Volcanic Activity on Montserrat

Montserrat Pyroclastic Flow

Year 9, as you know you are currently learning about tectonic activity and associated hazards.  Before Christmas and more recently we were looking at Montserrat as a case study of a volcanic eruption and you have used some excellent resources from Juicy Geography that enabled you to work effectively as a team to respond to events and make decisions around a volcanic eruption on Montserrat.

On online colleague of mine drew my attention this evening to the Montserrat Volcano Observatory website, where the hazard level for the island now stands at level 4. The Observatory are reporting increased amounts of volcanic activity recently. Why don’t you check the website over the coming weeks to see whether activity on the island increases in the future?

Stop Disasters Game

As Years 7-9 move onto the ‘dangerous world’ theme of Key Stage 3, then why not have a go at the following simulation game? Stop Disasters investigates a variety of disasters and allows you to learn how to prevent people against the effect of these catastrophic events.

See how well you do and feedback to your Geography teacher in lessons!

Pakistan Earthquake

At least 160 people have been killed after an earthquake of 6.4 magnitude hit Balochistan province in south-western Pakistan. The tremor struck 70km (45 miles) north of Quetta at 0409 (2309GMT Tuesday) at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles), the US Geological Survey said.

BBC news follows the story this morning. The Times currently reports the death toll at 135. The Telegraph has further information. The Guardian also runs with a death toll of 135 and 15,000 made homeless.

We will follow this story over the next few days to see whether these figures change and to identify the short-term and long-term effects and responses.