Travis Gustafson, age 11, of Hattesburg, Miss., for his question:
WHY DOES JAPAN HAVE SO MANY EARTHQUAKES?
Japan has about 1,500 earthquakes every year, but most of them cause little damage. Scientists believe that the mountain range which makes up Japan has not yet stopped growing. They think the eastern shores of the islands along the Pacific are slowly rising, while the western coast along the Sea of Japan is sinking.
Many earthquakes occur in Japan, scientists say, because of this gradual and continuing movement of the earth's crust.
A great earthquake struck Tokyo and Yokohama in 1923. This quake, and the fires and tidal wave that followed it, killed 143,000 persons.
In 1964, a Japanese earthquake almost as severe as the 1923 monster, occurred in Niigata. It caused extensive damage but killed fewer than 30 persons.
Mountains and hills actually cover almost six sevenths of Japan. In fact, the islands of Japan consist of the rugged upper part of a great mountain range that rises from the floor of the North Pacific Ocean.
Japan's rugged and beautiful terrain has inspired poets and painters and it definitely attracts tourists from all parts of the world.
Japan's highest mountains are the Japanese Alps in central Honshu. Many peaks in this range reach 10,000 feet. Japan's mountains include nearly 200 volcanoes, some of which are still active.
Japan's highest and most famous peak, Mount Fuji, or Fujiyama, is on Honshu. Mount Fuji, an inactive volcano, last errupted in 170?. It rises 12,388 feet above sea level. Five lakes surround it and snow covers its peak in winter. In summer, thousands of people climb the famous mountain to the rim of its quiet crater.
Thousands of short, swift streams flow down the mountainsides but Japan has no long rivers.
Many lakes nestle among the Japanese mountains. Some lie in the craters of dead volcanoes. Also, hundreds of hot springs gush from the ground throughout Japan.
Japan has a sea of its own, the Inland Sea. It lies between Honshu on the north and Shikoku and Kyushu on the south. This sea has always been an important waterway for the Japanese. Tourists admire the Inland Sea for its beautiful waters and many small wooded islands. The sea has nearly a thousand islands.
Japan's shoreline is so broken and jagged that it is unusually long, compared with the area of the islands. The four main islands have about 5,572 miles of coastline.
The hundreds of bays and inlets along Japan's coastline provide many excellent harbors. Tokyo Bay, one of the largest bays, is 30 miles long. Other large bays include Ise Bay near Nagoya, Osaka Bay near Osaka, Tosa Bay on Shikoku, Toyama Bay on Honshu and Uchiura Bay on Hokkaido.
Two ocean currents influence Japan's climate: the warm Japan Current, which starts northeast of the Philippines, and the cold Oyashio Current which flows south from the western coast of Hokkaido and northern Honshu.