C2 Living with natural hazards

Interactive Geography

Unit 4 Earthquakes

In this unit, you are going to…

 A. Knowledge
 learn the global distribution of earthquakes and its relationship with plate boundaries
 learn primary and secondary damages caused by earthquakes
 learn the preventive (e.g. early warning, education, land use planning) and remedial (e.g.
emergency aid, rehabilitation) measures to reduce the negative effects of earthquakes

 B. Skills, values and attitude

 be aware of the power of nature in influencing people’s life
 develop a readiness to take precautionary measures to reduce the negative impacts of
earthquakes
 show concerns for the damaging effects of natural hazards on other people and places

 C. Case study
 Taiwan and Japan

 D. Concept map
Crust
Structure of the Earth Mantle
Core
Plate movement
Earthquake Formation Circum‐Pacific Belt
process Distribution
Alpine‐Himalayan Belt
Primary effects
Negative effects Monitoring and
Secondary effects warning system
Building design
Preventive measures
Education
Response
Remedial measures Land use zoning

Emergency assistance
Rehabilitation

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 C2 Living with natural hazards
Interactive Geography

 Concepts Structure of the Earth Distribution Causes

4.1 What is the structure of the Earth?  Refer to p. 56‐57 in textbook

A: Crust

3 layers B: Mantle

C: Core

 The crust is made up of several solid rock pieces

 They form the land surfaces and ocean beds
 Name the major plates below.

Plate and
plate
boundary

 The area where two plates meet is known as the plate boundary
The plates are driven by the force of convection currents in the mantle, they move apart
slowly or collide with each other

Plate
movement

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 C2 Living with natural hazards
Interactive Geography
4.2 Why do earthquakes occur?  Refer to p. 58‐59 in textbook

 When the plates move, pressure builds up along the plate boundaries
 When the pressure becomes too large, the plates displace and fracture
suddenly.
 Huge amount of energy is released in all directions in the form of seismic
waves, causing an earthquake.

Identify A to D as shown in the figure below.

Causes
A: Epicentre

B: Focus

C: Depth of focus

D: Seismic wave

Move in three different ways:

Moving towards each other

Movement
Moving away from each other

Sliding past each other

There are two main earthquake zones in the world:

Distribution 1. Circum‐Pacific Belt
2. Alpine‐Himalayan Belt

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 C2 Living with natural hazards
Interactive Geography

 Concepts Earthquake Negative effects Measures

4.3 What are the negative effects of earthquakes?  Refer to p. 60‐61 in textbook

An earthquake in Taiwan
 The energy released by an earthquake is measured in magnitude by the
Richter Scale
Measurement
 Richter Scale of the hazard: M7.3
 In general, the higher the magnitude, the more powerful the earthquake is
What were the effects of the hazard?
 Primary effects (immediate and direct destruction of ground shaking):
Collapse of buildings and damage of roads
 Secondary effects (damage caused by primary effects):
Fires due to broken gas pipes
Effects
What would you do if you were sleeping in that hotel when the hazard
happened? (Free response)
□ Stay inside the closet
□ Stay in the bathroom
□ Jump out of the window

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 C2 Living with natural hazards
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4.4 How do we respond to earthquakes?  Refer to p. 62‐63 in textbook

Preventative measures Functions

1. Monitoring and warning system

Scientists detect seismic activities with the use of

seismometers  people can take actions to prepare for
The government will issue an early warning when the hazard
an earthquake is likely to occur

2. Building design

In earthquake‐prone regions, all buildings, roads

 to ensure the safety of the area
and bridges should have shock‐proof design

3. Education

The government educates the public on how to  to improve the efficiency of rescue
respond to earthquakes work
For example: Earthquake drills  to get familiar with the evacuation
routes

4. Land use zoning

High‐risk areas can be used for recreational areas or

greenbelts only

Restrict the building heights in the areas  to reduce the damage of earthquakes

Plan temporary shelters in schools and parks for

emergency evacuation

Remedial measures ‐‐ to fix the situation when an earthquake occurs

1. Emergency assistance
 Efficient rescue and medical service are important
 Temporary shelters and food will also be provided
2. Rehabilitation
 The government restores the damaged buildings and infrastructure
 Counselling service will also be provided to survivors

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Interactive Geography

 Earthquakes in Japan  Refer to p. 64‐65 in textbook

Name the plates A and B

shown in the figure.

A: North American Plate

B: Pacific Plate
Plates

Name the two deadliest earthquakes in Japan.

Examples  311 Earthquake
 Kobe Earthquake

Provide rescue service immediately

Remedial Provide food, water as well as temporary shelters for victims
Launch rehabilitation programmes

Measures Set up an advanced warning system

Hold annual earthquake drill
Preventative Tall buildings are required to withstand the shaking of the ground
Regular maintenance of shock‐proof structures
About 4 000 earthquake sensors are set up

Limitations of The current level of technology has its limits in terms of accuracy
the measures We still cannot predict the time, location and magnitude of earthquakes

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 C2 Living with natural hazards
Interactive Geography

 Geographical Terms and Glossaries

Structure of the Earth

Tectonic hazard 構造災害 Crust 地殼

Mantle 地幔 Core 地核

Plate movement
Plate 板塊 Plate boundary 板塊邊界

Convection currents 岩漿對流 Seismic wave 地震波

Focus 震源 Epicentre 震央

Depth of focus 震源深度 Earthquake zone 地震帶

Circum‐Pacific Belt 環太平洋帶 Alpine‐Himalayan Belt 阿爾卑斯─喜馬拉雅山帶

Effect of earthquakes
Richter Magnitude Scale 黎克特震級 Aftershock 餘震

Primary effect 直接影響 Secondary effect 次生影響

Measures
Seismometers 地震儀 Shock‐proof 防震

Evacuation route 逃生路線 Land use zoning 土地利用分區

Emergency assistance 緊急救援 Rehabilitation 重建

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 Self‐review tool  Refer to p. 66‐69 in textbook

Part 1 Multiple Choice (7)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
A D D A A C D

Part 2 Data response question (16)

1. a. Indo‐Australian Plate, Eurasian Plate

Convection currents in the mantle / drive the Indo‐Australian Plate and Eurasian Plate to
move towards each other / pressure builds up along the plate boundary / when the
b.
pressure exceeds the limit that the plates can stand, plates displace and fracture / an
earthquake occurs
2.
Fires / tsunamis / landslides / flooding (Any 2)

3. a. The 2004 earthquake in Indonesia

 Warning systems
Indonesia did not have earthquake and tsunami warning systems, no early warning could
be sent to alert people to take preventive actions
b.
 Location and date of earthquake
Christmas is the peak travel season / many tourists from Europe went to Southeast Asia for
warm sunny holidays / many tourists died as the tsunami waves arrived at the beaches
4. Shock‐proof buildings / regular maintenance of shock‐proof structures / sets up sensors
over the country / infrastructure such as railways and power stations have sensors and will
a.
stop functioning automatically when an earthquake occurs / sets up monitoring and
warning systems (Any 2)
The present level of technology cannot predict accurately the location, magnitude and
b. time of occurrence of earthquakes / needs a lot of capital and experts that increases the
financial burden of the government (Any 2)

Part 3 Short essay (6)

With reference to plate movement, explain why the Circum‐Pacific Belt is a major earthquake
zone.

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Interactive Geography
Step  Brainstorm and write down any glossary that comes to your mind about the question.

Nazca Plate energy release moving away North American Plate pressure
sliding past fracture Pacific Plate moving towards Philippine Plate
plate boundaries

Step  Sort and group your ideas.

Circum‐Pacific Belt

Plate movement

Plates moving away Plates moving towards Plates sliding past

Plates involved: Plates involved: Plates involved:

Pacific Plate and Pacific Plate and Pacific Plate and
Nazca Plate Philippine Plate North American Plate

Occurrence of Pressure builds up along plate boundaries

earthquakes

Plates fracture suddenly  energy release

Earthquakes

Step  Draft the ideas into short sentences.

 Around the Pacific Ocean, there are plates moving away from each
other such as Pacific Plate and Nazca Plate.
 Around the Pacific Ocean, there are plates moving towards each
Plate movement
other such as Pacific Plate and Philippine Plate.
 Around the Pacific Ocean, there are plates sliding past each other
such as Pacific Plate and North American Plate.
Occurrence of  Pressure builds up along plate boundaries.
earthquakes  Plates fracture suddenly and release energy.

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Step  Enrich your essay by adding more descriptions about the Pacific Ocean Region.
Description
90% of the earthquakes occur here / different plates are involved (give
Pacific Ocean Region more examples: Eurasian Plate, Indo‐Australian plate) / several plate
boundaries are present

Step  Organise the sentences into paragraphs.

Write a topic The Circum-Pacific Belt is a major earthquake zone where plate
sentence to briefly
outline why the movements are frequent.
Circum-Pacific Belt
is a major
earthquake zone.

Describe the The Pacific Ocean Region is an area where 90% of the earthquakes occur.
Pacific Ocean
It is surrounded by different plates including the Pacific Plate, Eurasian
Region briefly.
Plate, Philippine Plate, North American Plate and Indo-Australian Plate.
Therefore, several plate boundaries are present here.

Describe the how Around the Pacific Ocean, there are plates moving away from, moving
the movement of
plates induces the towards and sliding past each other. For example, the Pacific Plate is
occurrence of moving away from the Nazca Plate, moving towards the Philippine Plate
earthquakes.
and sliding past the North American Plate. As the plates move, pressure is
built up along the plate boundaries. When the pressure becomes too large,
the plates displace and fracture suddenly. Huge amount of energy is
released and causing an earthquake.

Summarise the To conclude, with frequent movement of plates around the Pacific Ocean,
main points of the
essay briefly. the Circum-Pacific Belt is a major earthquake zone of the world.

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