Places in News Current Affairs MCQs

Notes:
Over 1,000 earthquakes have shaken the Tokara Islands in southern Japan in the past two weeks, creating an unprecedented seismic situation. The Tokara Islands are a small archipelago located south of Kyushu and north of the Amami Islands in Japan. They are also called the Toshima Islands, covered administratively by Toshima-mura (Toshima Village). The archipelago includes 7 inhabited islands (e.g., Kuchinoshima, Nakanoshima, Suwanosejima) and 5 uninhabited islands (e.g., Gajajima, Kogajajima).

Notes:
Physicists recently highlighted Helgoland as the birthplace of quantum theory. Helgoland is a small red-sandstone island in the German Bay (Deutsche Bucht) of the North Sea. It covers less than one square kilometre and was once used as a naval fortress. In June 1925, physicist Werner Heisenberg, suffering from hay fever, moved to Helgoland for relief. There, he abandoned the idea of electrons orbiting nuclei and focused only on observable experimental data. He organized light absorption and emission data into grids called matrices.

Notes:
Recently, Nyangai Island off the coast of Sierra Leone lost two-thirds of its surface area in less than a decade. It now measures only about 200 metres long and 100 metres wide (approximately 650 by 330 feet). Nyangai Island is part of the Turtle Islands archipelago in Sierra Leone. It is a low-lying island located in a region with strong coastal currents, making it highly vulnerable to erosion. The island has long served as a hub for trade, agriculture, fishing, and maritime transport.

Notes:
In July 2025, scientists extracted 18–20 million-year-old proteins from the tooth enamel of extinct mammals found near Lake Turkana. Lake Turkana is located in northern Kenya and partly extends into Ethiopia. It lies in the Eastern Rift Valley and is mainly fed by the Omo River, which supplies 90% of its water. It is the fourth-largest lake in Africa and the world’s largest permanent desert lake. Lake Turkana is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site.

Notes:
Recently, Mount Rainier in Washington, United States, experienced over 300 small earthquakes, marking the most significant seismic activity since 2009, as reported by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Mount Rainier is the highest mountain in Washington state, standing at 4,392 metres. It covers 260 square kilometers and has the largest single-mountain glacier system in the U.S. outside Alaska. It is an active stratovolcano formed by lava flows that began about one million years ago. Its last eruption occurred around 150 years ago.

Notes:
A 2023 false-color satellite image showed twin lava flows and a massive smoke plume from Klyuchevskoy Volcano, highlighting its active state. Klyuchevskoy is a stratovolcano located on the Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia. It is the tallest active volcano in Eurasia, with a height of 15,584 feet (4,750 meters). It features a truncated cone with a central crater and about 70 lateral craters and cones on its slopes. It has erupted over 50 times since 1700, often emitting continuous smoke.

Notes:
A volcano recently erupted in Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, marking the ninth eruption in the region since late 2023. Reykjanes Peninsula is located in southwest Iceland and spans 829 square kilometers. It lies where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge surfaces, meeting point of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. This location makes the region highly volcanically active with frequent eruptions and earthquakes.

Notes:
Recently, over 5,000 people applied for a first-ever migration visa to escape climate change impacts in Tuvalu. Tuvalu, formerly called the Ellice Islands, is a small island country in the west-central Pacific Ocean, located between Hawaii and Australia. It has nine islands (four reef islands and five coral atolls) spread over 676 km from northwest to southeast. The entire country is low-lying, with its highest point just 4.5 metres above sea level, making it highly vulnerable to sea level rise.

Notes:
Recently, the Tamil Nadu government announced the development of Chola Gangam Lake. The lake is also known as Ponneri Lake, meaning “Golden Lake.” It is located in Ariyalur district, Tamil Nadu. It was built by Rajendra Chola I in Gangaikondacholapuram, his newly established capital. Gangaikondacholapuram was founded to commemorate his victorious northern campaign. Rajendra Chola I had conquered the Gangetic plains during this campaign.

Notes:
Indian Navy’s Survey Vessel Large (SVL) INS Sandhayak made its first visit to Port Klang, Malaysia from July 16 to 19, 2025. The visit aimed to enhance hydrographic cooperation between India and Malaysia. Port Klang is located in Malaysia. t serves as Malaysia’s largest and busiest port and is a crucial hub for international trade. It reflects India’s commitment to regional hydrographic capacity building under the Indian Naval Hydrographic Department (INHD) and National Hydrographic Office. INS Sandhayak was commissioned in February 2024 with full coastal and deep-sea survey capacity, ocean data collection, Search and Rescue (SAR), and humanitarian aid functions.