Lesson 3.1.5.4

3.1.5.4 Seismic hazards Quiz: AQA Geography, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

Lesson 3.1.5.4, Seismic hazards: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Geography (7037), Unit 1: Physical geography, written with Revision Ninja.

Host it live on the board and students join with a game code on their own devices, or revise alone with Free Play. The answers are revealed in the game.

Host this setFree Play

The 20 questions

  1. Earthquake shockwaves that travel through the Earth's interior are called:

    • Tidal waves, which are caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun on the oceans
    • Pyroclastic waves, which move down volcanic slopes at high speed during an explosive eruption
    • Surface waves only, which travel slowly along the outer crust and cause most of the damage to buildings
    • Body waves, which include P-waves and S-waves that pass through the interior of the Earth

  2. The focus of an earthquake is best defined as:

    • The fault line visible at the ground surface after the earthquake has occurred and caused visible displacement
    • The point of initial rupture beneath the surface where energy is released
    • The seismograph station that records the event most accurately and is used to calculate its magnitude
    • The point on the surface directly above the rupture, where shaking is usually strongest and damage is greatest

  3. Which feature is most associated with destructive plate margins as a source of earthquakes?

    • Rift valleys in stable continental interiors, where the crust is slowly stretching and thinning over time
    • Abyssal plains far from any plate boundary, where the seabed is flat and seismic activity is very rare
    • Subduction zones where earthquakes occur along the descending plate interface
    • Mid-ocean ridges where new crust forms, producing frequent but generally small shallow earthquakes

  4. Liquefaction during an earthquake occurs when:

    • Lava flows reach the sea and cool rapidly, forming new land and changing the shape of the coastline
    • Rock layers fold into tight anticlines as the crust is compressed by tectonic forces over long periods
    • Water-saturated sediments lose strength and behave like a fluid
    • Sea water is forced inland by a storm surge, flooding low-lying land and contaminating freshwater supplies

  5. A tsunami is most likely to be generated by:

    • Heavy rainfall that floods a river valley and carries large volumes of sediment out to sea
    • A storm that produces high winds over a coastline, pushing water inland and causing flooding
    • A large undersea earthquake that displaces a large volume of water
    • A nuee ardente flowing into a lake, creating a wave that travels across the water surface

  6. The Richter and moment magnitude scales are described as:

    • Linear, so a magnitude 6 event releases twice the energy of a magnitude 3 event that occurred nearby
    • Logarithmic, so each whole-number step represents a large increase in energy released
    • Qualitative scales based on the damage observed in buildings and infrastructure after an earthquake
    • Scales that measure only the depth of the focus beneath the surface, not the energy released

  7. Which property of seismic hazards makes them particularly hard to plan for?

    • Events that always occur in the same place each year, which makes it easy to locate where damage will happen
    • Hazards that are caused only by human activity such as mining or reservoir construction, so they can be controlled
    • Constant, regular recurrence at fixed intervals, which means that the next event can be scheduled accurately
    • Randomness and limited predictability of when a major event will occur

  8. Which of these is a primary impact of an earthquake?

    • Political instability following a government's failed response to the disaster and public demands for resignation
    • Loss of income from a long-term decline in tourism as visitors avoid the affected region for several years
    • Disease spreading through crowded emergency shelters in the weeks after the main shock has passed
    • Collapse of buildings caused directly by ground shaking during the event

  9. Which response to earthquake hazard is best classed as mitigation?

    • Distributing emergency food and water to survivors in the days immediately following the quake
    • Rebuilding homes and schools in the same location after the earthquake has caused widespread damage
    • Holding a community drill for evacuation so that residents know which routes to use in an emergency
    • Enforcing building codes that require reinforced structures designed to withstand strong ground shaking

  10. Which measure best reduces the risk of loss from a seismic hazard over the long term?

    • Restoring electricity supply in the weeks after the quake so that businesses and hospitals can reopen
    • Counselling for survivors after the disaster to help them cope with trauma and loss of property
    • Land-use planning that avoids building on liquefiable soils and steep unstable slopes
    • Relief supplies flown in within 24 hours of an event to support displaced families in temporary camps

  11. The 2010 Haiti earthquake caused very high casualties largely because:

    • It was the largest earthquake ever recorded on Earth, releasing more energy than any other known event
    • The event caused a major volcanic eruption nearby that buried the capital in ash and destroyed roads
    • Poor building construction and high population density in vulnerable areas
    • Haiti is located on a mid-ocean ridge where ground shaking is frequent and intense throughout the year

  12. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake in Japan caused widespread damage largely through:

    • A tsunami that inundated coastal areas and disabled the Fukushima Daiichi power plant
    • Storm surges from a tropical cyclone that struck the east coast at the same time as the earthquake
    • A pyroclastic flow that destroyed central Tokyo and the surrounding districts within minutes
    • Lahars that buried the coastal cities under thick layers of mud and volcanic debris for several days

  13. A seismograph records an earthquake with an amplitude 10 times larger than another event. Roughly how much more energy did the first event release?

    • About 32 times more energy, for a magnitude difference of one unit
    • About 10 times more energy, because energy and amplitude increase by the same factor
    • About twice as much energy, since doubling the wave height roughly doubles the energy released
    • About 100 times more energy, which is the square of the amplitude ratio recorded by the instrument

  14. Which statement best evaluates the view that earthquakes can be prevented?

    • Earthquakes are fully predictable in both timing and magnitude, so no preparation or planning is needed at all
    • Earthquakes cannot be prevented, but their impacts can be reduced through engineering, land-use planning and preparedness
    • Earthquakes are only a problem in poor countries and can be avoided entirely by increasing trade with neighbours
    • Earthquakes can be prevented by pumping water into faults to release stress gradually before a major event

  15. Which combination best describes the spatial pattern of major earthquakes?

    • Evenly distributed across all stable continental shields, where the crust is thick and ancient and largely aseismic
    • Concentrated along plate boundaries, especially the circum-Pacific belt
    • Random across the globe with no link to plate boundaries, since earthquakes can strike anywhere without warning
    • Concentrated in the centres of large ocean basins, far from any plate boundary or subduction zone

  16. Which characteristic of a tsunami makes it dangerous even when the waves look small offshore?

    • Low energy that disperses quickly across the ocean, so tsunamis rarely reach coastlines with any force
    • Very short wavelength that breaks immediately in deep water, so it causes little damage once it reaches land
    • Slow speed that gives people plenty of time to escape from the coast before the wave arrives
    • Long wavelength and high speed, so a large volume of water builds up as it reaches shallow coasts

  17. The 2015 Nepal earthquake of magnitude 7.8 had major impacts partly because:

    • It occurred on a mid-ocean ridge far from population centres, so the shaking was felt only at sea
    • It was preceded by a major volcanic eruption that destroyed roads and cut off the country's main airports
    • It produced no shaking outside the capital, so impacts were limited to a small urban area
    • Its location in a densely populated, mountainous region caused landslides and building collapse

  18. Why is the reported death toll from earthquakes often less closely linked to magnitude than people assume?

    • Seismic energy dissipates completely before reaching the surface, so only the epicentre experiences any damage
    • Impacts depend strongly on vulnerability, including building quality, population density and the time of day
    • Earthquakes always cause the same level of damage regardless of location, building quality or population
    • Magnitude scales measure only the number of deaths caused by each event, so they cannot be compared directly

  19. Which response is an example of short-term response to an earthquake?

    • Strengthening building codes over a ten-year period so that new structures can withstand stronger shaking
    • Search and rescue teams locating survivors in collapsed buildings during the first days after the event
    • Relocating a settlement away from a fault line permanently, which may take many years to complete
    • Designing earthquake-resistant bridges for future construction projects planned for the next decade

  20. A moderate earthquake strikes a region with no building regulations. Which outcome is most likely?

    • Greater structural damage and loss of life than in a region with enforced earthquake-resistant codes
    • No damage, because the magnitude is moderate and buildings are generally able to withstand moderate shaking
    • Damage only to infrastructure more than 100 km away from the epicentre, such as bridges and power lines
    • Damage only to the epicentre, with no effect on buildings or people located further from the fault line

All AQA Geography quizzes