Module 4

Quarter 3 – WEEK 5
General Classification of Hazards and Potential Earthquake Hazards

What I Need to Know

One important key to safely is understanding a particular incident or phenomenon that
may affect people’s life. An ordinary incident or natural phenomenon may turn into a
hazard once it becomes active and poses harm or danger to life and property. This is
the basic concept of hazard everyone should be aware of.
One of the common hazards inflicting tremendous damage to human life and material
properties is an earthquake. It is a natural phenomenon that poses great danger due to
various hazards it may bring. Though its impeding occurrence can be predicted the
magnitude of its impact to a community and its people is unpredictable. This makes
earthquake one of the main foci of disaster preparedness and emergency response
activities of governments and different emergency agencies.
This module is about the discussion on general classification of hazards, impacts of
various hazards on different expose elements, and potential earthquake hazards. It
consists of the following lessons:
•Lesson 1 – General Classification of hazard
•Lesson 2 – Impacts of Various Hazards on Different Exposed
Elements
• Lesson 3 - Potential Earthquake Hazards
Learning Objectives
After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Define and cite examples of the types of hazards

2. Explain the impact of various hazards on different exposed
Elements
3. Identify various potential earthquake hazards.

What I Know

Multiple Choice Test. Choose the correct answer of your choice.

1. Natural phenomena like typhoons or earthquake are considered as

a. Risks b. Emergency c. Hazard d. Vulnerability

2. Among the components of DRR, where does the concept of “building

back better” belong?
a. Preparedness b. Mitigation
c. Response d. Recovery

3. For the same number of people exposed to tropical cyclones,

mortality risk in low-income countries is approximately

a. the same as in high-income countries

b. lower than risks in high-income countries
c. higher than high-income countries
d. the different as with the high-income countries

4. Appropriate environmental management can reduce the risk of

disasters occurring by
a. improving coastal management and flood risk reduction
b. reducing risk of drought, sand storm and hazardous fires
c. regulating flood waters
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 d. all of the above

5. The ability to face and manage adverse conditions using available

resources and skills is
a. Responsiveness
b. Capacity
c. Risk Management
d. Awareness
6. It is a break in the Earth’s crust were significant movement
occurred.
a. Intensity b. focus c. crust d. fault
7. Intensity is expressed in _____________.
a. Roman numerals b. Hindu-arabic numerals
c. both a and b d. none of the above

8. It is an instrument used to measure the amount of energy released by

an earthquake.
a. seisnograph b. seismograph
c. microscope d. stenograph

9. As you go way from the focus, the intensity_____________.

a. increases b. decreases
c. both a and b d. does not change

10. People are interviewed and buildings are inspected to determine

______________.

a. intensity b. location of the focus

c. magnitude d. location of an active fault

11. Which movement, along a fault line, would most likely produce a
tsunami?
a. sideward b. vertical
c. horizontal d. none of the above

12. Juan was sitting peacefully in front of the television when he suddenly
felt an earthquake which vibration is like one passing of a heavy truck,
what intensity did Juan felt?
a. I b. VII c. IV d. V

13. Which is not a method of spotting an active fault?

a. checking historical backgrounds
b. observing the surroundings
c. studying vibrations
d. interviewing survivors

14. PHIVOLCS stand for ________________.

a. Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology
b. Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seisnology
c. Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Sismology
d. Philippine Institution of Volcanology and Seismology

15. What intensity is capable of destroying all man-made structures?

a. I b. IX c. X d. VIII
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 16. It is the system used by PHIVOLCS in determining the intensity of an
earthquake.
a. PEIS b. PIES c. PSIE d. PIIS

17. Epicenter is found ____________.

a. directly above the focus b. below the focus
c. beside the focus d. near the focus

18. A vibration due to the rapid release of energy is known as

__________.
a. earthquake b. typhoon
c. tidal wave d. focus

19. The place where the fault begins to slip is called __________.
a. epicenter b. active fault
c. focus d. rocks

20. A big wave was produced by earthquakes that originate from under the
ocean is called _______________.
a. typhoon b. tsunami
c. flood d. storm surge

Lesson
General Classification of
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Hazards

What’s In
Vulnerability is defined as “the characteristics and circumstances of a community,
system or asset that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard”.
Exposure refers to the ‘elements at risk’ from a natural or man-made hazard event.
Elements at risk could include human beings, dwellings or households, buildings and
structures, public structures, transport system, agricultural commodities, environmental
assets, etc.
Vulnerability can be seen as a result of a process in which various different things
cause a population to be more vulnerable. These can be split into demographic and
socio-economic. They can also be discussed through the level of community
preparedness and the ability of a community to manage the after effects of a hazard
event.
There are many aspects of vulnerability, arising from various physical, social,
economic, and environmental factors.
The Philippines is known to be very vulnerable to different kinds of disasters, hence
there is a need for strategies to increase awareness, information campaign and disaster
preparedness level among the Filipinos.

What’s New
What is the difference between hazard and risk?

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 What is it
Definition of Hazards
Hazard are “those elements of the physical environment, to man and caused by forces
extraneous to him. (Burton, et al 1978).

Standards Australia (2000) defines a hazard as:

“A source of potential harm or a situation with a potential to cause loss.”

Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) describes hazard as:

“A natural event that has the potential to cause harm or loss.”
USGS Hazard terminologies defines hazard as “a phenomenon or situation, which has
the potential to cause the disruption or damage too people, their property, their services,
and their environment”. Most hazards are dormant or potential, with only a theoretical
risk of harm. However, once a hazard becomes “active”, it can create an emergency. A
hazardous situation that has come to pass is called an incident. Hazard and possibility
interact together to create risk.

General Classification of Hazard

There are many different ways of classifying hazards. One is to consider the extent to
which hazards are natural.
1. Natural hazards such as earthquakes or floods arise from purely natural
processes in the environment.
2. Quasi-natural hazards such as smog or desertification that arise through the
interaction of natural processes and human activities.
3. Technological (or human-made) hazards such as the toxicity of pesticides to
agricultural lands, accidental leaks of chemical laboratories or radiation from a
nuclear plant. These arise directly as a result of human activities.

Types of Hazards
Hewit and Burton (1971) provided a typology of hazards as follows.
1. ATMOSPHERIC
(Single element)
• Excess Rainfall
• Freezing Rain (Glaze)
• Hail
• Heavy Snow falls
• High Wind speeds
• Extreme temperature
ATMOSPHERIC
(Combined Elements\Events)
• Hurricanes
• ‘Glaze’ storm
• Thunderstorms
• Blizzards
• Tornadoes
• Heat\Cold Stress

2. HYDROLOGIC
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 • Floods-river and coastal area
• Wave action
• Drought
• Rapid glacier advance

3. GEOLOGIC
• Mass movement
Landslides
Mudslides
Avalanches
• Earthquake
• Volcanic Eruption
• Rapid sediment movement

4. BIOLOGIC
• Epidemic in humans
• Epidemic in plants
• Epidemic in animals
• Locusts

5. TECHNOLOGIC
• Transportation accident
• Industrial explosions and fire
• Accidental release of toxic element
• Nuclear accidents
• Collapse of public buildings
• Cyber terrorism
What’s More
Classify the following hazards according to their types:
Earthquakes - ___________________
Cyclones - _______________________
Flash Floods - ___________________
Thunderstorms - ________________
Typhoons - ______________________
Storm Surge - ___________________
Tsunami - _______________________
Volcanic Eruption - ______________
Forest Fires - ____________________
Epidemics - _____________________
Nuclear Leaks - _________________
Cyber Terrorism - _______________

What I Have Learned

Give at least 5 examples of the following:
1. natural hazards
2. quasi-natural hazards
3. Technological or human-made hazards

What I Can Do
From the three (3) classifications of hazards, what type of hazard can be
prevented and can be anticipated and why?

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Lesson
Elements at Risk and Exposed to
2
Hazards

What’s In
Hazard is defined as a phenomenon or situation, which has the potential to cause the
disruption or damage to people, their property, their services, and their environment.
Hazards are generally classified as natural, quasi-natural and human
made.

What’s New
From previously learned lesson, what do you think are impacts of various
hazards on different exposed elements?

What is it
Impacts of Various Hazards on Different Exposed Elements
According to the international center of integrated mountain development (ICIMOD)
the impacts of various hazards vary in severity and vary in regard to how long they
last.in many ways wealth and development assist in the way people recover from
hazards. A more economically developed country can prepare for and predict hazards
more effectively and they have more resources to support a faster recovery. However,
there is also a need for resilience. In many developing countries people who
experienced hardship can often recover more quickly from hazards.
It is further underscored that impacts of hazards are not so easy to classify as short
term and long term as these tend to vary for each individual event. However, there are a
number of common long-term impacts, which need longer period of recovery.
The following are common long-term impacts of natural hazards like earthquake,
typhoon, flashfloods, volcanic eruptions, fire, etc.: Physical Impact
• Death of people
• Destructions and loss of vital infrastructures like transport system, roads, bridges,
power lines, and communication lines
• Widespread loss of housing
Psychological Impact
• Grief and psychological trauma-Post Traumatic Severe Disorder (PTSD)
• Marital Conflict
• Depression due to loss of loved ones and properties
• Chronic anxiety among children severely affected Socio-Cultural Impact
• Displacement of populations
• Loss of cultural identity
• Force adoption of new sets of culture
• Ethnic conflict Economic Impact
• Loss of job due to displacement
• Loss of harvest and livestock
• Loss of farms and fish cages, and other sources of living

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 • Loss of money and other valuables like jewelries, furniture and appliances
Environmental Impact
• Loss of forest due to forest fires
• Loss of fresh water due to salination- intrusion of salt water to fresh water
sources
• Disturbance of biodiversity
• Loss of natural rivers and other tributaries Biological Impact
• Epidemic to people, flora and fauna
• Chronic and permanent illness due to nuclear radiation
• Mental disorders developed from consumptions of contaminated foods
• Proliferation of different viral and bacterial diseases

What’s More
By using a table, explain the impact of various hazards stated below on different
exposed elements.
1. Earthquakes
2. Cyclones
3. Flash floods
4. Thunderstorms
5. Typhoons

What I have learned

Complete the statement based on what you learned from the lesson.

I have learned that _________________________.

What I Can Do
List at least 3 hazards that had happened over the years and write the down the
common long-term impacts of these hazards.

Lesson
Potential Earthquake Hazards
3

What’s In
In the previous lesson, we discussed about hazard, where it is any agent that can
cause harm or damage to humans, property, or the environment. Risk is defined as the
probability that exposure to a hazard will lead to a negative consequence, or more
simply, a hazard poses no risk if there is no exposure to that hazard.

What’s New
Directions: Describe what each person is doing to stay safe during an earthquake at
school and at home. Find safe places in every room. Practice how to “drop, cover and
hold on” with your family.

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 What is it
What is an earthquake?

An earthquake (also in the Earth’ known as a quake, tremor or tremblor) is the

perceptible shaking of the surface of the Earth, resulting from the sudden release of
energy in the Earth’s crust that creates seismic waves. (US Geological Science-USGS).

Potential Earthquake Hazards

Geologists explain that an earthquake is a type of hazard that depends on the
strength of seismic activity, along with such factors as local topographic and built
features, subsurface geology and groundwater. A large earthquake will always be
followed by a sequence of aftershocks that normally aggravates its effect on human and
material elements like buildings and infrastructure.
The following are different hazards that normally result from the occurrence of an
earthquakes.
1. Ground Shaking or Ground Motion
The earth shakes with the passage of earthquake waves, which radiate energy that
had been “stored” in stressed rocks, and were released when a fault broke and the
rocks slipped to relieve the pent-up stress. The strength of ground shaking is measured
in the velocity of ground motion, the acceleration of ground motion, the frequency
content of the shaking and how long the shaking continues (the duration).
2. Ground or Surface Rupture
Surface rupture is an offset of the ground surface when fault rupture extends to the
Earth’s surface when fault rupture extends to the Earth’s surface. Any structure built
cross the fault is at risk of being torn apart as the two sides of the fault slip past each
other.
3. Liquefaction
Soil liquefaction is a phenomenon in which the strength and stiffness of a soil is
reduced by earthquake shaking or other rapid loading. It normally occurs in saturated
soils, that is, soils in which the space between individual particles is completely filled
with water.
4. Earthquake-induced ground subsidence and lateral spreading
Subsidence, or lowering of the ground surface, often occurs during earthquakes. This
may be due to downward vertical displacement on one side of a fault, and can
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sometimes affect a huge area of land. Coastal areas can become permanently flooded
as a result. Subsidence can also occur as ground shaking causes loose sediments to
“settle” and to lose their load bearing strength or to slump down sloping ground.
Lateral spreading occurs where sloping ground starts to move downhill, causing cracks
to open up, that are often seen along hill crests and river banks.
5. Tsunami
A tsunami, also known as a seismic sea wave, is a series of waves in a water body
caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large
lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions (including
detonations of underwater nuclear devices), landslides, glacier cavings, meteorite
impacts and other disturbances above or below water all have the potential to generate
a tsunami.
6. Earthquake-induced landslides
Landslides are frequently triggered by strong ground motions. They are important
secondary earthquake hazard. The term landslide includes a wide range of ground
movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes, and shallow debris flows.
However, gravity acting on a steep slope is the primary reason for all landslides.

What’s More
Identify various potential earthquake hazards.

What I Have Learned

What can people do to protect themselves and stay safe during an earthquake?

What I Can Do
What to do before, during, and after the earthquake happens?