Emergency Management Exam Practice Tests
Course Introduction
Emergency Management is a multidisciplinary course that explores the principles, practices, and challenges of preparing for, responding to, and recovering from a wide range of disasters and emergencies. Students will examine key concepts such as risk assessment, hazard mitigation, crisis communication, incident command systems, and community resilience. The course provides an overview of the roles and responsibilities of governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private sector partners involved in emergency management, while emphasizing the importance of coordinated planning and resource management. Through case studies and practical exercises, students will develop problem-solving skills and strategies to effectively manage emergencies and reduce the impact of disasters on individuals and communities.
Recommended Textbook
Natural Hazards and Disasters 4th Edition by Donald Hyndman
Available Study Resources on Quizplus
18 Chapters
634 Verified Questions
634 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/941
Page 2
Chapter 1: Natural Hazards and Disasters
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18534
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of these natural hazards causes the LEAST amount of fatalities in the United States annually?
A) volcanoes
B) heat and drought
C) lightning
D) winter weather
E) tornadoes
Answer: A
Q2) Would you rather live in an area that has historically experienced a natural hazard,a natural disaster,or a catastrophe? Is there any environment in which these processes do not exist?
Answer: A natural hazard would be the least threatening of the three processes,but given changing population densities and infrastructure,a situation that was once considered a hazard could later be considered a catastrophe.Very few places are free of all natural hazards,but efforts can be made to minimize the people living in the most hazardous areas.
Q3) Which natural hazard causes the GREATEST amount of fatalities in the United States annually?
Answer: Heat and drought.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 3
Chapter 2: Plate Tectonics and Physical Hazards
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18535
Sample Questions
Q1) If the Atlantic Ocean floor is getting wider,why is the Earth not becoming larger?
A) Actually, the Atlantic Ocean floor is not getting wider.
B) Old ocean floor sinks at subduction zones (trenches).
C) It is becoming denser, so it takes up no more space.
D) It becomes part of the edge of the adjacent continent.
E) It melts at oceanic transform faults.
Answer: B
Q2) Near which type of lithospheric plate boundary are andesite stratovolcanoes most common?
A) rift zones on continents
B) collision zones between continental plates
C) subduction zones between oceanic and continental plates
D) subduction zones between two continents
E) transform fault boundaries between oceanic and continental plates
Answer: C
Q3) Distinguish between Earth's crust and mantle.
Answer: Crust overlies mantle.It is basalt composition under the ocean basins and granitic composition in the continents.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
4
Chapter 3: Earthquakes and Their Causes
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18536
Sample Questions
Q1) What is the approximate highest frequency of vibration (of back and forth shaking)in earthquakes?
A) 2-3 cycles per minute
B) 2-3 cycles per second
C) 20-30 cycles per second
D) 2,000-3,000 cycles per second
E) 20,000-30,000 cycles per second
Answer: C
Q2) How much more energy is released in a magnitude 7 earthquake than in a magnitude 6 earthquake?
A) about double
B) about 3 times
C) about 10 times
D) about 32 times
E) about 100 times
Answer: D
Q3) Which type of plate boundary has the potential to cause the most destructive earthquakes??
Answer: The largest earthquakes recorded have occurred at subduction zones.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 5
Chapter 4: Earthquake Prediction and Mitigation
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
37 Verified Questions
37 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18537
Sample Questions
Q1) What is the approximate frequency of shaking,or back-and-forth sway,of a typical 2-story building?
Q2) Why do so many people in certain regions get sick and often die from sickness after an earthquake?
Q3) You are on the 20th floor of your office building when the ground starts shaking-an earthquake is occurring! One of your coworkers bolts for the stairwell to try to flee the building.Do you let them continue down the stairs or stop them? Why?
Q4) What is ineffective in reducing the possibility of earthquake's damage to a building?
A) using base isolation pads between the building and its foundation
B) using diagonal bracing in the walls
C) adding sheets of plywood to the walls
D) anchoring the building to its foundation
E) loading the ground floor with heavy weights to prevent it from moving so much
Q5) What is the approximate frequency of shaking,or back-and-forth sway,of a typical 20-story building?
Q6) The USGS has asked you to write a report on past seismic activity along a specific fault.What will you look for and observe in the field?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 6
Chapter 5: Tsunami
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
42 Verified Questions
42 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18538
Sample Questions
Q1) Decide which natural occurrence would create the most catastrophic tsunami and why.Describe the location that would be the most devastating.
Q2) Which is the more dangerous location in a tsunami hazard: a straight stretch of open coast,a rocky point,or a bay? Why?
Q3) Explain exactly how the initial event was related to the secondary event.
Q4) What is the average speed of tsunami waves in the deep ocean?
A) 8-9 km/hour
B) 80-90 km/hour
C) 800-900 km/hour
D) the speed of an Olympic sprinter
E) the speed of light
Q5) Explain why swimming during a tsunami is not the best option to save your life.Discuss waves and effects of a tsunami on its surroundings.
Q6) In the case of the Sumatra Tsunami in December 2004,what was the initial event that caused the tsunami? How did certain people's reactions save lives? What can education do to help further people's knowledge about this natural disaster?
Q7) Why do ships in the open ocean not notice passage of a tsunami wave?
Q8) What was the magnitude (give the number)of that earthquake?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 7
Chapter 6: Volcanoes: Tectonic Environments and Eruptions
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18539
Sample Questions
Q1) Eruptions dominated by basalt compositions are found where?
A) along convergent margins involving oceanic and continental crust
B) along divergent boundaries at mid-oceanic ridges
C) over continental hotspots
D) between plates along transform boundaries
E) along convergent margins involving oceanic crust
Q2) List the styles of explosive eruptions,and give a brief explanation of two of them.
Q3) What is magma that is forcefully ejected into the atmosphere as particles?
A) lava
B) pahoehoe
C) plutonic
D) pyroclastic
E) lahar
Q4) What two main factors dictate that an erupting magma will be explosive?
Q5) Why were the predictions and mitigation of the hazards for the eruption at Mount Pinatubo so successful? What types of strategies did authorities use to evacuate people?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 8
Q6) If a bulge grows steep enough,it may collapse.Explain how this can trigger an explosive eruption.
Chapter 7: Volcanoes: Hazards and Mitigation
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18540
Sample Questions
Q1) What are some strategies used to mitigate damage from volcanoes?
Q2) Following the May 1980 eruption of Mount St.Helens,Washington,thousands of trees lay on the ground,all parallel to one another.Why?
A) A lateral blast at the beginning of the eruption blew them all down.
B) A big earthquake at the beginning of the eruption shook them down.
C) Huge mudflows racing downslope flattened them.
D) A giant landslide from the volcano toppled them.
E) Thermal winds during the eruption toppled them.
Q3) What evidence do scientists use to decide whether a volcano may be getting ready to erupt?
Q4) According to the text,which of the following is "one of the most hazardous volcanic areas in the world"?
A) Campi Flegrei
B) Mount Vesuvius
C) Mount St. Helens
D) Mount Hood
E) Mount Mazama
Q5) Harmonic tremors recorded on seismographs near volcanoes are generally interpreted as __________.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 9
Chapter 8: Landslides and Other Downslope Movements
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18541
Sample Questions
Q1) What CANNOT be used to recognize the action of soil creep?
A) tree trunks that bend out from a slope before curving up
B) fences that lean downslope
C) walls that lean downslope
D) fragments of rocks that clearly came from farther upslope
E) bedrock layers that curve downslope as they approach the surface
Q2) What can be done to stabilize a steep,dangerous rock cliff or road cut to keep it from collapsing onto a highway or railroad track?
Q3) What conditions make smectite clay extremely weak?
Q4) Which of the following would NOT cause the height of water in the ground to rise,thus increasing the danger of sliding?
A) leaking pipes
B) cracked swimming pools
C) septic drain fields
D) planting trees
E) filling a reservoir behind a dam
Q5) What types of internal surfaces are most prone to sliding?
Q6) What three methods can be used to minimize damage from rockfalls?
Q7) What material is subject to liquefaction?
Page 10
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 9: Sinkholes, Land Subsidence, and Swelling Soils
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18542
Sample Questions
Q1) What are two main mechanisms of ground subsidence?
Q2) What is in water in the ground that helps it dissolve limestone?
A) nitric acid from nitrogen in the air combining with rainwater
B) carbonic acid formed from carbon dioxide in air combining with rainwater
C) nothing-pure water has nothing in it, so it can dissolve more
D) oxygen-the reactivity of oxygen oxidizes the calcium of limestone
E) sand-the grains are much harder than limestone, making it more abrasive
Q3) What agricultural behavior is likely to lead to formation of more sinkholes?
Q4) What causes sinkhole collapse? Where is the cavity that it collapses into,and how does that cavity form?
A) A limestone cavern dissolves out with acid rain; a sinkhole forms when its roof collapses.
B) Soil above a limestone cavern percolates down into the cavern, leaving a soil cavity above. That cavity may collapse to form a sinkhole.
C) An underground river erodes a wide area; a sinkhole forms if its roof collapses.
D) The roof of a gold or copper mine collapses to form a sinkhole.
E) Families of moles or gophers dig large underground chambers that can collapse to form sinkholes.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 11
Chapter 10: Weather, Thunderstorms, And Tornadoes
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18543
Sample Questions
Q1) Does the atmosphere in the tropics contain more moisture or less? Why?
Q2) Which of the following always decreases as we go upward in the atmosphere?
A) wind
B) temperature
C) pressure
D) moisture
E) oxygen to nitrogen ratio
Q3) What is the major weather difference in the southeastern United States during an El Niño weather pattern?
Q4) What creates the electrical charges in clouds that characterize lightning storms?
A) friction between air molecules in turbulent air in the clouds
B) friction between droplets of water falling in clouds and others carried upward in updrafts
C) natural charges on the Earth's surface repel equally charged surface charges on droplets in the cloud base
D) collisions between ice particles rising and falling in turbulent air in the clouds
E) collisions between falling ice particles and water droplets carried in updrafts
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 11: Climate Change
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18544
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements about mitigation of climate change is NOT true?
A) The most direct way to slow the increase in greenhouse gases is to minimize population growth.
B) Conservation is an expensive way to reduce carbon output used in power production.
C) If the real costs of burning coal are included, the cost of wind energy is similar.
D) Injecting several megatons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere annually could block some of the sun's incoming energy.
E) There is considerable opposition to a carbon tax in the United States.
Q2) Discuss the ways to mitigate global warming.Which do you think holds the most promise?
Q3) Which of the following plants or animals have benefitted from global warming?
A) American pika
B) polar bears
C) black spruce
D) Pacific salmon.
E) sea turtles
Q4) How many ice ages has Earth experienced over the past two million years?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 12: Streams And Flood Processes
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18545
Sample Questions
Q1) Why are the deposits of streams graded with the largest boulders or pebbles at the bottom?
A) The largest boulders are always at the bottom; they never move.
B) The largest boulders eroded from the stream bank immediately roll to the bottom and stay there.
C) Jostling of boulders, pebbles, and sand in turbulent water moves the boulders to the bottom.
D) As the water slows after a flood, the largest boulders drop out first.
E) Tributaries add additional sediment to the stream.
Q2) A river slope or gradient adjusts to what three factors that it has no control over?
A) stream width, depth, and amount of water
B) water turbulence, channel roughness, and grain size of sediment
C) water velocity, water temperature, and stream depth
D) water velocity, grain size of sediment, and amount of sediment
E) channel shape, channel cross section, and channel roughness
Q3) Why does stream level rise within a few hours of a heavy rain,even though you see no water running off the slopes?
Q4) What is the main difference between a water flood and a hyperconcentrated flood?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 14
Chapter 13: Floods And Human Interactions
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18546
Sample Questions
Q1) Why does removal of vegetation cause more surface runoff and thus more erosion?
A) It permits more water to directly strike the ground and run off.
B) All of the plants covering the surface slow the runoff.
C) Roots of the plants hold the soil together and prevent erosion.
D) It reduces the amount of vegetation available for forest fires.
E) It results in increased grazing and compaction of the soil.
Q2) What is avulsion?
A) A flooding stream permanently leaves its old channel to form a new floodplain channel.
B) A stream tends to avoid moving in a straight line: it tends to meander.
C) Streams often drop most of their sediment load quickly as the water velocity drops after a flood peak.
D) Streams tend to maintain a nearly constant meander radius for a given discharge.
E) Streams tend to be locked into their meandering channels, avoiding changing channels during a flood.
Q3) Where do people most commonly get the material to build an artificial river levee?
Q4) Why does the channel bed of a river confined between levees gradually build higher with time?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 15
Chapter 14: Waves,Beaches,And Coastal Erosion
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18547
Sample Questions
Q1) What is a better solution to erosion than the variety of prevention efforts used on most coasts?
Q2) Explain the processes of wave refraction and longshore drift.What happens to sand as a result of these processes?
Q3) What is beach hardening? What are three examples of techniques used in beach hardening? Why are these not a good solution to preventing erosion of sand on beaches?
Q4) Why do barrier islands gradually migrate landward with time?
Q5) What do people who live at the top of coastal terraces in the west do to accelerate cliff erosion?
Q6) Why do waves not break in the open ocean?
A) Onshore winds drawn by rising warm air over land pull the tops of the waves to break.
B) Water in deep-water waves does not move forward with the wave; it moves in a circular motion.
C) Waves speed up in shallow water, so they lurch forward and break.
D) Water in deep-water waves moves only up and down; it switches to forward and back in shallow water.
E) Waves only break in the deep ocean during tropical storms.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 16
Chapter 14: Hurricanes and Noreasters
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18548
Sample Questions
Q1) What are nor'easters? Describe the ways in which nor'easters differ from hurricanes.
Q2) Explain why death tolls from hurricanes are much higher in poor countries.
Q3) What shape of roof is most susceptible to being lifted off by a hurricane?
A) a flat roof
B) a gently sloping roof with one slope facing toward the wind
C) a steep "A-frame" roof
D) a dome-shaped roof (hemisphere)
E) a "hip" roof sloping toward all four sides
Q4) What significant effects does faster forward-speed of a hurricane have on coastal areas?
A) higher level surge and more rain
B) higher level surge and less rain
C) lower level surge and more rain
D) lower level surge and less rain
E) more wind damage
Q5) What is the approximate forward speed of a hurricane (how fast does it approach the coast)?
Q6) Why isn't the greatest coastal damage from a hurricane directly in line with the center of the hurricane path as it reaches land?
Page 17
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 16: Wildfires
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
30 Verified Questions
30 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18549
Sample Questions
Q1) Why are fires more frequent and hotter now than they were several decades ago?
A) aggressive fire suppression for many decades
B) global warming
C) insufficient logging of trees
D) more insect-killed trees
E) weaker trees because of acid rain from power plants
Q2) Between 2001 and 2009,what percentage of California forest fires was lightning-caused?
A) 2 percent
B) 5 percent
C) 7 percent
D) 13 percent
E) 30 percent
Q3) What is the principle cause of increased fire hazard to members of the public?
A) people placing their propane tanks near their houses
B) more people living in the woods building with wood
C) more closures of forest roads
D) more logging of large trees in forests
E) more people building in or next to forests or other wild lands
Q4) Why do grass,needles,and shrubs burn easier and faster than trees?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 18
Chapter 17: Impact of Asteroids and Comets
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18550
Sample Questions
Q1) How fast do comets travel in space?
A) about 2 to 3 km per minute
B) about 60 km per minute
C) about 2 to 3 km per second
D) about 60 km per second
E) about 500 km per second
Q2) An achondrite stony meteorite consists of:
A) mostly olivine.
B) about 1/3 iron, 1/3 olivine, and 1/3 pyroxene.
C) peridotite like Earth's mantle.
D) basalt like Earth's oceanic crust.
E) glass that is high in iron and magnesium.
Q3) Which of the following would NOT result from impact of a large asteroid on Earth?
A) energy burns nitrogen with oxygen in Earth's atmosphere (nitric acid/acid rain)
B) tsunami if impact in ocean
C) iridium anomaly
D) impact melts rock and molten droplets spray outward (glass spherules)
E) high radioactivity in the crater
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
19
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18551
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT an effect of global warming on natural disasters?
A) increased global temperatures
B) population collapse
C) disruption of living conditions
D) increased incidence of storms
E) increased earthquakes
Q2) List some methods of mitigation which help in reducing losses from natural disasters.
Q3) Which of the following is the best answer for a "hard" solution?
A) installing catchment basins below debris-flow channels
B) willful ignorance
C) Installing concrete barriers and riprap along coasts
D) levees on rivers
E) all except willful ignorance
Q4) Historically,how has the evolution of civilization contributed to natural disasters?
Q5) Describe and discuss three persistent problems associated with natural hazards and possible solutions to mitigate these disasters and their effects.
Q6) What are natural hazards? Give examples.
Q7) What effect will global warming have on natural disasters?
Page 20
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.