Stansel 1

Lorin Stansel, Makayla Cegielski, Daniel Maldonado, Christan Touch, Elijah Harris

Professor Hugetz

ENGL-1302. AHS05

26 February 2021

Chapters 11 and 12 group Quiz

Tsunamis/ Earthquakes

Lorin Stansel: A earthquake is the sudden movement or shift of the earths Tectonic plates which

causes the ground to shake. They can occur either naturally or from human interaction, such as

construction on buildings or nuclear explosions. They can cause a lot of severe damage

depending on how big the quake may be, but the smaller ones do not cause much damage. When

big quakes do occur, they can cause severe damage to urban cities and homes, damaging

buildings, roads, and causing power outages, while also can result in someone getting killed.

They also impact rural farmlands, by ruining crops, which causes shortages of food, leaving

people without a meal. Besides it causing shaking of the ground, if the earthquake is powerful

enough, it is known to cause tsunamis. Tsunamis are a series of waves caused by earthquakes or

volcanic eruptions that become bigger and higher the more they approach inland. These waves

are very powerful and cause mass destruction and endangers people's lives. They cause a lot of

destruction of buildings and carry mass amount of debris. There high speeds range up to 500

miles per hour, but when approaching land, they tend to slow to the speed of a car. The speeds of

a tsunami are enough to kill a person in one blow. If someone is ever caught in this situation, it is

best if they get far away from the ocean and to a high place as soon as possible, such as a

mountain or hill high enough to look over a city.

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Daniel Maldonado: An earthquake is the violent shaking of the Earth’s surface resulting from an

unpredictable and sudden release of energy in the Earth’s lithosphere that creates seismic waves.

An earthquake’s range in size can vary, as there could be some that are so weak that not one

human near the area could notice it to one that could utterly decimate an entire city, killing and

ruining the lives of thousands of people along the process. They can either be caused naturally or

by humans, but most of the time it is a result of nature. Another natural disaster that is in par with

the violence of earthquakes are tsunamis. A tsunami is a series of waves in a colossal water body

caused by the displacement of a large volume of water; usually in an ocean or perhaps even a

lake. Unlike regular and harmless waves, tsunamis are caused by the displacement of water and

not the gravitational pull of the moon. Tsunamis can be caused by other natural disasters, such as

volcanic eruptions, underwater explosions (landslides, detonations, meteorite impacts, etc), and

of course, earthquakes. This inevitable natural disaster also has the horrifying ability to destroy

cities, towns and even the economic status of its victim.

Makayla Cegielski: Tsunamis consist of a series of large waves. Most are caused by the

aftermath of earthquakes or undersea volcanic eruptions. As the waves travel closer inland, the

height of each wave increases as the ocean’s depth decreases. The speed of a tsunami’s ravel is

dependent upon the depth of the ocean rather than the distance from the shoreline. The massive

amount of flooding and the energy brought from the waves usually results in mass destruction,

environmental and health issues, which are equally catastrophic. The majority of deaths due to

tsunamis are accounts of drowning, however the destruction of public health after the event can

lead to more death to come during the aftermath due to deteriorated health conditions.

Environmental destruction includes contamination of food and water sources, lack of shelter and
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inaccessibility to medical personnel, which could be a possible cause of rapidly-spread diseases

and worsening of minor infections. The impact to the water sources results in contamination due

to the freshwater sources being filled by excessive amounts of saltwater, which diminishes the

soil. Mass buildings could be washed away by the amount of water flooding onto land, and

raised land, such as cliffs and hills, as well as roadways, can easily crumble, which would make

that zone unstable and dangerous. People who are in an area of a tsunami risk should try to get to

ground that is as high and far away from the shore as possible, ideally to approximately 100 feet

above sea level and at least 2 miles away from the shore. If the wave is still visible, the area you

are in is not safe. Knowing the difference between a warning and a watch is also important. A

warning just means that there is a possibility that a tsunami is present and close to your area, but

a watch means that a tsunami is most likely present and at most an hour away from the shore.

Remember that most tsunamis are caused by earthquakes, so if an earthquake occurs in a coastal

area, be prepared for a tsunami to possibly follow shortly afterward.

Elijah Harris: An earthquake is the abrupt and violent shaking of the Earth’s surface. An

earthquakes magnitude can be measured using the Richter scale. Earthquakes can create

tsunamis as well as trigger volcanic activity that can cause mass destruction and the loss of life.

Tsunamis travel at high speeds of about 500 or 800 kilometers an hour. Tsunamis have strong

currents that bring in debris from all over which cause the waters to be polluted. It also causes

major flooding and por living conditions for people of the community. Earthquakes are caused

by tectonic plates getting stuck which causes a strain within the ground. Once the strain in the

ground has become great enough, it causes the rocks to smash and slide across the fault planes.

Earthquakes can be caused naturally or by human activity such as nuclear explosions and
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explosives used within mines. These events can cause seismic waves which is a wave produced

within the Earth causes by natural or human activities.

Christan Touch: An earthquake is a factor that can cause a tsunami to form. Earthquakes are

known as an eruption that will cause the earth to shake rapidly and violently from anywhere

between seconds to minutes. As the earths tectonic plates shift it causes the earth to activate an

earthquake creating eruptions on the earth's surface. A tsunami is a large sea wave that is created

by an earthquake. Any eruptions below the sea level or above the sea level such as a volcanic

eruption or an earthquake can create a tsunami to form. Instead of a slow tide coming in, a

tsunami is a rapid rising tide that can cover the land within seconds causing the shorelines to

flood tremendously.