Which factors affect the impact of a hazardous event?
Student task
Both volcanic eruptions and earthquakes often have a catastrophic impact and devastating effects.
What similarities can you see in these three photographs?
Lava slowly flowing over Chain of
Craters Road, Hawaiian Volcanoes
National Park, Hawaii
Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey,
from
http://education.usgs.gov/lessons/schoolya
rd/superposition.html
Collapsed freeway structure, Oakland,
California in 1989
Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey,
from http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/2005/15
Earthquake damage Christchurch, New
Zealand in 2011.
© 2011 Martin Luff
http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinluff/55007
31372
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Which factors affect the impact of a hazardous event?
Sheet A – Honshu earthquake (March 2011), impacts/effects
Tsunamis arrived along the
coastline causing flooding.
More than 15,000 people
killed.
One third of a million
buildings destroyed or
damaged.
Gas pipes damaged causing
fires.
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Which factors affect the impact of a hazardous event?
Sheet B – Impacts/effects of
.
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Which factors affect the impact of a hazardous event?
Sheet C – Venn diagram, effects of the hazard on coastal/inland areas
The most likely impacts to occur in:
Coastal Area
Inland area
Either
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Which factors affect the impact of a hazardous event?
Sheet D – Blank Venn diagram
The most likely impacts to occur in:
Either
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Which factors affect the impact of a hazardous event?
Teaching notes
The term impact could be explained as ‘effect’ or simplified to just 'death toll'.
The three photographs on the Student task sheet demonstrate some of the obvious
effects/impacts of three hazard events. Additional information can be found at:


Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park eruption updates http://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/17/newsid_2491000/2491211.stm
Seismogram courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake
 The Christchurch February 2011 earthquake –
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usb0001igm.php#summary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Christchurch_earthquake
A possible teaching approach could be to use the three images to ask students to list any possible
effects/impacts of the three hazard events as a five-minute starter.
The students could next use Sheet A to list the main effects/impacts of the catastrophic Honshu
earthquake of March 2011. Four examples have been pre-entered to assist the students.
Additional information is available at:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2011/usc0001xgp/#details
This United States Geological Survey website gives a very comprehensive report of the
earthquake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2hUwFo6Vpc&feature=related gives an excellent
overall view of the effects of the tsunami. It has dramatic live images of the tsunami moving
across farmland from a helicopter. The 5 minutes 39 seconds video clip also shows some
of the resultant fires as well as boats being swept into buildings and bridges. There is a
good accompanying English language commentary.
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Which factors affect the impact of a hazardous event?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709598 has a 1 minute 30 seconds video
of the tsunami and its destructive effects. There is an accompanying audio commentary in
English.
Students can then be given a copy of the Venn diagram sheet (Sheet C). This considers the
effects/impacts of the 2011 tsunami on coastal/inland areas. Students can be asked to consider
whereon the Venn diagram each effect/impact should be placed.
A blank data collection sheet (sheet B) is provided to research the effects/impact of an additional
named volcanic eruption or another earthquake.
Using the blank Venn diagram (Sheet D) students can consider how each effect/impact of the
Honshu tsunami or their case study affects different areas. Comparisons could include:






coastal area / inland area
urban area / rural area
if event was predicted / if event was not predicted
MEDC/LEDC
the short term / the long term
others comparisons of the students choosing
The effects/impacts could either be written into the diagram or cut out from the data collection
sheet and placed on the Venn diagram (Sheet D).
Conclusion
A summary for this activity could be completing the following:
 I think the most important factor in considering the impact of a hazardous event was
…
 This factor is most likely to effect the impacts of the event because …
Possible variation
Poster sized Venn diagrams could be placed around the room with different factors to compare
on each. Students then write the impacts which a volcano / earthquake could have on the Post-it
notes and then attach them to the relevant Venn diagram.
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