Topic 1: 1.9 Tectonic hazards affect people, and are managed, differently at contrasting locations — Edexcel GCSE Geography B
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Topic 1: 1.9 Tectonic hazards affect people, and are managed, differently at contrasting locations explained
Topic 1: 1.9 Tectonic hazards affect people, and are managed, differently at contrasting locations covers 2 specification points, including A.
Read the full explanation
Primary and secondary impacts of… and B. Management of volcanic or earthquake…. Open a point below for its explanation and revision guidance.
a. Primary and secondary impacts of earthquakes or volcanoes on property and people in a developed and emerging or developing country .
Primary impacts are the direct and immediate effects of the hazard, such as collapsed buildings, deaths and injuries, or lava burying property. Secondary impacts follow later from the primary event, such as fires from broken gas lines, landslides, disease, food shortages, job losses and displacement. Compare impacts on property and people at two contrasting locations. In a developed country such as New Zealand, building codes and warning systems often limit deaths, though property costs remain high, as in Christchurch in 2011. In an emerging or developing country, weaker buildings and limited emergency services can raise deaths and long-term hardship, as in Haiti in 2010. Link each impact to its cause rather than listing effects.
b. Management of volcanic or earthquake hazards, in a developed and emerging or developing country including short-term relief (shelter and supplies) and long-term planning (trained and funded emergency services), preparation (warning and evacuation; building design) and prediction.
This statement asks how a country manages volcanic or earthquake hazards, and how that management differs between a developed and an emerging or developing country. Short-term relief provides shelter and supplies such as tents, clean water and food. Long-term planning builds trained, funded emergency services. Preparation includes warning systems, evacuation routes and earthquake-resistant building design. Prediction uses monitoring, such as seismograph readings or gas measurements at volcanoes, to forecast events. Compare both country types at each stage, using named examples you have studied, and explain how wealth and governance shape what is possible.
Your focus
- Identify primary and secondary impacts of an earthquake or volcano using timing as the criterion.
- Explain how construction quality and emergency response affect deaths and property damage at contrasting locations.
- Compare impacts of one tectonic hazard in a developed and in an emerging or developing country.
Show all 6 objectives
- Classify given management measures as relief, planning, preparation or prediction.
- Distinguish how hazard management differs between a developed country and an emerging or developing country.
- Explain how wealth and governance affect a country's capacity to manage volcanic or earthquake hazards.
Topic 1: 1.9 Tectonic hazards affect people, and are managed, differently at contrasting locations exam tips
Marking Points
- Identifies primary impacts as direct effects that occur during or immediately after the hazard, such as building collapse or lava burial.
- Identifies secondary impacts as knock-on effects that occur later, such as fire, disease, landslides or economic disruption.
- Uses a named example from a developed country and a named example from an emerging or developing country.
- Links impacts on property and people to their causes, such as construction quality or the capacity of emergency response.
- Applies the contrast to volcanoes where relevant, such as ash fall or pyroclastic flows damaging property and people.
- Distinguishes short-term relief, such as shelter and supplies, from long-term planning, such as trained and funded emergency services.
- Identifies preparation measures, including warning systems, evacuation and earthquake-resistant building design.
- Explains that prediction uses monitoring to forecast events and that its reliability varies between volcanic and earthquake hazards.
- Compares management in a developed country with management in an emerging or developing country, using named examples.
- Explains how wealth, governance or technology affects the capacity to carry out each management stage.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Check each option for timing: an impact that happens later as a result of the hazard is secondary, not primary, so eliminate options that mislabel timing.
- 💡Look for options that link impacts to a location type and its cause, rather than options that describe an impact in isolation.
- 💡Where an option names a country, test whether the impact described fits that country's level of development before selecting it.
- 💡Identify which management stage an option belongs to (relief, planning, preparation or prediction) before comparing the answers.
- 💡Check whether an option refers to a developed country or an emerging or developing country, because the question may depend on that distinction.
- 💡Reject any option that describes a measure taken only after the event as preparation, since preparation happens beforehand.
Common Mistakes
- Lists effects without classifying them as primary or secondary; sort each impact by its timing relative to the hazard.
- Treats developed countries as unaffected; recognise that property damage can still be high even where deaths are reduced.
- Uses a single example for both locations; name one example from each location category.
- Assumes higher income always means fewer deaths; explain the roles of building codes, warning systems and emergency services instead.
- Treats all hazard management as emergency response after an event; correct this by including planning and preparation carried out before hazards occur.
- Describes earthquakes and volcanoes as equally predictable; correct this by recognising that many volcanic eruptions give more monitored warning signs than earthquakes do.
- Presents management in developed countries as always successful; correct this by evaluating named examples that show limitations.
- Lists management measures without linking them to a country type; correct this by stating the contrast between developed and emerging or developing countries explicitly.