What can cause changes to the physical makeup of a particular place on earth

Wouldn't that be because of the Tectonic Plates

The movement of tectonic plates can change the physical makeup of a lace on earth. Natural disasters such as earthquakes,tsunamis,cyclones,hail and storm can also change the makeup of a particular place on earth.

Eg;
On 2011, March 11 Tohoku, Japan had a series of aftershocks along with an earthquake that had changed the makeup of Japan forever.

Another Eg;
In Chernobyl, Russia ((which is where I'm from :) )) one of the nuclear reactors inside a nuclear power plant had exploded and leaked radiation throughout the whole surrounding land, even to this day the radiation is still there and there are no inhabitants there because radiation is very harmful to us and can cause cancer and lead to death.

Hope this helps ;)