A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard (e.g.

flood, tornado , volcano

eruption, earthquake, or landslide) that affects the environment, and leads to financial,
environmental and/or human losses. The resulting loss depends on the capacity of the
population to support or resist the disaster, and their resilience.[1] This understanding is
concentrated in the formulation: "disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability."[2] A
natural hazard will hence never result in a natural disaster in areas without vulnerability,
e.g. strong earthquakes in uninhabited areas. The term natural has consequently been
disputed because the events simply are not hazards or disasters without human
involvement

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or crust, which allows hot

magma, ash and gases to escape from below the surface. The word volcano is derived
from the name of Vulcano island off Sicily which in turn, was named after Vulcan, the
Roman god of fire.[1]

Volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. A mid-
oceanic ridge, for example the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has examples of volcanoes caused by
divergent tectonic plates pulling apart; the Pacific Ring of Fire has examples of volcanoes
caused by convergent tectonic plates coming together. By contrast, volcanoes are usually
not created where two tectonic plates slide past one another. Volcanoes can also form
where there is stretching and thinning of the Earth's crust (called "non-hotspot intraplate
volcanism"), such as in the African Rift Valley, the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field
and the Rio Grande Rift in North America and the European Rhine Graben with its Eifel
volcanoes.

Volcanoes can be caused by mantle plumes. These so-called hotspots, for example at
Hawaii, can occur far from plate boundaries. Hotspot volcanoes are also found elsewhere
in the solar system, especially on rocky planets and moons.

Active

A popular way of classifying magmatic volcanoes is by their frequency of eruption, with

those that erupt regularly called active, those that have erupted in historical times but are
now quiet called dormant, and those that have not erupted in historical times called
extinct. However, these popular classifications—extinct in particular—are practically
meaningless to scientists. They use classifications which refer to a particular volcano's
formative and eruptive processes and resulting shapes, which was explained above. The
lifespan of a volcano can vary from months to several million years, making such a
distinction sometimes meaningless when compared to the lifespans of humans or even
civilizations. For example, many of Earth's volcanoes have erupted dozens of times in the
past few thousand years but are not currently showing signs of eruption. Given the long
lifespan of such volcanoes, they are very active. By human lifespans, however, they are
not.

Scientists usually consider a volcano to be erupting or likely to erupt if it is currently

erupting, or showing signs of unrest such as unusual earthquake activity or significant
new gas emissions.,. The Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program's definition of active is
having erupted within the last 10,000 years (the 'holocene' period).

Extinct

Extinct volcanoes are those that scientists consider unlikely to erupt again, because the
volcano no longer has a lava supply. Examples of extinct volcanoes are many volcanoes
on the Hawaiian Islands in the U.S. (extinct because the Hawaii hotspot is centered near
the Big Island), and Paricutin, which is monogenetic. Otherwise, whether a volcano is
truly extinct is often difficult to determine. Since "supervolcano" calderas can have
eruptive lifespans sometimes measured in millions of years, a caldera that has not
produced an eruption in tens of thousands of years is likely to be considered dormant
instead of extinct. For example, the Yellowstone Caldera in Yellowstone National Park is
at least 2 million years old and hasn't erupted violently for approximately 640,000 years,
although there has been some minor activity relatively recently, with hydrothermal
eruptions less than 10,000 years ago and lava flows about 70,000 years ago. For this
reason, scientists do not consider the Yellowstone Caldera extinct. In fact, because the
caldera has frequent earthquakes, a very active geothermal system (i.e. the entirety of the
geothermal activity found in Yellowstone National Park), and rapid rates of ground uplift,
many scientists consider it to be an active volcano.

Dormant

It is difficult to distinguish an extinct volcano from a dormant one. Volcanoes are often
considered to be extinct if there are no written records of its activity. Nevertheless
volcanoes may remain dormant for a long period of time, and it is not uncommon for a
so-called "extinct" volcano to erupt again. Vesuvius was thought to be extinct before its
famous eruption of AD 79, which destroyed the towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii.
More recently, the long-dormant Soufrière Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat was
thought to be extinct before activity resumed in 1995. Another recent example is
Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska, which, prior to its eruption in September 2006, had not
erupted since before 8000 BC and was long thought to be extinct.

Effects of volcanoes
There are many different types of volcanic eruptions and associated activity: phreatic
eruptions (steam-generated eruptions), explosive eruption of high-silica lava (e.g.,
rhyolite), effusive eruption of low-silica lava (e.g., basalt), pyroclastic flows, lahars
(debris flow) and carbon dioxide emission. All of these activities can pose a hazard to
humans. Earthquakes, hot springs, fumaroles, mud pots and geysers often accompany
volcanic activity.The concentrations of different volcanic gases can vary considerably
from one volcano to the next. Water vapor is typically the most abundant volcanic gas,
followed by carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Other principal volcanic gases include
hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen chloride, and hydrogen fluoride. A large number of minor
and trace gases are also found in volcanic emissions, for example hydrogen, carbon
monoxide, halocarbons, organic compounds, and volatile metal chlorides
Barren Island:
This active volcano is found in the Andaman Sea. This volcano is the only of the kind that is
active in South Asia. A major portion of this volcano lies underwater. The peak of the volcano is
seen at an altitude of 354 metres.

Mount Bromo:
Mount Bromo is an active volcano that remains to be a popular tourist attraction till date. Mount
Bromo is located in the Tengger Caldera, which lies in the eastern area of Java, Indonesia.

Didicas Volcano:
The Didicas volcano is also an active volcano that is located in the Babuyan Islands which lies in
Philippines. The base of this volcano is around 1,200 metres with an elevation of 228 metres.

Mount Edziza:
This active volcano is located in the Stikine Country, which lies in the Northwestern area of British
Columbia in Canada. This Mount has many volcanic activities and this is also the second largest
area that sees plenty of volcanic activity in Canada.

Mount Etna:
Mount Etna can be named as the largest active volcanoes seen in Europe. This active volcano
lies on the East coast of Sicily. The origins of the volcanic activity began millions of years ago at
Mount Etna. Over the years, people have witnessed some major eruptions due to Mount Etna.

Fourpeaked Mountain:
The Fourpeaked Mountain is located in Alaska. Previously considered to be a dormant volcano,
Fourpeaked Mountain recently started showing signs of volcanic eruption in September, 2007.
Although there may have been no major eruptions till date, one has always noticed a mild steam
emanating from the summit of the Fourpeaked Mountain.

Hekla Volcano:
The Hekla volcano is located in the Southern area of Iceland. This volcano is reputed to be
Iceland’s most active volcano. Hekla has recorded a series of eruptions since the earliest
recorded in 1104. The last eruption was known to have been recorded in the 2000.

Irazú Volcano:
The Irazú Volcano is located in Costa Rica. Recently, the Irazú Volcano has shown signs of
volcanic activity for the past couple of years. The year 1994 witnessed a small eruption. Prior to
this, the Irazú volcano had erupted frequently in the olden days.

Mayon Volcano:
The Mayon volcano is located in the Philippines. This active volcano is categorized by the conical
shape. Records have shown that this volcano has had around 47 eruptions in the past few years.
It is the perfect symmetry of this volcano, which is perhaps why, it is also known as the world’s
most perfectly formed volcano.

Masaya Volcano:
This volcano is located to the south of Managua in Nicargua. Experts have seen large amounts of
sulphur dioxide gas being emitted from the Mayasa volcano. Explosions have occurred during the
past few years that have propelled rocks 500 m from the crater. The last recorded eruption of this
volcano happened in the year 2005.
Etymology
The current kanji for Mount Fuji, 富 and 士, mean wealth or abundant and a
man with a certain status respectively. However, these characters
are probably ateji, meaning that the characters were likely selected
because their pronunciations match the syllables of the name but do
not carry a particular meaning.The origin of the name Fuji is unclear.
A text of the 10th century Tale of the Bamboo Cutter says that the
name came from "immortal" (不死 fushi, fuji?) and also from the image
of abundant (富 fu?) soldiers (士 shi, ji?)[4] ascending the slopes of the
mountain.[5] An early folk etymology claims that Fuji came from 不二
(not + two), meaning without equal or nonpareil. Another claims that
it came from 不尽 (not + exhaust), meaning neverending. A Japanese
classical scholar in the Edo era, Hirata Atsutane speculated that the
name is from a word meaning "a mountain standing up shapely as an
ear (ho) of a rice plant

Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji (Fujisan) is with 3776 meters Japan's highest mountain. It is not surprising that the
nearly perfectly shaped volcano has been worshipped as a sacred mountain and experienced big
popularity among artists and common people.

Mount Fuji is a dormant volcano, which most recently erupted in 1708. It stands on the border
between Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures and can be seen from Tokyo and Yokohama on
clear days.

The easiest way to view Mount Fuji is from the train on a trip along the Tokaido Line between
Tokyo and Osaka. If you take the shinkansen from Tokyo in direction of Nagoya, Kyoto and
Osaka, the best view of Mount Fuji can be enjoyed from around Shin-Fuji Station on the right
hand side of the train, about 40 to 45 minutes after leaving Tokyo

Cyclone

In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same
direction as the Earth[1][2]. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that
rotate counter clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern
Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale cyclonic circulations are centered on areas of
low atmospheric pressure[3][4]. The largest low-pressure systems are cold-core polar
cyclones and extratropical cyclones which lie on the synoptic scale. Warm-core cyclones
such as tropical cyclones, mesocyclones, and polar lows lie within the smaller mesoscale.
Subtropical cyclones are of intermediate size.[5][6] Upper level cyclones can exist without
the presence of a surface low, and can pinch off from the base of the Tropical Upper
Tropospheric Trough during the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere. Cyclones
have also been seen on other planets outside of the Earth, such as Mars and Neptune.[
effects
The main effects of tropical cyclones include heavy rain, strong wind, large storm surges
at landfall, and tornadoes. The destruction from a tropical cyclone depends mainly on its
intensity, its size, and its location. Tropical cyclones act to remove forest canopy as well
as change the landscape near coastal areas, by moving and reshaping sand dunes and
causing extensive erosion along the coast. Even well inland, heavy rainfall can lead to
mudslides and landslides in mountainous areas. Their effects can be sensed over time by
studying the concentration of the Oxygen-18 isotope within caves within the vicinity of
cyclones' paths.After the cyclone has passed, devastation often continues. Standing water
can cause the spread of disease, and transportation or communications infrastructure may
have been destroyed, hampering clean-up and rescue efforts

Tropical Storm Hallie (1975)

Tropical Storm Hallie was a tropical storm during October 1975 that existed as three
types of cyclones: subtropical, tropical, and extratropical. The eighth and final named
storm of the 1975 Atlantic hurricane season, Hallie formed on October 24 from the
complex interaction of several weather systems

Hurricane Lisa was a long-lived Cape Verde-type hurricane in the 2004 Atlantic
hurricane season. The tropical cyclone was only briefly a hurricane; it spent most of its
lifetime as a tropical storm or tropical depression. It was the twelfth named storm and the
ninth (and final) hurricane of the 2004 season