Natural Disasters

Take a look at nature's violent side with these sites about geologic and weather events that can spell disaster for humans.

Quick Links: General | Tsunamis | Earthquakes | Volcanoes | Forest Fires | Avalanches | Drought | Floods | Tornadoes | Hurricanes

General

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's FEMA Hazards page discusses many natural disasters, including earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, landslides, thunderstorms, tornadoes, tsunamis, volcanoes, wildfires, and winter storms. The FEMA Photo Library houses more than 9,000 images of natural disasters and terrorist events and can be searched by keyword, location, disaster category or date range.

The Disaster Area, from the FEMA for Kids Web site, describes floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, thunderstorms, volcanoes, earthquakes, wildfires, and winter storms. Designed for elementary students, it includes historical facts and games.

The BBC provides Animated Guides to Natural Disasters including hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes volcanoes and tsunamis.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) lists and gives facts about Billion Dollar Weather Disasters in the U.S. from 1980-2004.

Created by elementary students in Hawaii, Beauty and the Beast looks at volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis.

The National Park Service's Geologic Hazards provides information on landslides, avalanches, tsunamis, and other geohazards.

Natural Disasters Worldwide is a site for younger students from the Miami Museum of Science. It includes a brief description of each disaster and personal stories, mostly from Florida hurricane victims.

Savage Earth, from PBS, examines earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis, including a simple animation of each.

The University of Illinois Extension supplies Disaster Resources for those affected by events such as floods, tornadoes, and thunderstorms.

Natural Disasters, from the Janie Cox Educational Technology Program at Boise State University is a virtual field trip designed to teach students about natural disasters that take place in our country, which includes tornadoes, volcanoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes.

Administered by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Relief Web gives information on disasters and emergencies around the world.

NASA's Visible Earth site is a collection of images and animations of the earth. Use the search function to find images showing the results of floods, earthquakes, fires and other disasters, or browse the Natural Hazards collection.

Tsunamis

Tsunamis from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration, includes information about them, such as observations & data, warnings & forecasts, and photos & animations.

The International Tsunami Warning Center answers frequently asked questions and provides links to regional tsunami warning centers.

The Why Files? has scientific background on tsunamis for middle school students and a report on the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Tsunamis: Warming to a Warning System.

The United States Geological Survey's (USGS) Tsunamis and Earthquakes Research uses animations and virtual reality models to explain how earthquakes generate tsunamis. The site also summarizes tsunami research.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) presents an animated explanation of the 2004 Asian Tsunami disaster.

The New York Times has a special multimedia feature about Asia's Deadly Waves.

Earthquakes

The USGS site Earthquakes for Kids is a great place to get all sorts of information about earthquakes. The site provides animations, photographs, facts and more. If you use Google Earth, check out the KML files such as the Real Time earthquake map or a virtual tour of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Faultline, from the San Francisco Exploratorium, explores the how and why of earthquakes and has articles, photos, and video of the "big ones" of 1906 and 1989.

The USGS's Earthquake Hazards Program includes interactive maps and news about recent earthquakes, as well as historical facts, information for teachers, and a kids page at earthquake.usgs.gov/kids.

The Why Files? features information on the severe 1999 earthquake in Turkey, as well as scientific background on what causes quakes, in Earthquakes: Turkey's Tragedy.

PBS Online Newshour's Predicting Earthquakes discusses why quakes occur and quake-proof buildings, and has an interactive tectonic plates map illustrating the world's seismically active regions.

Earthquakes, from the Tech Museum of Innovation, gives a multimedia overview of earthquakes.

The National Earthquake Information Center, from the USGS, features clickable real-time maps depicting current seismic activity.

This interactive map of major tectonic plates and faultlines is from PBS Online NewsHour site Predicting Earthquakes.

Savage Earth, from PBS, gives information about earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis, including simple animation of several geologic processes.

Earthquake! is an event-based science module for middle school students that uses the 1989 World Series earthquake to establish the context for learning about earthquakes and their effects on people and buildings. Students assume five different roles on a team responsible for designing a new city for a region of the world where earthquakes are common.

Volcanoes

Volcanic Violence, from The Why Files?, features the story of Mount St. Helens with discussions of how volcanoes work and the science of predicting eruptions.

Nova's Volcano's Deadly Warning has animations explaining the different kind of earthquakes produced by volcanoes, and a section on the anatomy of a volcano.

Volcano World from Oregon State University includes lots of information about volcanism and different types of volcanoes, a volcano glossary, updates on current eruptions, major volcanoes listed by country, instructions for building your own volcano, on current eruptions, earth science lessons and much mroe.

Volcanoes of the World from the Smithsonian Institute provides a world map of volcanic activity, a photo gallery of volcanic processes, reports on recent volcanic activity and short videos on volcanic eruption phenomenon.

The USGS Hawaii Volcano Observatory provides information about Hawaiian volcanoes, including photographs, videos and current eruption reports.

Cascades Volcano Observatory Educational Outreach from the USGS provides lots of information and photographs of volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest.

Beauty and the Beast is a site created by Hawaii elementary students that contains information about volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis.

Volcanoes Online was created by students. It has an illustrated guide to plate tectonics and volcanoes, games, comics, and lesson plans.

Volcano! is an event-based science module for middle school students that uses the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippine Islands to explore concepts related to volcanoes. Students assume the roles of producers of a television show about the risks to people living at the foot of Mt. Rainier, in Washington. Students will acquire then use their knowledge of plate tectonics, lava flows, debris flows, and the Ring of Fire to assemble the seven segments that make up the show.

Forest Fires

This site features information for students from the National Park Fire and Aviation Management Program.

Woods on Fire, from The Why Files?, examines the role of fire in natural systems and science's role in understanding wildfires.

The Wisconsin Electronic Reader provides The Great Peshtigo Fire: An Eyewitness Account describing the biggest fire in American history in 1871.

Avalanches

The Forest Service National Avalanche Center examines avalanches and teaches avalanche safety for skiers, snowboarders, and others. Don't miss the interactive back country tour!

The companion Web site to Nova's Avalanche! program includes lots of pictures and video clips.

Drought

NOAA's Drought Information Center has lots of good features, such as the U.S. Drought Monitor with animated maps, drought predictions, a drought calculator, and more.

The National Drought Mitigation Center defines drought and explains the "dustbowl" conditions that devastated the U.S. southern plains and other areas during the 1930s.

Surviving the Dustbowl, from PBS's American Experience series, provides a timeline and maps relating to the dustbowl era.

National Geographic XPeditions has a lesson plan for Living Through a Drought. Students practice map-reading skills as they learn where drought can occur, how to recognize it, and how drought affects people.

Floods

Nova's Flood! site includes information on flooding of the Yellow, Nile, and Mississippi rivers.

Furious Floods, from The Why Files?, examines the natural and human factors that cause flooding.

Tornadoes

NOAA's Online Tornado FAQ answers questions and embeds links to photos and detailed explanations in the answers. Check the "Tornado FAQ Page List" for lots of topics such as the Beaufort Wind Scale, 25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes, Tornado Preparedness Tips for School Administrators, and more.

Twister: The Tornado Story, from The Why Files?, includes an interactive twister and instructions for creating a tornado in a bottle.

Tornadoes, from NOAA, provides news, history, photographs, warnings, and other information.

National Geographic's Chasing Tornadoes features a narrated multimedia show, an article, a photo gallery, and video clips from a storm-chasing team.

Hurricanes

27 Storms: Arlene to Zeta from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Observatorium NASA's Hurricane Resource Reel is a one hour and 15 minute video compilation that includes all of the best animations, data visualizations, interviews, and video footage of hurricanes from the past decade.

Hurricanes: Storm Science, from the Miami Museum of Science, offers information about hurricanes and classroom projects for elementary students.

NOAA's Historical Hurricane Tracks is a complex interactive tool appropriate for older students and researchers. It generates maps showing color-coded paths of hurricanes recorded since 1950, with lots of information about each storm.


Created 10/2005
Last updated 6/21/2011