles per hour
   • Category Two -- Winds 96-110 miles per hour
   • Category Three -- Winds 111-130 miles per hour
   • Category Four -- Winds 131-155 miles per hour
   • Category Five -- Winds greater than 155 miles per hour
6. 6.Hurricanes are named to help us identify and track them as they move across the ocean. For Atlantic Ocean hurricanes, the names may be French, Spanish or English, since these are the major languages bordering the Atlantic Ocean where the storms occur.
7. 7.The costliest hurricane to hit landfall was Hurricane Katrina, a Category 5 storm that slammed Louisiana in August of 2005. Damages cost an estimated $91 billion.

eArthqUake

1. 1.Many natural events such as volcanic eruptions or meteor impacts can cause an earthquake, but the majority of naturally-occurring earthquakes are caused by movements of the earth's plates.
2. 2.20 constantly moving plates make up the surface of the earth. As the plates move they put force on themselves and each other, which, when large enough, causes the crust to break. When the break occurs, the stress is released as energy which moves through the Earth in the form of waves, which we feel and call an earthquake.
3. 3.According to the U.S. Geological Survey, more than three million earthquakes occur every year. That's about 8,000 a day or one every 11 seconds! The vast majority of these quakes are extremely weak.
4. 4.Almost 80 percent of all the planet's earthquakes occur along the rim of the Pacific Ocean, called the "Ring of Fire," a region that encircles the Pacific Ocean and is home to 452 volcanoes, that’s over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes.
5. 5.Each year the southern California area has about 10,000 earthquakes. Most of are so small that they are not felt. If there is a large earthquake, however, the aftershock sequence will produce many more earthquakes of all magnitudes for many months.
6. 6.The largest recorded earthquake in the United States was a magnitude 9.2 that struck Prince William Sound, Alaska on March 28, 1964.
7. 7.The largest recorded earthquake in the world was a magnitude 9.5 in Chile on May 22, 1960.
8. 8.When the Chilean earthquake occurred in 1960, seismographs recorded seismic waves that traveled all around the Earth. These seismic waves shook the entire earth for many days.
9. 9.Usually, it's not the shaking ground itself that claims lives -- it's the associated destruction of man-made structures and the instigation of other natural disasters, such as tsunamis, avalanches, and landslides.
10. 10.An undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggered a series of devastating tsunamis on December 26, 2004. The tsunamis struck along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing more than 225,000 people in eleven countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 100 feet high.
11. 11.Alaska is the most earthquake-prone state and one of the most seismically active regions in the world, experiencing a magnitude 7.0 earthquake almost every year, and a magnitude 8.0 or greater earthquake on average every 14 years.