Primary and Secondary Hazards of Earthquakes
The primary hazards of earthquakes are crustal fracturing and ground shaking. The secondary hazards include liquefaction, landslides and tsunamis.
Primary hazards of earthquakes
- One of the most common primary hazards from earthquakes is ground shaking. This can range in duration and severity based on the magnitude of the earthquake and the distance from the epicentre.
- Crustal fracturing is another primary hazard of earthquakes. The Earth can visibly separate and deep fissures in the ground can be created.
Secondary hazards of earthquakes
- In mountainous areas, large landslides are a common secondary hazard.
- Developing countries (e.g. Nepal) struggle to recover from landslides because of their lack of infrastructure and resources.
- The process of liquefaction is when earthquakes compact loose sediment of silts, sand and gravel that are waterlogged.
- The compact ground forces water to rise to the surface and damage to buildings and infrastructure is common.
- Sub-marine earthquakes result in tsunamis, which can have devastating effects (e.g. the Boxing Day tsunami, 2004).