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• Earthquake


  Sudden violent movement of the Earth's surface
• Fault


  Where two plates move past each other
• Focus

  Point within the Earth where the rock under stress breaks
• Epicenter

  Point directly above the focus on the surface
• People are buried under piles of rubble of collapsed buildings
• You cannot reach remote villages as the climate and roads are blocked by landslides
• People need food, shelter, medicine and power. People are sleeping outdoors due to fear of aftershocks
• Earthquakes do not happen often
• In the Case of Nepal's earthquake in 2015, they were severely damaged as it was a major earthquake but also they did not have resources to prepare for the earthquake. This can be said for many countries
• If proper precautions are taken, the risk is reduced. These include improvements in forecasting, safer buildings and emergency drills have greatly reduced the number of deaths
• In MEDCs, a building falling down is much less likely to happen as there are strict buildingS codes to follow. However in Ledcs, the Gvt. and People do not have money to do the same
• Drop! Cover! Hold on!

  1. Drop onto your knees and hands to stop yourself from getting knocked over

  2. Cover your head and neck with one arm and hand, and if you can crawl under a desk or crawl to an interior wall away from the windows

  3. Hold on till the shaking stops!
• Earthquake resistant building features

  • Cross-bracing reinforces walls using two steel beams
  • Base isolator
  • Shock Absorbers, absorb tremors of earthquakes
  • Shear Wall: Concrete walls with steel bars in them
  • Shear Core: resists lateral damages from heavy winds and earthquakes
  • Moat
• Volcano

  Openings or cracks in the lithosphere, where magma from inside the Earth can escape onto the surface
• Forms of magma eruption

  • As liquid lava flows from the vent or crack
  • As volcanic bombs - lumps of molten rock that solidify as they explode out of the vent and fall to earth
  • As hot ash and dust are thrown into the atmosphere and eventually fall back to earth, sometimes hundreds of kilometers from the volcano
  • Steam and Gas, which may be poisonous
• Crater

  A roughly circular opening at the summit (top) of the volcano
• Magma


  Molten rocks beneath the earth's Surface
• Volcanic bombs


  Balls of molten rock that solidify as they fall
• Falling ash


  Small pieces of shattered rock and thrown from the volcano
• Secondary cones

  If the main vent is blocked the magma is forced to the surface by another route
• Types of volcanoes

  • Active
  • Dormant
  • Extinct
• People choose to live near volcanoes because they consider the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Most volcanoes are safe for long periods of time between eruptions and those that erupt frequently are usually considered, by the people who live nearby, as being predictable
• Advantages of Living Near Volcanoes

  • Fertile soil that is good for agriculture
  • The presence of minerals
  • Geothermal energy
  • Tourism: Volcanoes attract millions of visitors every year
• Volcanologists

  Monitor volcanoes all over the world, taking readings, to determine change so they can predict whether a volcano is likely to erupt
• Planning for volcanic eruptions

  • Drawing up evacuation plans
  • Using hazard maps to prevent building in high risk areas where lava might flow
  • Setting up warning systems
  • Responding quickly to advice from volcanologists
• Educating people on what to do if a nearby volcano erupts. Tokyo, in Japan is at risk of a range of hazards including volcanoes. The city authority has produced a hazard guide
• Tiltmeter

  Used to detect a change in the slope of the land. Bulging on the surface can indicate significant pressure in the rock and ground below
• Seismograph


  Detects vibrations in the Earth's crust. The foreshocks occur prior to an earthquake
• How to Protect Yourself

  1. Confirm the dangerous areas on the disaster prevention map

  2. Prepare food and items for a disaster

  3. Confirm a designated evacuation center beforehand
• Main Physical Zones of the Middle East

  • Mountains in the north
  • Deserts covering the rest of the region
• Landscape features of the Middle East

  • Mountains
  • Seas
  • Plains
  • Volcanoes
  • Deserts
  • Rivers
• As of plate movements (Arabia, Eurasia, Africa), there are many volcanoes, and earthquakes that have taken place or have been made by these movements
• The Arabian plate moves 3cm north every year, it has collided with the Eurasian plate; creating fold mountains
• Importance of the Middle East

  • Accounts for 27% of the world's oil production
  • Connection between European countries, religious places and Muslim populations
  • Trade
  • Drilling
  • Tourism of Mecca
• Seas of the Middle East

  • The Mediterranean Sea
  • The Red Sea
  • The Dead Sea
  • The Black Sea
  • The Arabian Sea
  • The Caspian Sea
  • The Aral Sea
  • Gulf of Aden
  • Mediterranean sea
  • Persian gulf
  • Gulf of Oman
• Middle Eastern countries

  • UAE
  • Qatar
  • Jordan
  • Turkey
  • Syria
  • Cyprus
  • Egypt
  • Iran
  • KSA
  • Kuwait
  • Yemen
  • Israel
  • Oman
  • Palestine
  • Lebanon
  • Bahrain
• Climatic zones of the Middle East

  • Mediterranean climate towards the north
  • Deserts towards the south
• Arabian Peninsula climate


  Mostly desert. Rain falls mostly between May and September, having 0 rain in the winters. The sun bakes people of this region. The nighttime temperatures are low
• Northern Middle East climate

  Hot dry summer when weather resembles a desert, and warm wet climates. This dry climate, rises problems of water scarcity
• Water scarcity causes droughts which is a lack of water for plant growth and animals. Famine ( a lack of crops for food) and a lack of water