Impacts and management of tectonic events Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management revision
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In plain words
Nobody can stop an earthquake or an eruption. What can be changed is how many people are in the way, how strong their buildings are, how much warning they get and how fast help arrives. The same magnitude can kill ten people in one country and ten thousand in another.
9 things to know
- Damage to buildings and infrastructure: homes collapse, and roads, bridges, power lines and pipes are broken.
- Crops, livestock and habitats are lost. People and livestock have to be evacuated.
- Fire follows when gas pipes and power lines break. An earthquake under the sea can cause a tsunami, a series of very large waves. Shaking sets off landslides.
- Broken pipes and sewers contaminate drinking-water supplies, which leads to water-related disease, such as cholera.
- There are financial losses, from the cost of repairs and from businesses that cannot trade. Human health suffers through deaths, injuries and lasting stress.
- Before: monitoring and warning use instruments to detect signs of an eruption or the first waves of an earthquake. Land use zoning keeps buildings away from the most dangerous land. Buildings are given structures that survive shaking.
- Before: disaster preparation means plans, drills, emergency supplies and emergency rescue teams.
- During and after: evacuation moves people out of danger. Shelters house those who have lost their homes. Damaged areas are rebuilt. International aid brings money, supplies and expert help from other countries.
- Limitations. Earthquakes cannot be predicted in time for people to leave. Strong buildings and monitoring are expensive, so poorer countries are less protected. People ignore warnings or refuse to leave. Aid takes days to arrive.
Worked example
Explain why cholera may break out a week after an earthquake.
- The earthquake breaks water pipes and sewers.
- Sewage leaks into the drinking-water supply and contaminates it.
- People have no other water, so they drink it and swallow the cholera bacterium.
- Crowded shelters with poor sanitation help the disease to spread.
Tips and tricks
- Put strategies in order of time when asked: before (monitoring, zoning, building design, preparation), during (warning, evacuation) and after (shelters, rebuilding, aid).
- Volcanic eruptions usually give warning signs. Earthquakes give seconds at most. So evacuation works for volcanoes, and strong buildings matter most for earthquakes.
It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.
Impacts and management of tectonic events: 6 questions and answers
These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.
What is a tsunami?
It floods low coasts.
Why does disease often follow an earthquake?
Dirty water spreads diseases such as cholera.
Which is disaster preparation?
Drills are done before the event.
What is land use zoning?
The most dangerous land is kept clear.
Which strategy is used after a tectonic event?
It is part of recovery.
Why do earthquakes of the same magnitude usually kill more people in poorer countries?Stretch
Protection costs money.
Quiz
6 questions
Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.
Worksheet
3 questions, 8 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.
Impacts and management of tectonic events
Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management 0680 · 8 marks · papermunch.org
Name ______________________________ Date ______________
Describe three impacts of an earthquake on a city.[3]
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Any three: buildings and infrastructure are damaged; fires start; drinking water is contaminated; disease spreads; people are killed or injured; there are financial losses; people are evacuated.
Describe what is meant by disaster preparation.[3]
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Making plans for what to do. Practising them with drills. Storing emergency supplies and training emergency rescue teams.
Explain how land use zoning reduces the impact of a volcanic eruption.[2]
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Areas at highest risk are identified. Building is not allowed there, so fewer people and buildings are in the way.
Answers: Impacts and management of tectonic events
- 1. Any three: buildings and infrastructure are damaged; fires start; drinking water is contaminated; disease spreads; people are killed or injured; there are financial losses; people are evacuated.
- 2. Making plans for what to do. Practising them with drills. Storing emergency supplies and training emergency rescue teams.
- 3. Areas at highest risk are identified. Building is not allowed there, so fewer people and buildings are in the way.