Natural hazards

Question 1

What is a natural hazard?

Answer 1

A natural hazard is a natural process which could cause death or injury to humans, or destroy property.

Question 2

What are geological and meteorological hazards?

Answer 2

Geological hazards: caused by land and tectonic processes

Meteorological hazards: caused by weather and climate

Question 3

What are different risk factors that affect the hazard risk from natural hazards? 1

Answer 3

Vulnerability: The more people that are in an area exposed to natural hazards, the greater the probability they will be affected by a natural hazard.
e.g: an area with high population density on an flood plain is very vulnerable to flooding caused by extreme weather.

Question 4

What are different risk factors that affect the hazard risk from natural hazards? 2

Answer 4

Capacity to cope: The better a population can cope, the lower the risk of them being severely affected.
e.g: high income countries are better to cope with flooding because they can afford to build flood defences and evacuate people

Question 5

What different factors are there that affect the hazard risk from natural hazards?

Answer 5

Nature of natural hazards:

Type- risk from some hazards are greater than others
e.g. tropical storms can be predicted therefore people can be evacuated but earthquakes happen suddenly, making it harder to protect people

Frequency- natural hazards that occur more often can carry a higher risk

Magnitude- more severe natural hazards tend to have the greatest effects.
e.g. a magnitude 9 earthquake that struck Japan, in 2011, killed over 15,000 people but a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Italy, in 2009, killed around 300 people

Question 6

What are the primary effects of natural hazards?

Answer 6

• Buildings and roads are destroyed by the natural hazards.
• Crops and water supplies can be damaged or contaminated
• People are injured or killed

Question 7

What are the secondary effects of a natural hazard?

Answer 7

• The initial hazard can trigger other hazards, e.g. earthquakes can trigger tsunamis
• Economy can be weakened
• A shortage of clean water and sanitation makes it easier for disease to spread

Question 8

What are the immediate responses to a natural hazard?

Answer 8

• Evacuate people
• Provide food, drink and shelter
• Treat the injured and rescue anyone cut off by damage to roads or bridges

Question 9

What are the long term responses to a natural hazard?

Answer 9

• Repair homes or rehouse people who have lost their homes
• Boost economic recovery e.g. promoting tourism
• Improve building regulations so buildings can withstand similar hazards in the future