Vocabulary

Droughts occur when areas experience drier than normal conditions. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia. 


Drought: when a region experiences unusually low precipitation for months or years.

Earthquake: sudden ground movement caused by the release of energy stored in rocks

Elastic rebound theory: description of how earthquakes happen due to stress building along faults.

Flash flood: sudden, unexpected floods that occur when there is intense rain falling over a brief period of time.

Flood: overflow of water in one place.

Floodplain: land adjacent to a river or stream where water overflows onto, during a flood.

Heat wave: when an area experiences more than 5 consecutive days of above average temperatures

Liquefaction: when water-saturated sandy soils are subjected to shaking and lose their strength and ability to support structures. 

Tropical depression: low pressure cell around which a hurricane develops.

Tsunami: ocean waves that occur due to an earthquake on the ocean floor.

Last modified: Thursday, 16 February 2017, 2:27 PM