Ever wonder why is the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons? The Philippines is a tropical country and the weather is fine – usual half of the year is sunny and almost half is rainy. Actually, it is one of the top countries where people choose to retire. No snow, no long winter, no cold season. And oh convert your dollar, euro, pounds and yen into pesos, you’ll be living like a queen.
The not so good thing about living here though is tropical depression. Typhoons are already usual occurrence. According to Wikipedia, 15-20 typhoons hit the country every year. So floods and disasters are common especially to crowded cities like those in Manila. I remember when I was still a little school girl, classes would get suspended due to floods and typhoons. I thought things would change but every year it’s the same scenario.
Why is the Philippines prone to typhoons?
It is because the Philippines is geographically located along the Pacific region near the Equator which is prone to tropical cyclones and storms. If you look at the globe or a map, you’ll see our big neighbor which lies next to us – the biggest ocean in the world, the Pacific Ocean.
According to the library of thinkquest.org,
cyclones develop over warm seas near the Equator. Cyclones begin in tropical regions, such as northern Australia, South-East Asia and many Pacific islands.”
Why is the Philippines prone to earthquakes?
Again it is because of its location. The Philippines is within the famous volcanic region known as the “Pacific Ring of Fire.” Others call this Belt of Fire. This horseshoe-shaped belt encompasses 452 volcanoes and is home to over 75% of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes.
According to my favorite Britannica Encyclopedia,
the Ring of Fire is also called Circum-Pacific Belt and it is seismically active belt of earthquake epicentres, volcanoes, and tectonic plate boundaries that fringes the Pacific basin. For much of its 40,000-km (24,900-mile) length, the belt follows chains of island arcs such as Tonga and New Hebrides, the Indonesian archipelago, the Philippines, Japan, the Kuril Islands, and the Aleutians, as well as other arc-shaped geomorphic features, such as the western coast of North America and the Andes Mountains.”
Check out this page to watch the video of tectonic plate demonstrations. [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]
Amidst typhoons and quakes, Filipinos remain devoted with stronger faith in God. I can say that during these disasters, the Philippines is more prone to unity, love, faith and hope. Mabuhay!
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