Hazard Management

What is a hazard?

• A potential danger or risk caused by natural or human causes and has the potential to cause loss of life, injury, property, socio-economic disruption.

• A catastrophic event that causes serious loss of life or disruption to a community.

• Natural factors that cause loss of human life.

• Cultural factors causing a large disruption to the economic and social functioning of an area.

Which three factors combine to make a hazard a disaster?

• Causes severe damage and endangers lives

• A country that has a small defense force and police force.

• Event occurs near property and population.

• An area that is very vulnerable due to low income, lack of emergency plans and few preventative measures.

Which of the following are natural hazards?

• Geomorphic eg. volcano and tsunami

• Atmospheric eg. trpoical cyclone, heat wave,bush fire

• Technological hazards eg. train crash, oil spill, nuclear explosion.

• Hyrogical eg. drought, flood.

Spatial distribution refers to

• how features or objects are arranged on the earth's surface.

• how two features are linked in a similar pattern on the earth's surface.

• how planets are arranged.

• the arrangement of features over time.

The measurement of the strength or intensity of a hazard is

• magnitude

• duration

• frequency

• scale of impact

The length of time people are exposed to a hazard can affect the impact of the hazard. This is known as the hazard

• magnitude

• duration

• frequency

• probability

The number of times an area experiences the hazard is known as the hazard

• frequency

• magnitude

• duration

• probability

If a country tries to mitigate the impact. of a hazard it

• develops strategies and plans to reduce the severity of the hazard.

• reduces the economic impact of the hazard.

• develops strategies to protect natural vegetation from the hazard.

• reduces the social impact of a hazard.

What does risk mean?

• How strong the hazard is.

• A person performing a dangerous act.

• the probability of a hazard causing harmful consequences on people.

• how exposed people are to the hazard.

Risk can be thought of or calulated by

• strength of the hazard x size of the population

• vulnerability / size of population

• hazard x damage caused

• hazard x vulnerability