GEOS 218 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Seismic Wave, Epicenter, Seismic Moment
Document Summary
Geos 218 natural disaster: an event that causes catastrophic damage or catastrophic loss of life. Ex: earthquake, volcano, etc. natural hazard: the setting for a natural disaster to take place. Ex: living near a fault zone or a known active volcano. Natural disasters are different from dangerous ones than non-dangerous ones because there could be a. Rare but bigger earthquakes have a longer return rate and cause more damage. Frequent but smaller earthquakes have a short return period and cause less damage. Average death per year from natural disasters=30,000 ppl. People die about the same in motor related accidents (30,000 ppl) Natural disasters result from rapid release of concentrated energy. Plate tectonics accretion heat: energy of incoming stuff converted to heat on collision gravitational heat: converted to heart when heavy iron melted and sank to make the core radioactive heat: from slow decay of radioactive substances in the earth.
