Stephani's Blog

Good news, it’s is most likely that if you live in the United Kingdom that you’ll go your whole life not having to worry about volcanic activity on your island. Hooray! Now although no volcanic activity is currently a worry in the United Kingdom, that is not to say that they are completely safe from the destructive forces of nature. As a very powerful nation, they have responsibilities to their territories. One of them is tracking and prevention of volcanic activity.  Of the UKOT (United Kingdom’s Overseas Territories), two are of major concern. First is volcanism on Ascension Island . Here, “volcanic  activity has been dominated by lava flows produced from vents distributed all over the surface of the island, with less frequent explosive eruptions producing volcanic ash and pyroclastic flows originating from the central and eastern areas”.  Second is volcanic activity on Tristan da Cunha , which like Ascension Island is part of the UKOT of Saint Helena. This area is active! The most r

 The UK does not experience high earthquake activity. They are at a safe distance from their nearest tectonic plate being the Eurasian plate and because of this they are in an area that has not had an earthquake that has resulted in destruction of property or fatalities in over a century. Below is a list of Significant British Earthquakes from the past few hundred years, as you can see most of those earthquakes are of a low magnitude and did not hit the UK directly but rather surrounding waters.  In 2010, emergency responders in multiple locations throughout the UK has a simulation earthquake drill that would help prepare the fire and rescue team for the unlikely occasion that a destructive earthquake were to hit the island. This USAR (Urban Search And Rescue) Earthquake Drill is referred to as Exercise Orion 2010 . Pictures of what this “real life practice” looked like are posted below featuring one of the recently demolished locations used for this exercise.  During Exercise Orion 2

What are tectonic plates and why are they important?   Tectonic plates are segments of the earth that are primarily continental and oceanic floor, and they move because they lie on top of softer and moving rock. Hot rock just below the surface rises and when it cools and gets heavy, it sinks again.  Depending on the direction the plate is moving in, it can collide with other tectonic plates and create earthquakes, volcanoes, and new land (ex: mountains, islands, etc.) Although these naturally occurring disasters don’t please humans as it creates situations that might destroy their property or take lives, it is not something that we can control, but it is something we can predict.  The boundaries that separate each tectonic plate give clues as to where it is most likely that these natural disasters will occur based on their placement and past volcanic/ earthquake activity. This can be seen most easily in the NOAA map below .  Do tectonic plate boundaries affect the UK? The United Kingdo