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Earthquakes are one of the most common natural disasters. [75] Furthermore, they can cause other disasters, such as tsunamis and landslides , such as the underwater earthquake in the Indian Ocean occurred at a magnitude of 9.1 which then triggered a tsunami that caused waves to reach a height of at least 30 ft and killed approximately 230,000 ...
Earthquakes can cause fires by damaging electrical power or gas lines. In the event of water mains rupturing and a loss of pressure, it may also become difficult to stop the spread of a fire once it has started. For example, more deaths in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake were caused by fire than by the earthquake itself. [72]
A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property. It typically causes economic damage. How bad the damage is depends on how well people are prepared for disasters and how strong the buildings, roads, and other structures are. [2] Scholars have been saying that the term natural disaster is unsuitable and should be abandoned. [3]
What causes earthquakes? Earthquakes occur when the plates that make up the Earth's crust move around. These plates, called tectonic plates, can push against each other.
A sufficiently large earthquake magnitude and other information triggers a tsunami warning. While the subduction zones around the Pacific are seismically active, not all earthquakes generate a tsunami. Computers assist in analysing the tsunami risk of every earthquake that occurs in the Pacific Ocean and the adjoining land masses.
People watch the ocean after a powerful earthquake struck off the coast near Ocean Beach, in San Francisco, California, U.S., December 5, 2024. The word tsunami comes from the Japanese for "harbor ...
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was a teletsunami.. A teletsunami (also called an ocean-wide tsunami, distant tsunami, distant-source tsunami, far-field tsunami, or trans-ocean tsunami) is a tsunami that originates from a distant source, defined as more than 1,000 km (620 mi) away or three hours' travel from the area of interest, [1] [2] sometimes travelling across an ocean.
A submarine, undersea, or underwater earthquake is an earthquake that occurs underwater at the bottom of a body of water, especially an ocean. They are the leading cause of tsunamis . The magnitude can be measured scientifically by the use of the moment magnitude scale and the intensity can be assigned using the Mercalli intensity scale .