Characteristic Responses to Hazards
Different ways to respond to hazards
- Fatalism is when people believe that hazards cannot be avoided and so must be accepted – this often leads to people doing nothing in response to hazards
- More often, people respond to hazards actively to try to minimise the risk of harm through:
- Prediction – using science and technology to predict where and when a hazard will occur so that warnings can be issued, potentially allowing people to evacuate
- Adjustment/adaptation – changing behaviour to reduce potential losses – examples include improving awareness of hazards and practising earthquake drills
- Mitigation – working to reduce or prevent the occurrence of hazards – for example building sea walls to prevent flooding in the event of a tsunami or tropical storm
- Integrated risk management – analysing potential risks and implementing a coordinated approach to manage and reduce risks
- Risk sharing – working together to reduce the risk and sharing the costs of hazard response – for example buying home insurance – only some people need to claim but the cost is shared by everyone
Factors affecting hazard response
- Incidence – how often a hazard occurs (also known as frequency)
- The more often a hazard occurs, the more likely that people will be educated and prepared with effective management strategies in place
- Intensity and magnitude – the size, strength or severity of a hazard
- The greater the severity of a hazard, the larger the potential impact, and the greater the response required
- Distribution – where hazards occur
- In more hazardous locations people are more prepared for hazard events because they invest significant time and money to protect themselves
- Japan has invested in earthquake-resistant buildings and earthquake drills
- Level of development – the level of economic wealth and standard of living in a country
- More developed countries are more likely to have mitigation and adaptation strategies in place and will be better prepared to respond to the hazard effectively
Exam Tip
It is important to recognise that intensity and magnitude are similar but not the same. For earthquakes, magnitude measures the amount of energy released - it doesn’t change with distance from the earthquake. Intensity measures the degree of shaking caused by the earthquake in a particular location – it decreases with distance from the earthquake.
