Japan is home of one of the earth's volcanic chains. Isolated by the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, Japan is probably one of the worst geographical places to live. Although, millions of people make Japan their sacred home, that they wish not to fear. Japan is built on a foundation of harden volcanic molten rock, that has hardened and rose from the earth for millions of years. Three types of natural disasters will be referred to: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and typhoons. .
Japan sits on a subduction zone, which is where one plate is being forced beneath another. It is also at the meeting point of two pieces of the giant Pacific plate, which are moving in different directions along side each other. Japan hardly goes through a day without a minor or minuscule tremor or quake. Each year there are only a small amount of earthquakes that actually have a structural or devastating effect on a certain location. The strongest earthquake to hit Japan was in Tokyo and Yokohama on September 1, 1923. More than one-hundred and thirty-thousand people were killed do t the structural damage and the fires that were caused by the quake. Thousands of homes were crumbled to pieces, and many homes were burned to the ground due to the relative closeness of the houses, and the fact that they were made out of wood. The earthquake caused so much damaging fire that tornado like winds were caused and many people died of suffocation. More recent earthquakes are deadly also, but now most of the homes and buildings are constructed to handle the quakes. Japan actually has skyscrapers that can tolerate large earthquakes. These high rises actually were designed by engineers to have shocks built in at the base of the building to absorb to rumbling effect of an earthquake. Japan is an extraordinary place to live if you can handle the pressure or fear of living through the chance of an earthquake everyday of your life.