Factors Affecting the Impacts of Geophysical Hazard Events
- There are many factors that affect the impact of geophysical hazards, including:
- Magnitude and frequency
- Location – rural or urban
- Population density
- Building quality
- Time of day
- Distance from the hazard event
- Geology – rocks and sediment
- Level of development
Factors affecting the impacts of geophysical hazards
Examiner Tip
It is important to recognise that all of these factors are interlinked and may affect one another. For example, level of development affects building quality, and can also affect population density. It is important in the exam that you acknowledge that these factors do not affect the impacts of a hazard event in isolation; it is the combination of all of them that determines the impact that a hazard event has.