IGCSE Geography / Hazardous environments

Preparing for earthquakes: warning, drills and mapping

Edexcel International GCSE Geography (4GE1), chapter 3: Hazardous environments, specification point 3.3a, 3.S4. Part of the full course.

Read the revision notes · IGCSE Geography past papers

Earthquakes cannot be predicted by place, time and size together, so countries prepare in advance. Early warnings, public readiness and hazard mapping can reduce injuries and help planners limit damage.

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
• Measuring hazards
• 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
• 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