Natural Disasters

Eruption of Mt St Helen
Mount St Helens is located Skamania Country, Washington, America (very north
west state of America). The eruption of Mount Saint Helen occurred on the 18 th of
May, 1980 in the morning.
How did the volcano erupt?
The cause of the eruption was like any other volcano. The build-up of pressure in
of magma and gas in the magma chamber below the surface makes the volcano
erupt. The pressure is caused by the movement of tectonic plates. One plate is
slowly pushed into another. The denser plate is pushed under the lighter one as
the denser one is heavier. These
movements cause friction, which
makes the temperature rise. This
increase in temperature melts the
Earths crust (or in this case the
plates). Then, the magma from the
mantle in the earth is less dense
then the freshly melted magma,
which causes it to rise to the
surface and build up pressure. The
pressure isnt strong at first, but
over time, the pressure gradually
builds up. Eventually, the pressure
gets too strong and it cant be
contained anymore, making the
volcano erupt (as shown in the
diagram). However, the reason that Mt St Helen was triggered was due to small
earthquakes that had continuously occurred over the months.
What was the size of the volcano?
At 8:32 a.m., an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 was the last earthquake to
finally trigger the volcano. It erupted with extreme force and caused a huge
landslide, which is the largest land slide that has ever occurred in recorded
history. The landslide then lead to trigger many explosions. These explosions
contained many bits of debris. It carried rocks, ash, volcanic gas and steam. The
blast cloud travelled about 27 km north from the volcano. The ash was carried
away by the wind. This was all in the first 15 minutes of the first eruption. An
hour later, the second eruption occurred. Magma exploded inside the volcano.
Avalanches of hot ash and gas come out of the volcano. The volcano did not die
until another 2 days later. Over the 2 days, it continued to spew gases, ash and
other poisonous substances that is toxic to humans. Before the eruption, it was
about 3.2 km high. However, after the eruption, it decreased to about 2.5 km
high.
What were the impacts?
Harry Huang

In total, there were 57 deaths and the destruction of lots of infrastructure. The
damage totalled up to about 1.1 billion dollars. In the destruction, there were 8
bridges, 200 homes and many vehicles. Debris landed on a nearby dam, making
it poisonous water. For the following few days, roads were blocked with ash that
had come out of the volcano, rendering transport useless. 5000 motorists were
stranded in Eastern Washington. For a short time, people around the erupted
volcano had depression, trouble sleeping and irritability.
Rating
I would rate this disaster a 7/10. Though it caused lots of damage and
inconvenience, it did not have such disastrous effects compared to some other
natural disasters. Not many lives were lost and the damage that was caused
was over time. It wasnt a massive wipe-out that occurred in a few hours. It was
one that occurred over many days that people could have a chance to protect
themselves. The main problem was the damage that it had done to
infrastructures which can be easily fixed with time and money. Most of the
damage was caused by ash, which can be just removed unlike other natural
disasters as other natural disasters normally destroy the houses and nothing left
but bits and pieces of them.

Boxing Day Tsunami 2004

The Boxing Day Tsunami occurred on Boxing Day in 2004 (Sunday, 26 th,
December, 2004). The epicentre of the quake was in the Indian Ocean off the
west coast of the Indonesian island, Sumatra. The giant ripples spread out which
was the tsunami later travelled outwards from the epicentre and onto the coast
of South Asia.
What caused the tsunami?
The cause of this tsunami was the tectonic activity 32 kilometres below the
oceans surface. A fault had burst, which forced one of the plates to be thrust
upwards. The plate being thrusted upward caused the ocean to form giant
ripples. This earthquake that was formed equalled to a 9.0 magnitude
earthquake on the surface. The energy that was burst created a large pulse,
which travelled through the
ocean at incredible speeds.
The pulse is only 30
centimetres, but when it nears
shallow waters, it starts to
slow down. The top of the
wave rises a lot faster than
the bottom, causing the sea to
rise dramatically (as shown in
the image to the right).
What was the size of the tsunami?
The tsunami was enormous. It was more than 1000 km in length. The average
height of the tsunami was recorded to be about 10 metres. The highest point

Harry Huang

(above sea level) was 15 metres in some locations according to some news
reports. It was measured over 9 on the Richter Scale. There were multiple waves.
In total, there were 3 that came over the course of the morning. The last wave
struck at 11 a.m. The waves returned to normal at noon.
What were the Impacts?
The impacts was devastating, both to the
economy and the families in it. There were 5,300
deaths as well as an additional 2,800 missing.
The total cost of the damage totalled up to 7.5
billion dollars. More than 5 million people were
left homeless and didnt have access to food or
water. Almost all the drinking water along the
coast was contaminated. It also severely
damaged ecosystems along the coast. It swept debris over it as well as all
leftover items from the city such as the sewage.
Rating
This tsunami is currently rated the strongest and most devastating tsunami in
history. It took many lives and caused a lot of destruction and grief. I would give
it a rating of 10/10. This natural disaster was the worst case scenario for what
could have happened. What makes it worse it was on boxing day, when people
are celebrating and are quite happy. This natural disaster is one of the worst in

recorded history, and would be hard to compare to others.

Locations of the two natural disasters

Bibliography
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teens and social cause. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 June 2013. <http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11facts-about-2004-indian-ocean-tsunami>.
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Weather for Local and International Locations -

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"The Boxing Day Tsunami - Facts and Figures." The Bolton Council of Mosques (BCoM). N.p., n.d. Web. 26
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Harry Huang