1.

EARTHQUAKE

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/earthquakes/

Earthquakes, also called temblors, can be so tremendously destructive that it’s hard to
imagine they occur by the thousands every day around the world, usually in the form of small
tremors. See the latest earthquakes and learn how to stay safe during these disastrous events.

Some 80 percent of all the planet's earthquakes occur along the rim of the Pacific Ocean,
called the "ring of fire" because of the preponderance of volcanic activity there, as well. Most
earthquakes occur at fault zones, where tectonic plates—giant rock slabs that make up Earth's
upper layer—collide or slide against each other.

These impacts are usually gradual and unnoticeable on the surface; however, immense stress
can build up between plates. When this stress is released quickly, it sends massive vibrations,
called seismic waves, often hundreds of miles through the rock and up to the surface. Other
quakes can occur far from faults zones when plates are stretched or squeezed.

Scientists assign a magnitude rating to earthquakes based on the strength and duration of their
seismic waves. A quake measuring 3 to 4.9 is considered minor or light; 5 to 6.9 is moderate
to strong; 7 to 7.9 is major; and 8 or more is great.

On average, a magnitude 8 quake strikes somewhere every year, and some 10,000 people die
in earthquakes annually. Collapsing buildings claim by far the majority of lives, but the
destruction is often compounded by mud slides, fires, floods, or tsunamis. Smaller temblors
that usually occur in the days following a large earthquake can complicate rescue efforts and
cause further death and destruction.

Loss of life can be avoided through emergency planning, education, and the construction of
buildings that sway rather than break under the stress of an earthquake formed.
 1. TORNADO

https://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-tornado.htm

A tornado is a violent rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground.
The most violent tornadoes are capable of tremendous destruction with wind speeds of up to
300 mph. They can destroy large buildings, uproot trees and hurl vehicles hundreds of yards.
They can also drive straw into trees. Damage paths can be in excess of one mile wide to 50
miles long. In an average year, 1000 tornadoes are reported nationwide.

Most tornadoes form from thunderstorms. You need warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico
and cool, dry air from Canada. When these two air masses meet, they create instability in the
atmosphere. A change in wind direction and an increase in wind speed with increasing height
creates an invisible, horizontal spinning effect in the lower atmosphere. Rising air within the
updraft tilts the rotating air from horizontal to vertical. An area of rotation, 2-6 miles wide,
now extends through much of the storm. Most strong and violent tornadoes form within this
area of strong rotation.
Several conditions are required for the development of tornadoes and the thunderstorm clouds
with which most tornadoes are associated. Abundant low level moisture is necessary to
contribute to the development of a thunderstorm, and a "trigger" (perhaps a cold front or
other low level zone of converging winds) is needed to lift the moist air aloft. Once the air
begins to rise and becomes saturated, it will continue rising to great heights to produce a
thunderstorm cloud, if the atmosphere is unstable. An unstable atmosphere is one where the
temperature decreases rapidly with height. Atmospheric instability can also occur when dry
air overlays moist air near the earth's surface. Finally, tornadoes usually form in areas where
winds at all levels of the atmosphere are not only strong, but also turn with height in a
clockwise or veering direction.