France: Natural Hazards and Catastrophes

France experience extream weather every single year. Whenever they experience extreme weather is mostly always rainfall. Two years ago in December 2017, France experienced extream weather all over. N orthern France was hit by violent storms that left 20,000 homes without power. Pas-de-Calais and Somme would experience snowfall that same week. On the west of France by  Charentes Maritimes coast, tropical storm Ana was with winds up to 80 miles per hour and in the southwest of France in  Nouvelle Aquitaine region they were going to expect huge, strong waves. In the Alps, they were going to also experience extreme snowfall and on the Mediterranean coast, they were expecting waves that would cause flooding. On May 2018, France experienced extream weather again, they had storms that had affected the whole country. They experienced flash floods that left a dead 35-year-old man in Finistere. That month alone France experienced 182,000 lightning strikes that touched the gr...

Mass Wasting is the gravity pulling down on rocks, soil, sand, etc on a downward sloped surface. When this happens it creates a landslide which is usually muddy or an avalanche which is usually a mountain covered with snow. Landslide  Avalanche France experiences landslides due to the rainy weather and floods they have. On February 2018 at  Monts d’Olmes a ski resort, they  experienced a big landslide that blocked the only way to and out of the resort that left 2,000 people trapped that where their for vacations. On June 11-12 of 2018, France experienced a lot of rain. the rain caused a landslide near Paris that caused a train to derail between   Saint-Remy-Les-Chevreuse and Courcelle-sur-Yvette , it left 7 people injured. Monts d’Olmes a ski resort Derailed train: Saint-Remy-Les-Chevreuse and Courcelle-sur-Yvette References https://www.thelocal.fr/20180221/pyrenees-landslide-traps-2000-people-in-france-ariege-mont-dolmes http://...

In France, there are about 450 volcanoes. They are all located in the Auvergne Region in south-central France. The last eruption to occur was more than 6,000 years ago. Scientists believe that the residents of the Auvergne Region should not worry because the volcanoes are dormant and will not erupt in this present but, they will millions of years from now. Although there are not any awake volcanos in France, there are awake volcanoes in French territory. One of the most active volcanoes in the world is France Reunion Island located in the Indian ocean. Its last eruption was April 2018, but, In February 2019 it started erupting again. I am not sure if France is doing anything to warn people when a volcano is going to erupt because I could not find anything. The highlighted is the Auvergne Region in France. The volcanic eruption in France Reunion Island References Volcanodiscovery.com. (2019).  Piton de la Fournaise Volcano Volcanic Ash Advisory: ERUP...

France is a country that does not experience many earthquakes in a whole. Although, they did experience an earthquake this month on the 11th in the Western part of France in  Saint-Hilaire-de-Voust in the Vendée.  It was a 4.6 magnitude earthquake. The last major earthquake in France that caused fatalities was on the 11th of June of 1909 in the Provence Region, the magnitude of the earthquake was of 6.2. The regions with the strongest seismicity zones are those that are on the border of Spain and France, and Italy and France.   I learned that France has a tsunami and earthquake alert center called CENALT. CENALT not only detects tsunamis and earthquakes around France and the Mediterranian sea but also  Northeast Atlantic up to Greenland and the Arctic.  June 11, 1909. 6.2M earthquake. February 11, 2019. location of 4.6M earthquake. The regions with the strongest seismicity zones are those that are on the border of Spain and Franc...

France is located on the Eurasian Plate, it is separated from the boundary by Spain and Italy. Although France is fairly far from the boundary, it makes an exception because it has a subduction zone. Subduction zones are caused by two plates moving towards each other, one plate going under the other. This is when volcanoes are formed. The volcanoes in France are located in the Massif Central but, have been dormant for at least 10,000 years. France does not experience many earthquakes due to the fact that is far from the boundary but it does experience many floods, avalanches, and droughts.  Sources Keller Edward A., DeVecchio, D. E., Blodgett, R. Natural Hazards: Earth's Processes as Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes. 4th edition.  Pearson, 2014.  Dichamp, Bernard. “Presentation - Location.”  Chaîne Des Puys. Présentation Localisation , 2001, dichamp.pagesperso-orange.fr/englishversion/prehae.html.

A Natural Hazard is a Natural process. It becomes a hazard when it threatens human life and property. A disaster is when a natural process is in a defined area over a limited time span. There are at least 10 human deaths or more, and over 100 people are affected by it. A Catastrophe is an event that requires a great deal of money and along with it, years of recovery for the country.