Table of Contents

Earthquake............................................................................................................... 2
Naturally occurring earthquakes............................................................................. 3
Earthquake clusters............................................................................................. 3
Landslide.................................................................................................................. 4
Debris flow........................................................................................................... 5
Earthflows............................................................................................................ 6
Debris landslide.................................................................................................... 7
Sturzstrom............................................................................................................ 7
Shallow landslide.................................................................................................. 8
Deep-seated landslide.......................................................................................... 8
Storm surge............................................................................................................. 9
Meteotsunamis..................................................................................................... 9
Extratropical storms............................................................................................. 9
Measuring surge.................................................................................................... 10
Fire.......................................................................................................................... 11
Chemistry........................................................................................................... 12
Flame................................................................................................................. 13
Volcanic eruption.................................................................................................. 14
Types of volcanic eruptions................................................................................. 14
Magmatic eruptions............................................................................................... 15
Hawaiian............................................................................................................ 15
Strombolian........................................................................................................ 15
Vulcanian............................................................................................................ 15
Phreatomagmatic eruptions..................................................................................16
Surtseyan........................................................................................................... 16
Subglacial........................................................................................................... 16
Phreatic eruptions................................................................................................. 16

Earthquake

An earthquake is the perceptible shaking of the surface of the Earth, resulting from
the sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves.
Earthquakes can be violent enough to toss people around and destroy whole cities.
The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type
and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time.
Earthquakes are measured using observations from seismometers. The moment
magnitude is the most common scale on which earthquakes larger than
approximately 5 are reported for the entire globe. The more numerous earthquakes
smaller than magnitude 5 reported by national seismological observatories are
measured mostly on the local magnitude scale, also referred to as the Richter
magnitude scale. These two scales are numerically similar over their range of
validity. Magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes are mostly almost imperceptible or weak
and magnitude 7 and over potentially cause serious damage over larger areas,
depending on their depth. The largest earthquakes in historic times have been of
magnitude slightly over 9, although there is no limit to the possible magnitude.
Intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli scale. The shallower an
earthquake, the more damage to structures it causes, all else being equal.
At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and sometimes
displacement of the ground. When the epicenter of a large earthquake is located
offshore, the seabed may be displaced sufficiently to cause a tsunami. Earthquakes
can also trigger landslides, and occasionally volcanic activity.
In its most general sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic
event whether natural or caused by humans that generates seismic waves.
Earthquakes are caused mostly by rupture of geological faults, but also by other
events such as volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear tests. An
earthquake's point of initial rupture is called its focus or hypocenter. The epicenter
is the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter.

Naturally occurring earthquakes

Tectonic earthquakes occur anywhere in the earth where there is sufficient stored
elastic strain energy to drive fracture propagation along a fault plane. The sides of a
fault move past each other smoothly and aseismically only if there are no
irregularities or asperities along the fault surface that increase the frictional
resistance. Most fault surfaces do have such asperities and this leads to a form of
stick-slip behavior. Once the fault has locked, continued relative motion between
the plates leads to increasing stress and therefore, stored strain energy in the
volume around the fault surface. This continues until the stress has risen sufficiently
to break through the asperity, suddenly allowing sliding over the locked portion of
the fault, releasing the stored energy. This energy is released as a combination of
radiated elastic strain seismic waves, frictional heating of the fault surface, and
cracking of the rock, thus causing an earthquake. This process of gradual build-up of
strain and stress punctuated by occasional sudden earthquake failure is referred to
as the elastic-rebound theory. It is estimated that only 10 percent or less of an
earthquake's total energy is radiated as seismic energy. Most of the earthquake's
energy is used to power the earthquake fracture growth or is converted into heat
generated by friction. Therefore, earthquakes lower the Earth's available elastic
potential energy and raise its temperature, though these changes are negligible
compared to the conductive and convective flow of heat out from the Earth's deep
interior.

Earthquake clusters
Most earthquakes form part of a sequence, related to each other in terms of location
and time. Most earthquake clusters consist of small tremors that cause little to no
damage, but there is a theory that earthquakes can recur in a regular pattern.

Aftershocks
An aftershock is an earthquake that occurs after a previous earthquake, the
mainshock. An aftershock is in the same region of the main shock but always of a
smaller magnitude. If an aftershock is larger than the main shock, the aftershock is
redesignated as the main shock and the original main shock is redesignated as a
foreshock. Aftershocks are formed as the crust around the displaced fault plane
adjusts to the effects of the main shock.

Earthquake swarms
Earthquake swarms are sequences of earthquakes striking in a specific area within a
short period of time. They are different from earthquakes followed by a series of
aftershocks by the fact that no single earthquake in the sequence is obviously the
main shock, therefore none have notable higher magnitudes than the other. An
example of an earthquake swarm is the 2004 activity at Yellowstone National Park.
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In August 2012, a swarm of earthquakes shook Southern California's Imperial Valley,

showing the most recorded activity in the area since the 1970s.

Earthquake storms
Sometimes a series of earthquakes occur in a sort of earthquake storm, where the
earthquakes strike a fault in clusters, each triggered by the shaking or stress
redistribution of the previous earthquakes. Similar to aftershocks but on adjacent
segments of fault, these storms occur over the course of years, and with some of
the later earthquakes as damaging as the early ones. Such a pattern was observed
in the sequence of about a dozen earthquakes that struck the North Anatolian Fault
in Turkey in the 20th century and has been inferred for older anomalous clusters of
large earthquakes in the Middle East.

Landslide
A landslide, also known as a landslip, is a geological phenomenon that includes a
wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes, and
shallow debris flows. Landslides can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore
environments. Although the action of gravity is the primary driving force for a
landslide to occur, there are other contributing factors affecting the original slope
stability. Typically, pre-conditional factors build up specific sub-surface conditions
that make the area/slope prone to failure, whereas the actual landslide often
requires a trigger before being released.
Landslides occur when the stability of the slope changes from a stable to an
unstable condition. A change in the stability of a slope can be caused by a number
of factors, acting together or alone. Natural causes of landslides include:

groundwater (pore water) pressure acting to destabilize the slope

Loss or absence of vertical vegetative structure, soil nutrients, and soil

structure (e.g. after a wildfire - a fire in forests lasting for 34 days)

erosion of the toe of a slope by rivers or ocean waves

weakening of a slope through saturation by snow melt, glaciers melting, or

heavy rains

earthquakes adding loads to barely stable slope

earthquake-caused liquefaction destabilizing slopes

volcanic eruptions
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Landslides are aggravated by human activities, such as

deforestation, cultivation and construction, which destabilize the already

fragile slopes.

vibrations from machinery or traffic

blasting

earthwork which alters the shape of a slope, or which imposes new loads on
an existing slope

in shallow soils, the removal of deep-rooted vegetation that binds colluvium

to bedrock

Construction, agricultural or forestry activities (logging) which change the

amount of water which infiltrates the soil.

Debris flow

Slope material that becomes saturated with water may develop into a debris flow or
mud flow. The resulting slurry of rock and mud may pick up trees, houses and cars,
thus blocking bridges and tributaries causing flooding along its path.
Debris flow is often mistaken for flash flood, but they are entirely different
processes.

Muddy-debris flows in alpine areas cause severe damage to structures and

infrastructure and often claim human lives. Muddy-debris flows can start as a result
of slope-related factors and shallow landslides can dam stream beds, resulting in
temporary water blockage. As the impoundments fail, a "domino effect" may be
created, with a remarkable growth in the volume of the flowing mass, which takes
up the debris in the stream channel. The solid-liquid mixture can reach densities of
up to 2 tons/m and velocities of up to 14 m/s (Chiarle and Luino, 1998; Arattano,
2003). These processes normally cause the first severe road interruptions, due not
only to deposits accumulated on the road (from several cubic metres to hundreds of
cubic metres), but in some cases to the complete removal of bridges or roadways or
railways crossing the stream channel. Damage usually derives from a common
underestimation of mud-debris flows: in the alpine valleys, for example, bridges are
frequently destroyed by the impact force of the flow because their span is usually
calculated only for a water discharge. For a small basin in the Italian Alps (area =
1.76 km) affected by a debris flow, Chiarle and Luino (1998) estimated a peak
discharge of 750 m3/s for a section located in the middle stretch of the main
channel. At the same cross section, the maximum foreseeable water discharge (by
HEC-1), was 19 m/s, a value about 40 times lower than that calculated for the
debris flow that occurred.

Earthflows

Earthflows are downslope, viscous flows of saturated, fine-grained materials, which

move at any speed from slow to fast. Typically, they can move at speeds from 0.17
to 20 km/h (0.1 to 12.4 mph). Though these are a lot like mudflows, overall they are
more slow moving and are covered with solid material carried along by flow from
within. They are different from fluid flows because they are more rapid. Clay, fine
sand and silt, and fine-grained, pyroclastic material are all susceptible to earthflows.

The velocity of the earthflow is all dependent on how much water content is in the
flow itself: if there is more water content in the flow, the higher the velocity will be.
These flows usually begin when the pore pressures in a fine-grained mass increase
until enough of the weight of the material is supported by pore water to significantly
decrease the internal shearing strength of the material. This thereby creates a
bulging lobe which advances with a slow, rolling motion. As these lobes spread out,
drainage of the mass increases and the margins dry out, thereby lowering the
overall velocity of the flow. This process causes the flow to thicken. The bulbous
variety of earthflows are not that spectacular, but they are much more common
than their rapid counterparts. They develop a sag at their heads and are usually
derived from the slumping at the source.
Earthflows occur much more during periods of high precipitation, which saturates
the ground and adds water to the slope content. Fissures develop during the
movement of clay-like material which creates the intrusion of water into the
earthflows. Water then increases the pore-water pressure and reduces the shearing
strength of the material.

Debris landslide

A debris slide is a type of slide characterized by the chaotic movement of rocks, soil,
and debris mixed with water and/or ice. They are usually triggered by the saturation
of thickly vegetated slopes which results in an incoherent mixture of broken timber,
smaller vegetation and other debris. Debris avalanches differ from debris slides
because their movement is much more rapid. This is usually a result of lower
cohesion or higher water content and commonly steeper slopes.
Steep coastal cliffs can be caused by catastrophic debris avalanches. These have
been common on the submerged flanks of ocean island volcanos such as the
Hawaiian Islands and the Cape Verde Islands. Another slip of this type was Storegga
landslide.
Movement: Debris slides generally start with big rocks that start at the top of the
slide and begin to break apart as they slide towards the bottom. This is much slower
than a debris avalanche. Debris avalanches are very fast and the entire mass seems

to liquefy as it slides down the slope. This is caused by a combination of saturated

material, and steep slopes. As the debris moves down the slope it generally follows
stream channels leaving a v-shaped scar as it moves down the hill. This differs from
the more U-shaped scar of a slump. Debris avalanches can also travel well past the
foot of the slope due to their tremendous speed.

Sturzstrom
A sturzstrom is a rare, poorly understood type of landslide, typically with a long runout. Often very large, these slides are unusually mobile, flowing very far over a low
angle, flat, or even slightly uphill terrain.

Shallow landslide

Landslide in which the sliding surface is located within the soil mantle or weathered
bedrock (typically to a depth from few decimetres to some metres)is called a
shallow landslide. They usually include debris slides, debris flow, and failures of road
cut-slopes. Landslides occurring as single large blocks of rock moving slowly down
slope are sometimes called block glides.
Shallow landslides can often happen in areas that have slopes with high permeable
soils on top of low permeable bottom soils. The low permeable, bottom soils trap the
water in the shallower, high permeable soils creating high water pressure in the top
soils. As the top soils are filled with water and become heavy, slopes can become
very unstable and slide over the low permeable bottom soils. Say there is a slope
with silt and sand as its top soil and bedrock as its bottom soil. During an intense
rainstorm, the bedrock will keep the rain trapped in the top soils of silt and sand. As
the topsoil becomes saturated and heavy, it can start to slide over the bedrock and

become a shallow landslide. R. H. Campbell did a study on shallow landslides on

Santa Cruz Island California. He notes that if permeability decreases with depth, a
perched water table may develop in soils at intense precipitation. When pore water
pressures are sufficient to reduce effective normal stress to a critical level, failure
occurs.

Deep-seated landslide

Landslides in which the sliding surface is mostly deeply located below the maximum
rooting depth of trees (typically to depths greater than ten meters). Deep-seated
landslides usually involve deep regolith, weathered rock, and/or bedrock and include
large slope failure associated with translational, rotational, or complex movement.
This type of landslides are potentially occur in an tectonic active region like Zagros
Mountain in Iran. These typically move slowly, only several meters per year, but
occasionally move faster. They tend to be larger than shallow landslides and form
along a plane of weakness such as a fault or bedding plane. They can be visually
identified by concave scarps at the top and steep areas at the toe.

Storm surge
A storm surge is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water
commonly associated with low pressure weather systems (such as tropical cyclones
and strong extratropical cyclones), the severity of which is affected by the
shallowness and orientation of the water body relative to storm path, and the timing
of tides. Most casualties during tropical cyclones occur as the result of storm surges.
The two main meteorological factors contributing to a storm surge are a long fetch
of winds spiraling inward toward the storm, and a low-pressure-induced dome of
water drawn up under and trailing the storm's center. The second effect is
responsible for destructive meteotsunamis associated with the most intense tropical
systems.

Meteotsunamis

Intense depressions such as tropical cyclones can generate a type of surge called a
meteotsunami, which raises water heights very suddenly at the shoreline. [15] In the
case of deep tropical cyclones, this is due to very low atmospheric pressure and
inward swirling winds causing an uplifted dome of water to form under and travel in
tandem with the storm. When these water domes reach shore, they rear up in
shallows and surge laterally like earthquake-generated tsunamis, typically arriving
shortly after landfall of the storm's eye.

Extratropical storms
Similar to tropical cyclones, extra-tropical storms cause an offshore rise of water.
However, unlike most tropical cyclone storm surge, extra-tropical storms can cause
higher water levels across a large area for longer periods of time, depending on the
system. This is due to many factors, such as storm size and different steering winds,
which could keep a system in a storm-surge prone area for longer periods of time.
Another component of extra-tropical storm surge is the phenomenon of negative
water levels. If strong winds are blowing offshore, situations can arise where mean
water levels in a bay fall significantly, which poses a serious threat for ships tied up
at piers. If negative water levels are severe enough, ships tied up at docks can
actually sit on the seafloor, preventing them from leaving port.
In North America, extra-tropical storm surges may occur on the Pacific and Alaska
coasts, and north of 31N on the Atlantic Coast. Extra-tropical storm surges may be
possible for the Gulf coast mostly during the wintertime, when extra-tropical
cyclones affect the coast, such as in the March 1993 Storm of the Century.
November 913, 2009 marked a significant extratropical storm surge event on the
US east coast when the remnants of Hurricane Ida developed into a Nor'easter off
the Southeast US coast. During the event, storm force winds from the east were
present along the northern periphery of the low pressure center for a number of
days, forcing water into locations such as Chesapeake Bay. Water levels rose
significantly, and remained as high as 8 feet (2.4 m) above normal in numerous

10

locations throughout the Chesapeake for a number of days as water was continually
built-up inside the estuary from the onshore winds and freshwater rains flowing into
the bay. In many locations, water levels were shy of records by only 0.1 feet (3 cm).

Measuring surge
Surge can be measured directly at coastal tidal stations as the difference between
the forecast tide and the observed rise of water. Another method of measuring
surge is by the deployment of pressure transducers along the coastline just ahead
of an approaching tropical cyclone. This was first tested for Hurricane Rita in 2005.
These types of sensors can be placed in locations that will be submerged, and can
accurately measure the height of water above them.
After surge from a cyclone has receded, teams of surveyors map high-water marks
(HWM) on land, in a rigorous and detailed process that includes photos and written
descriptions of the marks. HWMs denote the location and elevation of flood waters
from a storm event. When HWMs are analyzed, if the various components of the
water height can be broken out so that the portion attributable to surge can be
identified, then that mark can be classified as storm surge. Otherwise, it is classified
as storm tide. HWMs on land are referenced to a vertical datum (a reference
coordinate system). During evaluation, HWMs are divided into four categories based
on the confidence in the mark; only HWMs evaluated as "excellent" are used by
NHC in post storm analysis of the surge.
Two different measures are used for storm tide and storm surge measurements.
Storm tide is measured using a geodetic vertical datum (NGVD 29 or NAVD 88).
Since storm surge is defined as the rise of water beyond what would be expected by
the normal movement due to tides, storm surge is measured using tidal predictions,
with the assumption that the tide prediction is well-known and only slowly varying in
the region subject to the surge. Since tides are a localized phenomenon, storm
surge can only be measured in relationship to a nearby tidal station. Tidal bench
mark information at a station provides a translation from the geodetic vertical
datum to mean sea level (MSL) at that location, then subtracting the tidal prediction
yields a surge height above the normal water height.

Fire

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Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the exothermic chemical process of

combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative
processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition.
Fire is hot because conversion of the weak double bond in molecular oxygen, O 2, to
the stronger bonds in the combustion products carbon dioxide and water releases
energy (418 kJ per 32 g of O2); the bond energies of the fuel play only a minor role
here. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames
are produced. The flame is the visible portion of the fire. Flames consist primarily of
carbon dioxide, water vapor, oxygen and nitrogen. If hot enough, the gases may
become ionized to produce plasma. Depending on the substances alight, and any
impurities outside, the color of the flame and the fire's intensity will be different.
Fire in its most common form can result in conflagration, which has the potential to
cause physical damage through burning. Fire is an important process that affects
ecological systems around the globe. The positive effects of fire include stimulating
growth and maintaining various ecological systems. Fire has been used by humans
for cooking, generating heat, light, signaling, and propulsion purposes. The negative
effects of fire include hazard to life and property, atmospheric pollution, and water
contamination. If fire removes protective vegetation, heavy rainfall may lead to an
increase in soil erosion by water. Also, when vegetation is burned, the nitrogen it
contains is released into the atmosphere, unlike elements such as potassium and
phosphorus which remain in the ash and are quickly recycled into the soil. This loss
of nitrogen caused by a fire produces a long-term reduction in the fertility of the
soil, which only slowly recovers as nitrogen is "fixed" from the atmosphere by
lightning and by leguminous plants such as clover.

12

Chemistry

Fires start when a flammable or a combustible material, in combination with a

sufficient quantity of an oxidizer such as oxygen gas or another oxygen-rich
compound (though non-oxygen oxidizers exist), is exposed to a source of heat or
ambient temperature above the flash point for the fuel/oxidizer mix, and is able to
sustain a rate of rapid oxidation that produces a chain reaction. This is commonly
called the fire tetrahedron. Fire cannot exist without all of these elements in place
and in the right proportions. For example, a flammable liquid will start burning only
if the fuel and oxygen are in the right proportions. Some fuel-oxygen mixes may
require a catalyst, a substance that is not consumed, when added, in any chemical
reaction during combustion, but which enables the reactants to combust more
readily.
Once ignited, a chain reaction must take place whereby fires can sustain their own
heat by the further release of heat energy in the process of combustion and may
propagate, provided there is a continuous supply of an oxidizer and fuel.
If the oxidizer is oxygen from the surrounding air, the presence of a force of gravity,
or of some similar force caused by acceleration, is necessary to produce convection,
which removes combustion products and brings a supply of oxygen to the fire.
Without gravity, a fire rapidly surrounds itself with its own combustion products and
non-oxidizing gases from the air, which exclude oxygen and extinguish the fire.
Because of this, the risk of fire in a spacecraft is small when it is coasting in inertial
flight. Of course, this does not apply if oxygen is supplied to the fire by some
process other than thermal convection.
Fire can be extinguished by removing any one of the elements of the fire
tetrahedron. Consider a natural gas flame, such as from a stovetop burner. The fire
can be extinguished by any of the following:

turning off the gas supply, which removes the fuel source;

13

covering the flame completely, which smothers the flame as the combustion
both uses the available oxidizer (the oxygen in the air) and displaces it from
the area around the flame with CO2;

application of water, which removes heat from the fire faster than the fire can
produce it (similarly, blowing hard on a flame will displace the heat of the
currently burning gas from its fuel source, to the same end), or

application of a retardant chemical such as Halon to the flame, which retards

the chemical reaction itself until the rate of combustion is too slow to
maintain the chain reaction.

In contrast, fire is intensified by increasing the overall rate of combustion. Methods

to do this include balancing the input of fuel and oxidizer to stoichiometric
proportions, increasing fuel and oxidizer input in this balanced mix, increasing the
ambient temperature so the fire's own heat is better able to sustain combustion, or
providing a catalyst; a non-reactant medium in which the fuel and oxidizer can more
readily react.

Flame

A flame is a mixture of reacting gases and solids emitting visible, infrared, and
sometimes ultraviolet light, the frequency spectrum of which depends on the
chemical composition of the burning material and intermediate reaction products. In
many cases, such as the burning of organic matter, for example wood, or the
incomplete combustion of gas, incandescent solid particles called soot produce the
familiar red-orange glow of 'fire'. This light has a continuous spectrum. Complete
combustion of gas has a dim blue color due to the emission of single-wavelength
radiation from various electron transitions in the excited molecules formed in the
flame. Usually oxygen is involved, but hydrogen burning in chlorine also produces a
flame, producing hydrogen chloride (HCl). Other possible combinations producing
flames, amongst many, are fluorine and hydrogen, and hydrazine and nitrogen
tetroxide.

14

The glow of a flame is complex. Black-body radiation is emitted from soot, gas, and
fuel particles, though the soot particles are too small to behave like perfect
blackbodies. There is also photon emission by de-excited atoms and molecules in
the gases. Much of the radiation is emitted in the visible and infrared bands. The
color depends on temperature for the black-body radiation, and on chemical
makeup for the emission spectra. The dominant color in a flame changes with
temperature. The photo of the forest fire in Canada is an excellent example of this
variation. Near the ground, where most burning is occurring, the fire is white, the
hottest color possible for organic material in general, or yellow. Above the yellow
region, the color changes to orange, which is cooler, then red, which is cooler still.
Above the red region, combustion no longer occurs, and the uncombusted carbon
particles are visible as black smoke.

Volcanic eruption

A volcanic eruption occurs when hot materials are thrown out of a volcano. Lava,
rocks, dust, ash and gas compounds are some of the materials.
Eruptions can come from side branches or from the top of the volcano. Some
eruptions are terrible explosions that throw out huge amounts of rock and ash and
kill many people. Some are quiet outflows of hot lava. Several more complex types
of volcanic eruptions have been described by volcanologists. These are often named
after famous volcanoes where that type of eruption has been seen. Some volcanoes

15

may show only one type of eruption during a period of activity, while others may
show a range of types in a series.

Types of volcanic eruptions

Several types of volcanic eruptionsduring which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic
bombs and blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure
have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous
volcanoes where that type of behavior has been observed. Some volcanoes may
exhibit only one characteristic type of eruption during a period of activity, while
others may display an entire sequence of types all in one eruptive series.
There are three different types of eruptions. The most well-observed are magmatic
eruptions, which involve the decompression of gas within magma that propels it
forward. Phreatomagmatic eruptions are another type of volcanic eruption, driven
by the compression of gas within magma, the direct opposite of the process
powering magmatic activity. The third eruptive type is the phreatic eruption, which
is driven by the superheating of steam via contact with magma; these eruptive
types often exhibit no magmatic release, instead causing the granulation of existing
rock.
Within these wide-defining eruptive types are several subtypes. The weakest are
Hawaiian and submarine, then Strombolian, followed by Vulcanian and Surtseyan.
The stronger eruptive types are Pelean eruptions, followed by Plinian eruptions; the
strongest eruptions are called "Ultra Plinian." Subglacial and phreatic eruptions are
defined by their eruptive mechanism, and vary in strength. An important measure of
eruptive strength is Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI), an order of magnitude scale
ranging from 0 to 8 that often correlates to eruptive types.

Magmatic eruptions
Magmatic eruptions produce juvenile clasts during explosive decompression from
gas release. They range in intensity from the relatively small lava fountains on
Hawaii to catastrophic Ultra Plinian eruption columns more than 30 km (19 mi) high,
bigger than the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 that buried Pompeii.

Hawaiian
Hawaiian eruptions are a type of volcanic eruption, named after the Hawaiian
volcanoes with which this eruptive type is hallmark. Hawaiian eruptions are the
calmest types of volcanic events, characterized by the effusive eruption of very fluid
basalt-type lavas with low gaseous content. The volume of ejected material from
Hawaiian eruptions is less than half of that found in other eruptive types. Steady
production of small amounts of lava builds up the large, broad form of a shield
volcano. Eruptions are not centralized at the main summit as with other volcanic
types, and often occur at vents around the summit and from fissure vents radiating
out of the center.

16

Strombolian
Strombolian eruptions are a type of volcanic eruption, named after the volcano
Stromboli, which has been erupting continuously for centuries. Strombolian
eruptions are driven by the bursting of gas bubbles within the magma. These gas
bubbles within the magma accumulate and coalesce into large bubbles, called gas
slugs. These grow large enough to rise through the lava column. Upon reaching the
surface, the difference in air pressure causes the bubble to burst with a loud pop,
throwing magma in the air in a way similar to a soap bubble. Because of the high
gas pressures associated with the lavas, continued activity is generally in the form
of episodic explosive eruptions.

Vulcanian
Vulcanian eruptions are a type of volcanic eruption, named after the volcano
Vulcano, which means the word Volcano. It was named so following Giuseppe
Mercalli's observations of its 1888-1890 eruptions. In Vulcanian eruptions, highly
viscous magma within the volcano make it difficult for vesiculate gases to escape.
Similar to Strombolian eruptions, this leads to the buildup of high gas pressure,
eventually popping the cap holding the magma down and resulting in an explosive
eruption. However, unlike Strombolian eruptions, ejected lava fragments are not
aerodynamic; this is due to the higher viscosity of Vulcanian magma and the greater
incorporation of crystalline material broken off from the former cap. They are also
more explosive than their Strombolian counterparts, with eruptive columns often
reaching between 5 and 10 km (3 and 6 mi) high. Lastly, Vulcanian deposits are
andesitic to dacitic rather than basaltic.

Phreatomagmatic eruptions
Phreatomagmatic eruptions are eruptions that arise from interactions between
water and magma. They are driven from thermal contraction (as opposed to
magmatic eruptions, which are driven by thermal expansion) of magma when it
comes in contact with water. This temperature difference between the two causes
violent water-lava interactions that make up the eruption. The products of
phreatomagmatic eruptions are believed to be more regular in shape and finer
grained than the products of magmatic eruptions because of the differences in
eruptive mechanisms.
There is debate about the exact nature of phreatomagmatic eruptions, and some
scientists believe that fuel-coolant reactions may be more critical to the explosive
nature than thermal contraction.[34] Fuel coolant reactions may fragment the
volcanic material by propagating stress waves, widening cracks and increasing
surface area that ultimetly lead to rapid cooling and explosive contraction-driven
eruptions.

17

Surtseyan
A Surtseyan eruption (or hydrovolcanic) is a type of volcanic eruption caused by
shallow-water interactions between water and lava, named so after its most famous
example, the eruption and formation of the island of Surtsey off the coast of Iceland
in 1963. Surtseyan eruptions are the "wet" equivalent of ground-based Strombolian
eruptions, but because of where they are taking place they are much more
explosive. This is because as water is heated by lava, it flashes in steam and
expands violently, fragmenting the magma it is in contact with into fine-grained
ash. Surtseyan eruptions are the hallmark of shallow-water volcanic oceanic islands,
however they are not specifically confined to them. Surtseyan eruptions can happen
on land as well, and are caused by rising magma that comes into contact with an
aquifer (water-bearing rock formation) at shallow levels under the volcano.

Subglacial
Subglacial eruptions are a type of volcanic eruption characterized by interactions
between lava and ice, often under a glacier. The nature of glaciovolcanism dictates
that it occurs at areas of high latitude and high altitude. It has been suggested that
subglacial volcanoes that are not actively erupting often dump heat into the ice
covering them, producing meltwater. This meltwater mix means that subglacial
eruptions often generate dangerous jkulhlaups (floods) and lahars.

Phreatic eruptions
Phreatic eruptions (or steam-blast eruptions) are a type of eruption driven by the
expansion of steam. When cold ground or surface water come into contact with hot
rock or magma it superheats and explodes, fracturing the surrounding rock and
thrusting out a mixture of steam, water, ash, volcanic bombs, and volcanic blocks.
The distinguishing feature of phreatic explosions is that they only blast out
fragments of pre-existing solid rock from the volcanic conduit; no new magma is
erupted. Because they are driven by the cracking of rock strata under pressure,
phreatic activity does not always result in an eruption; if the rock face is strong
enough to withstand the explosive force, outright eruptions may not occur, although
cracks in the rock will probably develop and weaken it, furthering future eruptions.

Bibliography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landslide
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_surge

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_volcanic_eruptions
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_eruption

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