Introduction to Natural Disasters Pre-Test Questions
Course Introduction
This course provides an overview of the scientific principles and societal impacts of natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, volcanic eruptions, and wildfires. Students will explore the underlying mechanisms of these events, methods for assessing risk and vulnerability, and strategies for disaster preparedness, response, and mitigation. Emphasis is placed on understanding the role of climate change, technological advances in disaster prediction, and the ways in which communities and governments manage and recover from natural disasters. Through case studies and interactive activities, students will gain practical knowledge applicable to real-world disaster scenarios.
Recommended Textbook
Natural Disasters 9th Edition by Patrick Leon Abbott
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17 Chapters
783 Verified Questions
783 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Natural Disasters and the Human Population
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59 Verified Questions
59 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Today,the world growth rate for human population is rapidly declining.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) The age distribution of a population (relative proportions of people of different ages)is not important when considering the growth rate of that population.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) During prosperous times,the Easter Islanders' diet was based on
A)chickens and yams
B)potatoes
C)fish and turtles
D)nuts,figs,and Easter eggs
E)nuts,fish,and bananas
Answer: A
Q4) In 2005,over 98,000 people lost their lives to natural disasters.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 2: Internal Energy and Plate Tectonics
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36 Verified Questions
36 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The rates of plate movement are comparable to those of human fingernail growth.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) In the _______,evidence abounded,mechanisms seemed plausible,and the plate tectonic theory was developed and widely accepted.
A)mid-1930s
B)mid-1940s
C)mid-1950s
D)mid-1960s
E)mid-1970s
Answer: D
Q3) Subducted slabs completely melt in the mantle and mix with the surrounding mantle.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 3: Earthquake Geology and Seismology
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74 Verified Questions
74 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The intensity of an earthquake is influenced by all but which one of the following?
A)earthquake magnitude
B)distance from the hypocenter/epicenter
C)type of rock or sediment making up the ground surface
D)the presence of people to record their innermost feelings
E)duration of shaking
Answer: D
Q2) The moment magnitude is more accurate than the classical Richter scale because it is tied directly to physical parameters such as fault-rupture area,fault slip,and energy release,and because other earthquake scales use indirect measures such as how much a seismograph needle moves.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Transform faults usually link spreading centers or connect spreading centers with subduction zones.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Plate Tectonics and Earthquakes
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20 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Shallow subduction zone earthquakes occur __________________.
A)in the upper portion of the down-going plate
B)at the bend in the subducting plate
C)in the overriding plate
D)All of these are correct.
E)None of these are correct.
Q2) The biggest disasters are from great earthquakes occurring at great depths.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Earthquakes at subduction zones result from different types of fault movements,depending on whether they occur in shallow versus deeper realms.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Most of the subduction-zone earthquakes of today occur around the rim of the Pacific Ocean.
A)True
B)False
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6
Chapter 5: Earthquakes Throughout the United States and Canada
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94 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Because many of the thrust faults in the Los Angeles area do not reach the ground surface,their sound waves do not reach the surface with audible strength,so they are called deaf thrusts.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The "creeping" section of the San Andreas fault between San Juan Bautista and Cholame has numerous earthquakes smaller than magnitude 6 that accommodate the plate-tectonic forces before they build to high levels.
A)True
B)False
Q3) When rock heats and liquefies into a magma its volume _____________.
A)expands,and neighboring brittle rock must fracture and move out of the way
B)decreases and neighboring brittle rock collapses to make up for the loss of volume C)does not change
D)decreases due to sublimation
Q4) The San Andreas fault has different behaviors along its length.
A)True
B)False
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Volcanic Eruptions: Plate Tectonics and Magmas
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77 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Areas of geyser activity include _______.
A)Iceland
B)Yellowstone Park in the United States
C)North Island of New Zealand
D)Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia
E)All of these are correct.
Q2) Most magma is generated by decreasing the pressure on hot rock.
A)True
B)False
Q3) _________ eruptions are common first phases in the eruptions of volcanoes as they "clear their throats" before emitting larger eruptions.
A)Hawaiian-type
B)Icelandic-type
C)Vulcanian-type
D)Plinian-type
E)Surtseyan-type
Q4) Hawaiian volcanoes produce andesitic lava.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Volcano Processes and Deadly Events
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34 Verified Questions
34 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Nuee ardente (French for glowing cloud)is another term used to describe a lava flow.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In 1883,Edvard Munch created his famous painting The Scream after witnessing a blood red sky over Oslo,Norway,caused by the eruption of _________.
A)Laki Volcano,Iceland
B)Vesuvius Volcano,Italy
C)Tambora Volcano,Indonesia
D)Krakatau Volcano,Indonesia
E)Pinatubo Volcano,Philippines
Q3) On 8 May 1902,a massive eruption of this volcano killed 30,000 people in the town of St.Pierre.The volcano was _______________________.
A)Mont Pelée,Martinique
B)Vesuvius,Italy
C)Krakatau,Indonesia
D)Mt.St.Helens,Washington
E)Nevado Del Ruiz,Colombia
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Chapter 8: Tsunami Versus Wind-Caused Waves
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39 Verified Questions
39 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) There is little threat of a tsunami striking the crowded beaches of southern California.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Most tsunami travel at speeds of ____________ miles per hour.
A)4.2-4.8
B)42-48
C)420-480
D)4200-4800
E)42,000-48,000
Q3) The great 1960 Chile earthquake (M 9.5)unleashed a tsunami that killed over 1,000 Chileans.These waves also killed 61 people in Hilo,Hawaii,14 hours after the earthquake,and another 185 people in ________,22.5 hours after the earthquake.
A)California
B)Alaska
C)Japan
D)Australia
E)the Philippines
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Page 10
Chapter 9: External Energy Fuels Weather and Climate
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44 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Before life was present on Earth,the atmosphere was full of CO<sub>2</sub>,and the average surface temperature of the Earth would have been about 550<sup>\(\circ\)</sup>F.
A)True
B)False
Q2) During the course of a year,the equatorial regions of Earth receive about ________________ times as much solar energy as the polar regions.
A)0.7
B)1.8
C)2.4
D)3.6
E)5.2
Q3) The greenhouse effect results in ________________.
A)global cooling
B)global warming
C)lots of flowers
D)the growth of green algae on the shady side of houses worldwide
Q4) The vertical movement of air is large compared to its horizontal motion.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Tornadoes, Lightning, Heat, and Cold
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25 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Much of the midlatitude severe weather in the Northern Hemisphere occurs via cyclones: air masses rotating _________________________________.
A)clockwise about a high-pressure core
B)counterclockwise about a high-pressure core
C)clockwise about a low-pressure core
D)counterclockwise about a low-pressure core
E)None of these are correct.
Q2) Tornadoes preferentially kill all but which of the following?
A)infants
B)old people
C)mobile-home residents
D)occupants of exterior rooms with windows
E)those unaware of broadcast tornado alerts
Q3) The highest wind speeds of any weather phenomenon occur in ________________.
A)tornadoes
B)hurricanes
C)typhoons
D)cyclones
E)derechos
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Chapter 11: Hurricanes
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Saffir-Simpson scale is numbered 1-5 with _______________________.
A)smaller numbers indicating bigger hurricanes
B)larger numbers indicating bigger hurricanes
C)numbers indicating size of tornadoes
D)numbers indicating risk conditions for forest fires
Q2) A hurricane is defined as a large area of sustained winds greater than 74 miles per hour.This is the wind speed at which ______________________.
A)canvas sails on sail boats start to rip
B)storm surge starts to be a problem
C)Saffir and Simpson agreed to compromise (Saffir wanted 72 mph,and Simpson wanted 76 mph)
D)the center of the storm develops a calm area known as the eye
E)atmospheric particles collide and coalesce
Q3) Hurricanes often form right on the equator,because the ocean water is warmest there.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Fronts are not associated with hurricanes.
A)True
B)False
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Climate Change
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41 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A strong El Ni-o is characterized by __________________.
A)the arrival of warm ocean water to Peru and Ecuador near Christmastime
B)high atmospheric pressure over the eastern Pacific Ocean resulting in trade winds that blow toward the equator from the north and south
C)a southern jet stream branch that flows eastward bringing higher rainfall to the southeastern United States and helping break apart Atlantic and Caribbean storms resulting in fewer hurricanes
D)heavy rainstorms in the western United States
E)All of these choices are correct.
Q2) Which of the following greenhouse gases is the most efficient at trapping heat (i.e. ,has the highest global warming potential - GWP)?
A)Carbon Dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>)
B)Methane (CH<sub>4</sub>)
C)Nitrous Oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O)
D)Ozone (O<sub>3</sub>)
E)Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's)
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Chapter 13: Floods
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52 Verified Questions
52 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Killer floods are caused by __________________.
A)local thunderstorms
B)abundant rainfall lasting for days
C)the storm surges of tropical cyclones flooding the coasts
D)the break-up of winter ice on rivers
E)All of these choices are correct.
Q2) Efforts to control rivers include _____________.
A)dams
B)levees
C)channelization
D)All of these choices are correct.
Q3) It is possible to estimate the flow volume of a 100-year flood on a stream that has only 25 years of flow records.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A president is limited by the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to declaring only one flood every year as a federal disaster.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 14: Fire
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53 Verified Questions
53 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following was largely destroyed by fire in 1871?
A)San Francisco
B)Tokyo
C)Chicago
D)Moscow
E)Lisbon
Q2) The most intense fires occur in ________________________.
A)dense temperate-zone forests
B)grasses that have broad,exposed surfaces
C)sparse organic litter
D)shrubs containing high contents of natural oils
Q3) The term "ladder fuels" refers to ___________________.
A)an evolutionary hierarchy of flammable plants,from primitive ferns to complex flowering trees
B)a hierarchy of carbon-rich flammable materials,from wood to peat,coal,and petroleum products
C)vegetation of varying heights,which allow fire to quickly climb upward
D)fuel made of old woodworking scraps and workbenches
E)extinguishing materials used by urban fire fighters
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Page 16
Chapter 15: Mass Movements
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29 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Before a landslide mass begins to move downhill,it must overcome
A)gravity and friction
B)inertia and gravity
C)inertia and friction
D)gravity and creep
Q2) External processes that increase the odds of a slope failure include ________________.
A)adding mass high on a slope,as in sediment deposition
B)steepening the slope,as by fault movements
C)removing support from low on a slope,as by stream or ocean-wave erosion
D)All of these choices are correct.
Q3) Catastrophic subsidence into sinkholes tends to occur more often in areas underlain by ________________.
A)acidic freshwater flowing through limestone
B)basic freshwater flowing through limestone
C)acidic saltwater flowing through sandstone
D)basic freshwater flowing through sandstone
E)basic saltwater flowing through sandstone
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Page 17
Chapter 16: Coastal Processes and Hazards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Newtons Law states that force is proportional to
A)Mass times velocity
B)Mass times acceleration
C)Mass squared
D)Mass times speed of light squared
Q2) When waves hit headlands they
A)dissipate and lose energy
B)shallow and deepen simultaneously
C)fan out,becoming less dense
D)refract,focussing energy
E)contract,releasing tidal energy
Q3) The law of gravity states that two bodies attract each other with a force directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the _____ of the distance between them.
A)first power
B)square
C)cube
D)square root
E)log
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Page 18
Chapter 17: Impacts With Space Objects
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most of the meteorites collected on the Earth's surface are "irons".
A)True
B)False
Q2) A comet's tail is produced by the charged particles of the solar wind acting on comet ices.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Space debris that collides with the Earth comes primarily from fragmented asteroids and secondarily from comets.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Some students in this class will likely live long enough to see a return of Halley's comet.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Asteroids are distinguished from meteorites by their composition.
A)True
B)False
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