Tectonic hazards: earthquakes and volcanoes
Learn Tectonic hazards: earthquakes and volcanoes for Year 9 pupils (ages 13–14). Free practice questions, lessons and worked examples — aligned to the UK National Curriculum.
What you'll learn
- 1
Earth’s crust is broken into tectonic plates that move slowly on the mantle beneath.
- 2
At a destructive boundary, a denser oceanic plate is forced beneath a continental one. It melts, and magma rises to form volcanoes. Friction as it grinds down causes earthquakes.
- 3
What happens to the oceanic plate at a destructive boundary?
- 4
Two earthquakes of equal magnitude can kill wildly different numbers of people. Building standards, wealth, warning systems and time of day matter more than the magnitude alone.
- 5
Why do equal-magnitude earthquakes cause different death tolls?
- 6
Apply it: the same magnitude earthquake kills far more people in a low-income country. Building standards, emergency services and preparedness — not the quake itself — decide the death toll.
- 7
Why do similar earthquakes cause different death tolls?
Practise Tectonic hazards: earthquakes and volcanoes with Whizlo
Free AI-tutored lessons, unlimited practice questions, and progress tracking for ages 13–14. Aligned to the UK National Curriculum.