Disaster News 1: Introduction

Breaking News: 
 4 September 2010    
7.1 magnitude earthquake hits Christchurch causing extensive damage




Breaking News: 
19 November 2010 
Pike River Mine explosion traps 29 Rescue efforts hampered




The South Island of New Zealand has been hit by both these disasters within the last two months. How do these catastrophes affect the communities in which they occur?  What, if anything, can we do to predict these disasters?  And how can we protect ourselves when a disaster strikes?

It is your job to tell the North Waikato answers to these questions!

Task
You are a young journalist, just out of college.  You have applied for a job with the North Waikato News and they are willing to give you a job. Congratulations!   However, you will have to prove you're capable by completing an assignment.
The Editor hands you the assignment -
          Create a 2 - 3 page newspaper layout informing the readers about one of the two disasters which have struck the South Island recently. Your newspaper layout is to be distributed to the readers of the North Waikato News in the December 2010 issue .  Your articles need to answer the following questions:

1. What causes the disaster?
2. Can they be predicted? If so, how? If not, why?
3. What damage results from the disaster?
4. Who are the key agencies involved in the aftermath of such catastrophes and what role do they play?
5. How do these disasters affect the people who live in these communities?
6. What can people do to be prepared for and stay safe during the disaster?

Fortunately, the editor of the newspaper is very supportive of young journalists and he has hired several other recent college graduates, just like you, to work on this assignment.  You will work in teams of 3 to research, write, illustrate and prepare your newspaper articles.  The editor also wants to be sure that the articles meet the newspaper's style so he is giving you a format to follow. Click here to see the sample format.

 THE DEADLINE FOR YOUR NEWSLETTER IS Friday 26th November, 2010.

Many ideas for this inquiry have been adapted from the work of  Susan Mims on her Natural Disasters WebQuest, created in Questgarden. I would like to acknowledge her original authorship.