Natural Disasters

What kinds of natural disasters are there? What causes them?
What disasters have made the biggest impression on you?
Do you know of any natural disasters outside of Japan?
What scales are used to measure the strength of earthquakes? typhoons? tornadoes? volcanos?
Do you worry about natural disasters? enjoy them?
Have you ever been stuck in a train or at a station when the trains stopped? Why did they stop? How long were you stuck? What did you do?
Is your home insured for disasters?
What countries suffer from famine?
How do natural disasters affect crops?
What is "O-Ha-shi"?

What to Do
How can people prevent natural disasters?
Do you have emergency supplies at home?
What is "kanpan"? Have you ever eaten it?
Where do you get information during a natural disaster?
What should you do in a natural disaster?
Have you ever participated in a fire drill or a drill for some other natural disaster? What did you do? Was it fun?
Where is the nearest shelter to you?
In an emergency, what would you take with you?
What would you do if your family died in an earthquake?
Have you ever worked as a volunteer after a disaster happened?
Have you contributed money or clothes to victims of natural disasters?
Have you ever helped raise funds for the victims of a disaster?

Earthquakes and Landslides
Can earthquakes be predicted? Can catfish predict them?
What kinds of seismic waves are there? Are you sensitive to them?
What causes them? What can we do about them?
Have you ever felt a big earthquake? recently? been in an earthquake simulator?
What countries have the most earthquakes? What parts of Japan?
Have you heard of the Great Kanto Earthquake? Who told you about it?
What were you doing when the Great Hanshin Earthquake hit?
When and where do you think the next destructive earthquake will occur?
When do you think the Great Tokai Earthquake will happen? Where?
Why does Japan have so many earthquakes?
What is continental drift?
What direction are the continents moving in?
Is Japan moving? Which direction? How fast?
Do other planets have quakes?
Have you ever seen a landslide?

Fires
Do you have a fire extinguisher at home?
What should you do if you see a fire? What's the number for the fire department?
Have you ever seen a fire in your neighborhood?
Have you ever seen a forest fire?
Have you ever played with fire?
What color are American fire engines? Japanese fire engines?
If there were a fire in your house, what would you take with you when you escaped?

Snow and Hail
Have you ever been in a big snow storm?
Have you ever shovelled away snow?
Have you ever seen an avalanche? What can cause an avalanche?
Have you been in a hail storm?

Thunder and Lightning
What country or area gets the most rain?
Do you pay attention to the weather forecast every day?
Has your school ever been closed because of wind, snow, or rain?
Do you think lightning storms are beautiful?
Are you afraid of thunder or lightning? How about your pets?
Have you ever seen lightning strike someplace close to you?
Do you think thunder will steal your navel?
What should you do in a thunder storm?
Is it dangerous to put up your umbrella in a thunder storm?
Have you ever seen an aurora?
Have you ever seen a rainbow? a double rainbow?
Have you ever been in a blackout? What caused it? How long did it last? What did you do?

Typhoons / Hurricanes
What causes them? What can we do about them?
What is the difference between a typhoon and a hurricane?
Have any friends or relatives been in a big typhoon?
How many typhoons are there each year? What time of the year do typhoons come? Where do typhoons come from?
Why does Kyushu and Okinawa have so many typhoons?
What is the biggest typhoon that you know of?
Have you ever heard of the Isewan Typhoon? How much damage was there?
Have you ever seen the movie Isewan Taifu Monogatari?
Did the Isewan Typhoon affect anyone you know? How? How old were they? What happened to them?
What do you do when a big typhoon approaches?
Have you ever been in the eye of a typhoon? at sea during a typhoon?
Have you ever been hit by flying debris?

Floods and Tidal Waves
What countries suffer from flooding?
What causes them? What can we do about them?
Have you ever experienced a flood?

How is a tidal wave different from other waves?
Have you ever experienced or heard of a tidal wave?
What caused the Asian Tsunami (tidal wave) of 2004?
How many people died?
Are you afraid of tidal waves?

Tornadoes
Have you ever seen a tornado? a water spout?
What causes them? What can we do about them?
Why do foreign countries have so many tornadoes and not Japan?
Have you seen the movie "Twister"?

Volcanoes
How many active volcanoes are there in Japan? Which is the nearest to Nagoya?
What are the most active volcanoes you know of?
Have you seen an active volcano?
Did you see the movies Dante's Peak or Volcano?
Have you ever seen a volcano erupt? hot lava?
Have you ever visited the Aso Mountains or Unzen Dake?
Have you ever seen Sakurajima erupt?
Is Unzen Fugen Dake finished erupting?
When will Mt. Fuji erupt next?

Environmental Destruction
What countries suffer from famine? flooding? Why?
What do you think of the destruction of ozone layer? What causes holes in the ozone layer? Do you use "furon" gas?
What do you think of the greenhouse effect and global warming?
What do you think of acid rain?
How large is the Sahara Desert?
What other deserts can you name?
What is desertification? Where is it happening?
Will our climate change?
What is the El Nino phenomenon?
What can people do to prevent environmental disasters?

Extinction and the End of the World
What species are in danger of extinction?
What might cause a mass extinction?

What natural disasters can originate in outer space?
Did you see the movie Deep Impact?
Have there been any real impact events? any near misses?
What are the predictions of Notrodamus? Do you believe them?
Do you think Japan will sink into the sea?
When do you think the world will end? How?