A tornado hit a small town in Missouri at 9 a.m. yesterday. People said the sky darkened very quickly. The winds were so strong that trees, cars and even houses were picked up and carried for miles. As local TV and radio stations had issued an early warning, most of the residents had had time to take shelter underground or in basements.
A powerful earthquake struck the north-east of Japan at 4 p.m. last Monday. Although Japan has the most advanced warning system, there had been no early warning for this one and people were not prepared. Suddenly the ground started moving. The shaking continued for a few minutes and became stronger. People began running away from buildings as walls started to collapse.
Mount Sinabung in Indonesia erupted again two days ago. From where we were standing, we could see a big cloud of ash coming from the top of the mountain. As the lava ran down the volcano's sides, it destroyed everything in its path. By the next morning, several villages around Mount Sinabung were buried in ash and debris.