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•  Damage to property and loss of life

          •  Sunlight is blocked by the thick volcanic dust.


        Advantages of Volcanic Eruptions                             Factual Study
          •  After  a  volcanic  eruption,  the  huge                The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area of

              amount of ash released covers the soil                 frequent earthquakes and volcanic
              making  it  very  fertile  and  useful  for            eruptions encircling the basin of the Pacific
                                                                     Ocean. There are 452 volcanoes in the Ring
              farming.
                                                                     of Fire and it is home to over 50% of the
          •  Volcanoes provide resources for energy                  world’s active and dormant volcanoes. 90 %

              such as geothermal energy.                             of the world’s earthquakes and 81% of the
                                                                     world’s largest earthquakes occur along the
                                                                     Ring of Fire.
         T idal Waves and Tsunami

        Tidal waves cause changes in the level of water bodies. These changes occur due to the
        gravitational force of the sun and the moon. Sometimes, these waves are high or low.
        When the sun, moon and earth are in a straight line, tides reach to the maximum height.

        When huge waves form from oceans, due to volcanic eruptions or earthquakes under

        water, they are called tsunami.  As the tsunami gets closer to land and ocean, its depth
        decreases, the speed of the tsunami waves slows down and the height of the tsunami
        waves increases along with its potential for destruction. These huge waves lead to loss of
        life and property. So, it is advisable to stay at a high altitude following a tsunami alert.

        The tsunami which took place in India on

        December 26, 2004, caused a major loss of
        life and property in coastal regions of Tamil
        Nadu and Kerala. The worst hit areas were
        the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

                                                                                                 Tidal waves

        Let’s Recapitulate

            1.  All natural disasters come without _____________.
            2.  There are three types of volcanoes – _____________, ____________ and _____________.

            3.  The deep point inside the earth from where an earthquake starts is called ____________.
            4.  The intensity of earthquake is detected by _____________.
            5.  Volcanoes provide resources for energy called _____________.



         F loods

        A flood is an overflow of water when the water bodies like rivers, lakes and ponds are
        overfilled with rain water. Next of some natural factors causing floods are:


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