CAPITOL UNIVERSITY

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

MARITIME SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
DISASTER READINESS & RISK REDUCTION

Module 3: Basic Concept of Hazards

Content Standard:
In this module, the learner demonstrates an understanding of the concept and underlying principles
and fundamental concept of disaster, hazards-impact on life, property and the environment.

LESSON LEARNING COMPETENCIES

1 The Learner is able to understand the basic
Basic Concept of Hazards concept of hazards and:
 Definition of hazard.
 Types of hazards.
 The manner of hazards that can be
profiled.
 Hazard prone areas in the Philippines.
 Impact of various hazards on different
exposed elements.

A hazard becomes a
disaster only when
the community is not
prepared for it.
LESSON 1: Basic Concept of Hazards
Hazards are event that pose threat, danger, or risk to any element exposed to them.
Hazards are possibilities. They can strike anywhere and anytime. Hazards result in
disaster if a community is left both exposed and vulnerable to that hazard. Hence, it
should be remembered that extreme hazard events are not always associated with
disaster. It is actually the circumstance of that community that causes a hazard to bring
in disaster.

TYPES OF HAZARDS:

Natural Hazards- are those that are caused by physical and biological elements in
the environment. These are natural events that may not be controlled by humans such as
earthquakes, floods, landslides, tornadoes, tsunamis, typhoons and wildfires. Natural
events are inevitable. They are part of the natural process of earth operating throughout
earth’s history. It would be best to leave them to operate on their own rather than
intervening or altering their natural course.
Geologic processes such as earthquake is an example of natural hazards and have
been continuously shaping and sculpting Earth’s surface. They are natural events that are
considered as natural hazards because of the risk of destroying the surroundings and
jeopardizing people’s lives. Some examples of natural hazards are volcanic eruptions,
flashfloods, storm surges and asteroid impacts.

Man-made Hazard also called technological hazards are those caused by factors that
are generally traced to human errors, intent or negligence, or glitches in technology. These
include bomb explosions, chemical spills, nuclear plant blasts, radioactive emissions and
wars. These operations or events are products of advancing technologies and lifestyles of
humans. The continuous development of technology poses more hazards not just to the
creator themselves, but also to their environment.
In like manner, many man-made hazards have caused destruction of almost the same
gravity. One of the worst man-made hazards is the fire that took place at the Mishraq State
Sulfur Mine, a state-run sulfur plant in Al-Mishraq, Iraq on June 24, 2003. Due to the release
of sulfur dioxide (A colorless gas that easily forms harmful compounds when it reacts with
other substances) from the plant, the fire continued to burn for a whole month, despite the
efforts of firefighters to put it out. The Al Mishraq fire released high concentrations of sulfur
dioxide, estimated at about 21 000 tons a day, and these caused respiratory problems
among the residents of the surrounding communities and destruction to plants and animals
of the communities.
Profiling Hazards
Profiling hazards is important in predicting the possible disasters that a certain
hazards can bring. They are useful in planning for a disaster especially if the same impacts
are likely to be brought by a hazard that frequents a certain place. Hazards can be profiled
in different ways:
1. Magnitude of Event (High scale or low scale)
2. Frequency (numbers of times in a year)
3. Duration (short term or long term)
4. Casualty of effects (direct or indirect)

MAGNITUDE OR STRENGHT OF THE EVENT

The magnitude of the hazard can be assessed measurements obtained from
scientific instruments. Sometimes scaling can vary depending on the reference tables used
per country. For example: a magnitude 5.0 above is considered high scale in earth quakes
based on the Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). Floods
reaching 1.0 meter is likewise considered high-scale. Typhoons with winds up to 150 KPH
are deemed strong and powerful.
FREQUENCY

The frequency of the hazard to occur in an area is important because it tells its
proneness to that hazard. This is usually, but not always, associated with the area’s
geographical location on Earth or its topographical condition. For example: a coastal
community may be frequented by flooding, and nor storm surge if it belongs to the typhoon
belt. On the contrary, another coastal community may be frequented by flooding, and not
storm surges, if its topography or level of ground is lower than the sea level. Usually,
government agencies record frequencies of natural hazard occurrences to see any pattern s
to serve as tools in preparing for a disaster.

DURATION OF IMPACT

The impact of hazard varies in duration. The assessment of the duration is either
short or long. Earthquakes for example: the length of shaking, trembling and even the after-
shocks are recorded. If this event happens in a span of more than a minute, the earthquake
is deemed to be long. Another example is the volcanic eruption that can last for days. The
assessment of this duration can be implication on how extensive preparatory activities
should be and even the post disaster plans.

CASUALTY OF EVENTS

The impact of hazards can also be assessed based on the casualty of events, that is,
whether the exposed elements receives the likely disaster directly or indirectly. Sometimes,
other elements that are not visibly present in the site of event also suffers from degree of
consequences because all communities interact within and outside their territory. Also,
communities and nature are dynamic such that interrelationship and mobility make
possible a chain reaction of varying effects. Because the impacts of hazards vary from
place to place and season to season. It is important to assess the impact of every hazard so
that similar events in the future may be prevented.
Hazard-prone Area

A hazard-prone area is a location where a natural hazard is likely to happen if

preventive measures are not implemented. Due mainly to its geography, the Philippines is
considered prone to natural hazards and hence natural disasters as well. It is situated
along the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area surrounding the Pacific Ocean where many
volcanoes have formed. Thus seismic activities such as earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions frequently occur in the region. Around 90 percent (90%) of the world’s
earthquakes occur on this region.

Another reason the Philippines is considered prone to disaster is its major tectonic
feature, the Philippines Fault Zone (PFZ). A fault is a crack or break on earth’s crust
along which rocks moved. A rapid or sudden movement of rocks releases a large amount of
seismic waves, which caused the ground to move or shake. This sudden shaking of the
ground is called an earthquake. The PFZ is a series of interrelated faults that cut across
the country from northwestern Luzon to southern Mindanao. Some of the disastrous
earthquakes in the Philippines are located in the PFZ. Another reason the Philippines is
considered a hazard prone area is its location in the Western Pacific Basin, the part of the
world that is most often visited by typhoons. The region is also called TYPHOON BELT; this
explains why an average of 20 typhoons hit the country every year.
Western Pacific Basin
TYPHOON BELT

IMPACTS OF HAZARDS:

1. Physical Elements. People, buildings, road, poles, bridges and all other material
objects that may be ruined by hazards. Volcanic eruptions, explosions, fire or lightning
may instantly burn or incinerate objects that it comes in contact with. Cracks, fissures or
total damaged may happen if tremors, explosions and landslides take place. All these
again, are possibilities still depending on many factors that increase or decrease the
disaster risk of the community.
 2. Socioeconomic Elements. The positive impacts of hazard on the socioeconomic
elements may be in form of introducing new habits, practices, systems, values that may be
geared towards the values of resiliency and recovery. The impacts will induce adaptation on
the part of the affected community. They will tend to create new operations or ways of living
that can withstand the next possible occurrence of the same hazard. On the other hand,
hazard can also bring negative impacts to these types of elements. In the economic point of
view, areas most frequented by hazards usually would have lower standard of living or poor
living conditions. One reason is their inability to join in market competitions given limited or
constrained resources, or they may not be considered in the network of trade because of
their proneness to hazard.

3. Environmental Elements. Just like other exposed elements, perhaps the initial
impacts of hazard to the ecosystem and other organisms in them may be disastrous.
However, in some cases, again due to adaptation or because of natural hazard are natural
events and hence part of the natural cycles on Earth, the occurrence may benefit certain
components of Erath, For instance: the ashes spewed out during the eruption of Mt.
Pinatubo revealed to have made some soils in Zambales fertile.
“It makes some soils in Zambales fertile”
 Learning Activities:

Pls. watch the video thru this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jUp_zsKp7k

Learning Resources/Reference:
 Textbook Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction (DIWA)

Internet sites: You tube, Google Images

DEADLINE:

February 13, 2021

______________________________End of Module 3___________________________

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