Tectonics 3.1.4

Question 1

name the 4 human factors that affect the risk and vulnerability of a country to natural hazards

Answer 1

1. economic factors (secondary impact)
2. social factors (primary impact)
3. political factors
4. geographical factors

Question 2

name the two main economic factors that would affect risk and vulnerability

Answer 2

1. Level of development is an economic factor (e.g. HIC will be less vulnerable as they can afford earthquake resistant buildings (cross bracing X structure)
2. Level of technology is another economic factor, to monitor hazards and issues warnings via siren systems or mass media

Question 3

name the 2 social factors that would affect risk and vulnerability of a country

Answer 3

1. Population density- the more dense an area is populated, the greater potential for loss of life.
   But there’s sparse population in an area they may suffer from a lack of access to services
2. level of education- Understanding warning signs of hazards (e.g. boxing day tsunami, people were unaware of the signs and walked out to the beach to see) and knowledge of locating evacuation zones

Question 4

Name a political factor that increases vulnerability

Answer 4

Poor- quality governance leads to a lack of hazard mitigation planning

lack of development and enforcement of safe building codes, e.g. Haiti leads to no repairs occurring.

Corrupt governments prevents quick aid relief in a disaster

Question 5

give two examples of countries political factors leading to devastating impacts

Answer 5

Nepal 2015 where 9,000 died was a contributing factor was their governance because they had inadequate infrastructure, international aid gave money to NGO’s rather than their government

Haiti 2010 where 230,000 died, a contributing factor was their corrupt government where all building codes were neglected

Question 6

How is a geographical factor important to consider

Answer 6

Hazard being in a rural location means they struggle with getting rescue
Hazard being in an urban areas increases vulnerability due to the population density
Location countries being an island are more susceptible to tsunamis