IGCSE Geography / Hazardous environments

Measuring hazards

Edexcel International GCSE Geography (4GE1), chapter 3: Hazardous environments, specification point 3.1a. Part of the full course.

Read the revision notes · IGCSE Geography past papers

Hazards are measured using different scales, each designed to measure a particular feature. Knowing which scale applies, and how earthquake magnitude differs from intensity, helps you describe hazards accurately.

More lessons in Hazardous environments

• Natural hazards: types and where they happen
• How tropical cyclones form
• Plates and plate boundaries
• Why earthquakes happen
• Volcanoes and hotspots
• Why some countries are more vulnerable
• Case study: the Nepal earthquake, 2015
• Case study: the central Italy earthquakes, 2016
• Case studies: Mount Merapi and Mount Ontake
• Why people live with the risk
• Case study: Hurricane Katrina, 2005
• Case study: Typhoon Haiyan, 2013
• Preparing for earthquakes: warning, drills and mapping
• Earthquake-resistant buildings
• After the earthquake: short-term response and relief
• After the earthquake: longer-term planning
• Case study: managing the earthquake in Nepal
• Case study: managing earthquakes in Italy
• Case study: preparing for earthquakes in India
• Hazard fieldwork: collecting the data
• Hazard fieldwork: results, conclusions and evaluation