click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Natural Disasters
Predicting Natural Disasters
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Natural Disaster | A natural event that can cause great damage. |
Earthquake | A shifting of tectonic plates causing breaking of rock and movement of the Earth’s surface, sometimes causing severe destruction to property. |
Tectonic Plates | Fragments of Earth’s crust that interact with one another causing various geologic events like volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. |
Tsunami | A series of huge waves that rush onshore resulting from an earthquake occurring at the ocean floor. |
Tornado | A rapidly rotating column of air that occurs when cold air masses and hot air masses collide, causing patterns of circulating air to move at high speeds. |
Hurricane | A large, rapidly rotating storm system that begins over warm water, usually in tropical or subtropical areas, causing high winds, heavy rain, and severe thunderstorms. |
Seismologist | A scientist who studies earthquakes. |
Seismograph | A scientific instrument that measures the size of waves produced from earthquakes. |
Volcanologist | A scientist who studies volcanoes and collects data to understand how volcanoes work and uses data to predict when they may erupt. |
Meteorologist | A scientist who measures atmospheric conditions like temperature, wind speed, and air pressure to predict weather events in large geographic areas. |