Paper 1 Natural hazards

Question 1

what is a natural hazard?

Answer 1

a natural process which could cause death or disruption to humans or destroy property and possessions.

Question 2

has a natural disaster already happened or not?

Answer 2

YES

Question 3

what are geological hazards? Give 3 examples.

Answer 3

Caused by land and tectonic processes
-volcanoes
-earthquakes
-landslides
-avalanches

Question 4

what are meteorological hazards? Give 3 examples.

Answer 4

Caused by weather and climate
-tropical storms (tornado, hurricanes and cyclones)
-heatwaves
-cold spells

Question 5

what is hazard risk?

Answer 5

the probability of people being affected by a hazard in a particular area.

Question 6

Give 3 factors that can affect hazard risk.

Answer 6

-vulnerability
-capacity to cope
-nature of the natural hazard

Question 7

How does vulnerability affect hazard risk?

Answer 7

-the more people there are in an area, the greater the risk that they will be affected, as there is a higher probability.

Question 8

How does capacity to cope affect hazard risk?

Answer 8

-the better a population can cope with an event, the lower the risk that they are badly affected.
e.g. HIC can cope better as they can afford defences and to evacuate people, for floods.

Question 9

How does the nature of natural hazard affect the risk?

Answer 9

The type of the hazard because some have greater risks than others
The frequency as if they occur more often they have a higher risk
The magnitude as the highest magnitude usually have the greatest effects.

Question 10

Give some primary effects of natural hazards.

Answer 10

-buildings and roads can be destroyed
-people are injured or killed
-crops and water supplies can be damaged
-supplies can be cut off e.g. electricity

Question 11

Give some secondary effects of natural hazards.

Answer 11

-initial hazard can trigger other hazards
-aid and emergency vehicles may be blocked off to help.
-a shortage of clean water or a lack of sanitation
-food shortages if crops are damaged etc
-the countries economy weakens due to lots of reconstruction and unemployment.

Question 12

Give some immediate responses of natural hazards.

Answer 12

-evacuation
-treat the injured and rescue people cut off
-recover dead bodies
-temporary supplies of electricity and gas
-provide food, drink and shelter
-foreign governments or charities can send aid or supplies or donations to help.

Question 13

Give some long-term responses of natural hazards.

Answer 13

-repair homes or rehouse people
-rebuild buildings, roads etc
-reconnect electricity and water supplies, as well as communication connections.
-improve warnings for the future
-boost economy recovery e.g. by tourism.

Question 14

Tectonic plates
State the 4 layers of the earth

Answer 14

inner core
outer core
mantle
crust

Question 15

What are the two types of crust.

Answer 15

Continental and Oceanic

Question 16

Give 2 characteristics of continental crust.

Answer 16

It is thicker and less dense

Question 17

Give 2 characteristics of oceanic crust.

Answer 17

It is thinner and more dense

Question 18

what is the place called where plates meet?

Answer 18

Plate margins or boundaries

Question 19

What are the three types of plate margin?

Answer 19

-Destructive
-Constructive
-Conservative

Question 20

Explain what happens at destructive plate margins?

Answer 20

-two plates move towards each other

-when an oceanic meets a continental, the denser oceanic plate sub-ducts and is destroyed, creating magma - volcanoes and ocean trenches can occur.

-when two continental meet, the ground is folded upwards, creating fold mountains.

Question 21

Explain what happens at constructive plate margins?

Answer 21

-two plates are moving away from each other

-magma rises from the mantle and through the gap, it cools, creating new crust.

Question 22

Explain what happens at conservative plate margins?

Answer 22

-two plates moving sideways past each other or in the same direction at different speeds

-no crust is created or destroyed
-no volcanoes are found here, but often earthquakes.

Question 23

where do volcanoes occur?

Answer 23

They occur at destructive and constructive plate margins
-at destructive, the denser plate moves down into the mantle, forming magma which rises through cracks and erupts causing a volcano.
-at constructive, magma rises up the gap to fill the gap, forming a volcano.

Question 24

What happens when a volcano erupts?

Answer 24

-lava and gases are emitted
-some emit lots of ash, which can block our the sun and form pyroclastic flows.

Question 25

where do earthquakes occur?

Answer 25

All three plate margins.
-at destructive tension builds as the plates get stuck as they move past each other
-at constructive tension builds along cracks as they move away from each other.
-at conservative tension builds as the plates get stuck grinding past.

Question 26

how do earthquakes then occur

Answer 26

shock waves sent out, these vibrations are the earthquake. they spread out from the focus, which is the strongest point.
the epicentre is the point on the earth’s surface above the focus.

Question 27

how are earthquakes measured?

Answer 27

they are measured using the magnitude scale.
a magnitude of 7 would be 10 x worse than a magnitude of 6.
-below 6 would only cause slight damage
-above 7 can cause major damage and death

Question 28

Case study- Chile
Main information

Answer 28

-February 27th 2010
-magnitude of 8.8
-earthquake
-epicentre was offshore

Question 29

Give some primary effects of the Chile 2010 earthquake.

Answer 29

-500 killed
-12,000 injured
-800,000 affected
-220,000 homes, 4500 schools and others destroyed
-the port and airport of Santiago was badly damaged
-most of Chile lost power, water and communication
-the cost was 30 billion US dollars

Question 30

Give some secondary effects of the Chile 2010 earthquake.

Answer 30

-1500km of roads damaged
-coastal towns were devastated by tsunami waves
-a fire at a chemical plant near Santiago had to be evacuated.

Question 31

Give some immediate responses for the Chile 2010 earthquake.

Answer 31

-emergency services acted fast, as well as international help
-temporary repairs made to a highway within 24 hours to enable aid
-power and water was restored to 90% of homes in 10 days
-a national appeal raised 60 million to build emergency shelters.

Question 32

Give some long-term responses for the Chile 2010 earthquake.

Answer 32

-a month after, the government launched a housing reconstruction plan to help 200,000 households that were affected
-their strong economy based on copper exports could be rebuild without aid
-president announced it would take 4 years to recover fully.

Question 33

Where is Chile on the GDP-wealth indicator

Answer 33

38th out of 193 countries

Question 34

Case study- Nepal earthquake
Main information

Answer 34

-25th April, 2015
-on a destructive pate boundary
-7.8 magnitude

Question 35

Give some primary effects for the Nepal 2015 earthquake.

Answer 35

-9000 killed and 22,000 injured
-800,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed
-4 million people were left homeless
-cost was over 5 billion US dollars
-roads and bridges were destroyed
-2 million people were left without access to clean water

Question 36

Give some secondary effects for the Nepal 2015 earthquake.

Answer 36

-triggered avalanches on mount Everest, killing 18 people.
-roads were blocked by landslides, preventing aid from reaching remote areas.
-a lack of clean water caused outbreaks of typhus, killing 13 people

Question 37

Give some immediate responses for the Nepal 2015 earthquake.

Answer 37

-India and China sent rescue teams
-People tried to recover dead bodies and treat the injured, but blocked roads prevented this
-Charities e.g. Oxfam provided medicine, food and temp water supplies
-the red cross set up emergency shelters for 130,000 families who were now homeless.

Question 38

Give some long-term responses for the Nepal 2015 earthquake.

Answer 38

-the world bank group financed 500 million dollars worth of projects to build now stable buildings
-road was reopened after 2 years between Nepal and Tibet
-heritage sites were reopened in June to encourage tourists
-water supply was finally restored

Question 39

Why do people choose to live in hazardous areas?

Answer 39

-cannot afford to move
-always lived there
-don’t want to leave family or jobs
-confident that the government will support them in an event
-minerals from volcanic ash makes areas nearby have fertile soil which is good for farmers.

Question 40

how can monitoring reduce the effects of hazards?

Answer 40

earthquakes- seismometers can monitor the earth’s movements and can be used to warn people earlier on.
volcanoes- scientists can monitor signs for an eruption.(small changes in normal activity)

Question 41

how can prediction reduce the effects of hazards?

Answer 41

earthquakes- cannot be reliably predicted but can they forecasts when they might occur, monitoring movements.
volcanoes- have to monitor them closely

Question 42

how can protection reduce the effects of hazards?

Answer 42

earthquakes- new buildings can absorb the energy created or existing ones can be strengthened to withstand them. automatic shut-off switches can turn of electricity supplies to prevent fires.

volcanoes- buildings can be strengthened so they don’t collapse under the weight of ash

Question 43

how can planning reduce the effects of hazards?

Answer 43

-future developments can avoid high risk areas
-emergency services can prepare by practicing what to do in an emergency
-people can be educated what to do
-plan evacuation routes and practice using these
-stock up on emergency supplies.