Project 1 Tsunami; Project 2 Volcano eruption

Proyect 1
What happened in South Asia in December 2004?

It was the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and Tsunami.

Can you describe this natural event?

The earthquake was really big and it originated underwater, with it's epicenter near the coasts of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is known as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake. It was caused by the subduction of two plates (when one plate, Indian Plate; goes under another, Burma plate). It caused various tsunamis known as 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, South Asian Tsunami, Indonesian Tsunami, and Boxing Day Tsunami. They hit almost every landmass around the Indian Ocean.

 

It was one of the most destructive catastrophes in history.

Earthquake: is a shaking of Earth's crust; a violent shaking of the Earth's crust that may cause destruction to buildings and results from the sudden release of tectonic stress along a fault line or from volcanic activity. Technical name: seism.

Tsunami: is a large ocean wave; a large destructive ocean wave caused by an underwater earthquake or another movement of the Earth's surface. The word is Japanese and means "harbor wave".

Click here to look an animation of the earthquake and the tsunami 

 Proyect 2

What happened in your own Country Ecuador in 1999 ? 

Pichincha is an active stratovolcano in the country of Ecuador, whose capital Quito wraps around its eastern slopes. The mountain's two highest peaks are the Guagua (4,784 metres (15,696 ft)), which means "child" in Quechua and the Rucu (4,698 metres (15,413 ft)), which means "old person". The active caldera is in the Guagua, on the western side of the mountain.

Both peaks are visible from the city of and are easily climbed. Guagua is usually accessed from the village Lloa outside of Quito. In October 1999, the volcano erupted and covered the city with several inches of . Prior to that, the last major eruptions were in 1553 and in 1660, when about 30 cm of ash fell on the city.

Why do volcanos errupt ? What are the causes ?

The main reason for the eruptions from volcanoes is the heat deep within the Earth's mantle.  This heat slowly melts rocks to create a slow moving substance called magma.  Magma is lighter than the solid rock around it so magma rises and collects in magma chambers.  After a while the magma pushes through vents and fissures in the earth's surface.  Then a volcanic eruption occurs!  The magma comes out of the volcano and is now called lava.

Click here for a video explanation
What is a continental drift and what are plate tectonics ? Video about Plate Movement

Video about plate tectonics