AQA · A-Level · Geography

    Course version: 7037 · Version from Sept 2018

    Impacts: primary/secondary; environmental, social, economic, political.…

    Full specification wording

    Seismic hazards: Impacts: primary/secondary; environmental, social, economic, political. Short and long-term responses; risk management designed to reduce the impacts of the hazard through preparedness, mitigation, prevention and adaptation.

    Seismic hazards generate primary impacts, such as ground shaking and crustal fracturing, which directly destroy infrastructure.

    Checked against the AQA 7037 specification (opens in a new tab) on .

    • Point 2 of 3
    • 4 key terms

    Study notes

    From the checked teaching notes for this specification point.

    The idea

    Seismic hazards generate primary impacts, such as ground shaking and crustal fracturing, which directly destroy infrastructure. Secondary impacts follow, including tsunamis, landslides, and liquefaction, leading to complex environmental, social, economic, and political consequences like disease outbreaks or government collapse. Responses are categorised temporally: short-term emergency aid and search-and-rescue, versus long-term reconstruction and policy shifts. Risk management aims to reduce vulnerability through the hazard management cycle. This includes preparedness (early warning systems and evacuation drills), mitigation (aseismic building design), prevention (land-use zoning to avoid fault lines), and adaptation (changing lifestyles to cope with residual risks).

    What earns the marks

    • Distinguish clearly between primary impacts (direct result of the earthquake, e.g., ground shaking) and secondary impacts (resulting from primary impacts, e.g., fires from ruptured gas pipes).
    • Categorise impacts accurately into environmental (habitat destruction), social (loss of life), economic (business disruption), and political (loss of governance).
    • Evaluate the effectiveness of short-term responses (search and rescue, emergency shelter) versus long-term responses (rebuilding infrastructure, economic recovery).
    • Apply the concepts of risk management: preparedness (education, drills), mitigation (retrofitting buildings), prevention (zoning laws), and adaptation (insurance, community resilience).

    Common mistakes and how to put them right

    • Confusing primary and secondary impacts.

      Put it right: Ensure primary impacts are direct physical effects of the event, while secondary impacts are the knock-on effects like tsunamis or disease.

    • Using mitigation and adaptation interchangeably.

      Put it right: Mitigation reduces the severity of the hazard's impact (e.g., aseismic design), whereas adaptation involves adjusting living practices to tolerate the hazard.

    • Ignoring political impacts; correction: explicitly include political consequences such as government criticism, policy changes, or reliance on international aid.

    Exam tips

    • Use the Park Model (hazard response curve) to structure answers evaluating short-term versus long-term responses.
    • When discussing risk management, explicitly use the terminology of preparedness, mitigation, prevention, and adaptation to access higher mark bands.
    • Link the severity of impacts to the level of economic development, showing how vulnerability influences the scale of disaster.

    Try the lesson

    The start of the Seismic hazards: Impacts: primary/secondary; environmental, social, economic, political. Short and long-term responses; risk management designed to reduce the impacts of the hazard through preparedness, mitigation, prevention and adaptation. lesson, made from checked teaching notes for this specification point.

    Have a go first

    Which of the following is an example of a primary environmental impact of a seismic hazard?

    Listen

    Seismic hazards generate primary impacts, such as ground shaking and crustal fracturing, which directly destroy infrastructure. Secondary impacts follow, including tsunamis, landslides, and liquefaction, leading to complex environmental, social, economic, and political consequences like disease outbreaks or government collapse. Responses are categorised temporally: short-term emergency aid and search-and-rescue, versus long-term reconstruction and policy shifts. Risk management aims to reduce vulnerability through the hazard management cycle. This includes preparedness (early warning systems and evacuation drills), mitigation (aseismic building design), prevention (land-use zoning to avoid fault lines), and adaptation (changing lifestyles to cope with residual risks). A strong answer earns marks for these points. Distinguish clearly between primary impacts (direct result of the earthquake, e.g., ground shaking) and secondary impacts (resulting from primary impacts, e.g., fires from ruptured gas pipes). Categorise impacts accurately into environmental (habitat destruction), social (loss of life), economic (business disruption), and political (loss of governance). Evaluate the effectiveness of short-term responses (search and rescue, emergency shelter) versus long-term responses (rebuilding infrastructure, economic recovery). Apply the concepts of risk management: preparedness (education, drills), mitigation (retrofitting buildings), prevention (zoning laws), and adaptation (insurance, community resilience). A common slip: Confusing primary and secondary impacts. Instead, ensure primary impacts are direct physical effects of the event, while secondary impacts are the knock-on effects like tsunamis or disease. Exam tip: Use the Park Model (hazard response curve) to structure answers evaluating short-term versus long-term responses.

    See it

    A top-down flowchart. At the top, a node labelled Seismic hazard points down to Primary impacts. Primary impacts point down to Secondary impacts. Secondary impacts branch into four nodes side by side: Environmental impacts, Social impacts, Economic impacts and Political impacts. Primary impacts and Secondary impacts both point to a node labelled Short-term responses, which points down to Long-term responses, which points down to Risk management. Risk management branches into four nodes side by side: Preparedness, Mitigation, Prevention and Adaptation.
    It shows how a seismic hazard produces primary and secondary impacts across environmental, social, economic and political categories, and how short-term and long-term responses feed into risk management through preparedness, mitigation, prevention and adaptation.

    Key words

    Say what each word means before you turn the card.

    Preparedness

    Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.

    Mitigation

    Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.

    Prevention

    Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.

    Adaptation

    Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.

    See every definition
    Preparedness
    Risk management designed to reduce the impacts of the hazard through measures such as early warning systems and evacuation drills.
    Mitigation
    Risk management designed to reduce the impacts of the hazard, for example through aseismic building design.
    Prevention
    Risk management designed to reduce the impacts of the hazard, such as land-use zoning to avoid fault lines.
    Adaptation
    Risk management designed to reduce the impacts of the hazard by changing lifestyles to cope with residual risks.

    Label the diagram

    Some boxes have lost their names. Pick the right name for each number.

    The diagram again, with 3 boxes numbered instead of named. A top-down flowchart. At the top, a node labelled Seismic hazard points down to Primary impacts. Primary impacts point down to Secondary impacts. Secondary impacts branch into four nodes side by side: Environmental impacts, Social impacts, Economic impacts and Political impacts. Primary impacts and Secondary impacts both point to a node labelled Short-term responses, which points down to Long-term responses, which points down to Risk management. Risk management branches into four nodes side by side: Preparedness, Mitigation, Prevention and Adaptation.

    • 1Box 1

    • 2Box 2

    • 3Box 3

    0 of 3 labelled

    There is more to this lesson

    The full lesson goes on to check your understanding and help you earn the marks. Create a free account to carry on, with your progress saved.

    Carry on with the full lesson

    A week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge

    Test your understanding of Seismic hazards: Impacts: primary/secondary; environmental, social, economic, political. Short and long-term responses; risk management designed to reduce the impacts of the hazard through preparedness, mitigation, prevention and adaptation.

    Active recall beats re-reading. Take an instant quiz now to test what you’ve learned and lock it into long-term memory.

    Take topic quiz

    A week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge

    Start free

    Cookies on MasteryMind

    Essential cookies keep you signed in.

    Analytics and advertising cookies stay off unless you accept.

    Read our Privacy Policy.