Lesson Y9-U04-L04

Y9-U04-L04 Two Earthquakes, Two Outcomes: A Comparison Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 16

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y9-U04-L04, Two Earthquakes, Two Outcomes: A Comparison: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 Geography (National Curriculum), Unit 16: Year 9: Dynamic Landscapes: Tectonics and Ice, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What does HIC stand for?

    • High Injury Count.
    • High Income Country.
    • Hazard Impact Count.
    • Heavy Industry Centre.

  2. What does NEE stand for?

    • Non-Emitting Environment.
    • National Emergency Exercise.
    • Northern Energy Estate.
    • Newly Emerging Economy.

  3. Which country in this comparison is the HIC?

    • Japan.
    • Chile.
    • Haiti.
    • India.

  4. What was the magnitude of the Haiti earthquake in 2010?

    • 5.5.
    • 7.8.
    • 7.0.
    • 9.0.

  5. What was the magnitude of the Japan earthquake in 2011?

    • 6.8.
    • 7.8.
    • 9.0.
    • 7.0.

  6. About how many people died in the Haiti earthquake of 2010?

    • About 18,000.
    • About 2,200.
    • About 2.2 million.
    • About 220,000.

  7. What word describes how exposed and unable to cope a place is when disaster hits?

    • Stratification.
    • Epicentre.
    • Vulnerability.
    • Magnitude.

  8. Besides magnitude, which two things decide an earthquake's death toll?

    • The time of year the quake was recorded.
    • The colour of the seismometer and the map.
    • The name of the country's capital city.
    • Wealth and building quality.

  9. Roughly how many times higher was Haiti's death toll than Japan's?

    • About 2 times.
    • About 220 times.
    • About 12 times.
    • About 50 times.

  10. Which factor helped Japan's buildings survive strong shaking?

    • Unreinforced mud-brick walls.
    • Buildings made from thin cardboard.
    • Overcrowded single-storey shacks.
    • Earthquake-proof engineering.

  11. Which factor helped reduce deaths in Japan?

    • Most buildings in the capital collapsing.
    • Regular earthquake drills and early warnings.
    • No emergency services at all.
    • Few hospitals and no rescue teams.

  12. Which factor increased the death toll in Haiti?

    • Earthquake-proof skyscrapers.
    • Early-warning systems giving seconds to react.
    • Regular school earthquake drills.
    • Fragile, unreinforced homes.

  13. According to the bar chart, which earthquake killed more people?

    • Neither earthquake killed anyone.
    • Haiti in 2010.
    • Japan in 2011.
    • They killed the same number of people.

  14. Which earthquake had the higher magnitude?

    • Both had exactly the same magnitude.
    • Neither earthquake can be measured.
    • Haiti in 2010, at magnitude 7.0.
    • Japan in 2011, at magnitude 9.0.

  15. Which pupil statement uses a figure and a sound reason?

    • Haiti had more deaths, so it was clearly unlucky, and nobody there could have done anything at all about it.
    • Haiti's 220,000 deaths were about 12 times Japan's, because its vulnerability was higher.
    • Haiti was worse because it was a sad place to live, and its people had little hope of any real recovery.
    • Japan was better because it is a cold place.

  16. Why can a country's response matter for how many people die later?

    • Response has no effect once the shaking has stopped.
    • Response increases the magnitude of the next earthquake.
    • Faster rescue reaches survivors sooner, which cuts later deaths.
    • Response only matters for buildings, never for people.

  17. Why is it unfair to describe Haiti only as 'poor'?

    • Because poverty never affects the quality of buildings or services, so describing Haiti as poor is never a useful idea.
    • It ignores the history and causes behind its poverty, as well as its strengths and rebuilding efforts.
    • Because the word poor is only ever used to describe weather.
    • Because Haiti is actually a wealthy HIC with no poverty at all, and its government has plenty of money to spend.

  18. Which judgement is most strongly supported by the two earthquakes?

    • Wealth had no effect on the death toll at all.
    • Japan's buildings were weak, so Japan suffered the greater loss.
    • Wealth and preparation shaped the death toll more than magnitude alone.
    • Magnitude alone decided every death in both countries.

  19. Which judgement best evaluates whether stronger buildings or better warnings save more lives?

    • Warnings never save lives in any earthquake, so only the strength of buildings can ever matter at all.
    • Buildings never save lives in any earthquake, so only early warnings and evacuation plans can ever matter.
    • Neither matters, because deaths in earthquakes are random and no amount of planning changes the outcome.
    • Stronger buildings often matter most where collapse causes most deaths, though warnings help people act quickly.

  20. To what extent was wealth the main cause of the gap in death tolls?

    • Completely: preparation and response played no role whatsoever, because rescue teams only ever arrive too late.
    • Not at all: wealth had no connection to building quality, since poor and rich countries build the same way.
    • Entirely: the depth of the sea decided the whole death toll.
    • Largely: wealth funded stronger buildings, drills and rescue, though preparation and response also mattered.

All KS3 Geography quizzes