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• Shock waves cause groundwater to rise to Droughts
the surface, turning soft ground to mud.
When an area experiences a lack of rainfall
Th is is known as liquefaction. or any other form of precipitation for a long
continuous period, it results in a drought.
Fact Corner Depending on the severity, droughts can last
Positive impacts of earthquakes: up to a month or several years, and have an
• It causes the formation of hot springs adverse impact on the ecosystem, agriculture
which are very useful to people. and economy of the aff ected areas. In the past,
• It can cause the submergence of India has seen the Bengal famines of 1779 and
coastal lands, which results in the then again from 1876 to 1877. Both of these
formation of inlets, bays and gulfs that took the lives of fi ve million people and were
help to develop fi shing and shipping unfortunately followed by another famine in
industries. 1899. Th ese droughts or famines in India have a
• It creates coasts and brings fertile strong correlation with the El Niño eff ect.
shores out of the water.
Safety Measures
During an earthquake—
• Drop down, take cover under a desk or
table and hold on.
• Move out to an open space, but if you
cannot then stay indoors until the shaking A dry rice fi eld during a drought
stops and you’re sure it’s safe to exit.
Volcanic Eruptions
• Stay away from bookcases or furniture
that can fall on you. A volcano is a vent in the Earth’s crust
through which magma from the Earth’s
• Stay away from windows. In a high-
upper mantle moves to the surface. A pool
rise building, expect the fi re alarms and
fi lled with molten rock erupts when pressure
sprinklers to go off during a quake.
builds inside a volcano. Th is can cause hot
• If you are in bed, hold on and stay there,
lava fl ows, lateral blasts, falling ash and
protecting your head with a pillow.
avalanches. An erupting volcano can also
• If you are outdoors, fi nd a clear spot away
trigger fl ash fl oods, tsunamis, mudfl ows,
from buildings, trees and power lines, and
earthquakes and rockfalls.
drop to the ground.
Cyclones
• If you are in a car, slow down and drive
to a clear place. Stay in the car until the Cyclone refers to any spinning storm that
shaking stops. rotates around a low-pressure centre. Th e
Apart from these, there are other natural low-pressure centre is also referred to as the
disasters that cause loss of life and immense ‘eye’ of the storm, which is well known for
damage to the environment and property. being eerily calm compared to the areas under
eerily: in a strange and frightening manner
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