The massive 9.0 magnitude <a href="/earth/geology/quake_1.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/windows.html">earthquake</a> off of Honshu, Japan on <a href="/headline_universe/march112011earthquaketsunami.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/windows.html">11 March 2011</a> generated a <a href="/earth/tsunami1.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/windows.html">tsunami</a> that exceeded 10 meters on the coast near the epicenter. This image shows model projections for the tsunami wave height in cm which are in good agreement with the observed waves. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were lost, and their families, as we remember this event.<p><small><em><a href="http://blogs.agu.org/wildwildscience/files/2011/03/680_20110311-TsunamiWaveHeight.jpg">NOAA Tsunami Wave Height Projections image</a></em></small></p>New observations by the MESSENGER spacecraft provide support for the hypothesis that Mercury harbors abundant water ice and other frozen volatile materials in its permanently shadowed (shown in red) polar craters. Areas where polar deposits of ice imaged by Earth-based radar are shown in yellow.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Arecibo Observatory</em></small></p>The <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/tornado/fujita.html">EF-5</a> <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/tornado.html">tornado</a> that hit El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31st, 2013 was the widest ever recorded in the US, according to the National Weather Service in Norman Oklahoma. The tornado, which remained on the ground for 40 minutes and reached 2.6 miles across (4.2 km), took the lives of 18 people including storm chasers Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras and Carl Young.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of National Weather Service, Norman Oklahoma</em></small></p><p>The United Nations <a href="http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/PAND_report.pdf" target="_blank">estimated</a> that between 1994-2015, there were 6,873 natural disasters worldwide, which affected 218 million people and claimed 1.35 million lives. </p> <p>Check out the materials about natural disasters in <a href="/earth/natural_hazards/when_nature_strikes.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/windows.html">NBC Learn Videos</a>, and their earth system science connections built up by the related secondary classroom activities.</p><p><small><em>NBC Learn</em></small></p>March 2012 marks the first anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude <a href="/earth/geology/quake_1.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/windows.html">earthquake</a>, <a href="/earth/tsunami1.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/windows.html">tsunami</a>, and resulting nuclear accident in Japan on <a href="/headline_universe/march112011earthquaketsunami.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/windows.html">11 March 2011</a>. The tsunami did massive damage, wiping out entire villages and killing ~16,000 people, and leading to one of the most serious nuclear accidents in history. This image shows before and after photos of the area north of Sendai, where 10,000 people were lost.<p><small><em>Photos by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html?hp">GeoEye/EyeQ</a>.</em></small></p>Sinkholes are <a href="/teacher_resources/main/frameworks/esl_bi8.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/windows.html">natural hazards</a> in many places around the world. They are formed when water dissolves underlying <a href="/earth/Water/carbonates.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/windows.html">limestone</a>, leading to collapse of the surface. Hydrologic conditions such as a lack of rainfall, lowered water levels, or excessive rainfall can all contribute to sinkhole development. On 2/28/2013, a sinkhole suddenly developed under the house outside of Tampa, Florida, leading to the tragic death of its occupant, Jeff Bush.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Southwest Florida Water Management District</em></small></p>


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