M2 Week8.Natural Hazards - Geo101

NATURAL
HAZARDS
Those who cannot
remember the past
are condemned to
repeat it.
—George Santayana (Spanish philosopher), 1905
Hazard - defined as a dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or
condition that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property
damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or
environmental damage.
Bosher, Lee, and Ksenia Chmutina. Disaster Risk Reduction for the Built Environment. Available from: VitalSource
Bookshelf, Wiley Professional, Reference & Trade (Wiley K&L), 2017.
Interactions among Natural Hazards
Hyndman, Donald, and David Hyndman. Natural Hazards and Disasters. Available from: VitalSource Bookshelf, (5th Edition). Cengage Learning US, 2016.
Hyndman, Donald, and David Hyndman. Natural Hazards and Disasters. Available from: VitalSource Bookshelf, (5th
Edition). Cengage Learning US, 2016.
Earthquakes
Shaltami, Physical Geology-Presentation to Undergraduate students

Location of Earthquakes
Shaltami, Physical Geology-Presentation to Undergraduate students

How earthquakes occur
Rocks can bend, but they also break if stretched too far. In response to smaller stresses, rocks may merely bend, while in response to
large stresses, they fracture or break. As stress levels increase, rocks ultimately succumb to brittle failure, causing fault slippage
during an earthquake. Under these conditions, a fault may begin to fail, with smaller slips, called foreshocks, preceding the main
earthquake. It then continues to adjust with smaller slips called aftershocks after the event. In a few cases aftershocks can be large
and devastating.
There are two ways by which we
can measure the strength of an
earthquake: magnitude and
intensity. Magnitude is proportional
to the energy released by an
earthquake at the focus. It is
calculated from earthquakes
recorded by an instrument
called seismograph. It is
represented by Arabic Numbers
(e.g. 4.8, 9.0). Intensity on the other
hand, is the strength of an
earthquake as perceived and felt by
people in a certain locality. It is a
numerical rating based on the
relative effects to people, objects,
environment, and structures in the
surrounding. The intensity is
generally higher near the epicenter.
It is represented by Roman
Numerals (e.g. II, IV, IX). In the
Philippines, the intensity of an
earthquake is determined using the
PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity
Scale (PEIS).
https://i1.wp.com/gotbooks.miracosta.edu/geology/thumbs/magnitude_intensity.jpg
Source: PHIVOLCS
Earthquake Hazards
Ground ruptures
- deformation on the ground that marks, the intersection of the fault with the earth’s surface.
Effects: fissuring, displacement of the ground due to movement of the fault
A continuous fault scarp of the

North Bohol Fault in Brgy.
Anonang, Inabanga, Bohol
https://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/index.php/earthquake/earthquake-hazards
Ground shaking
- Disruptive up, down and sideways vibration of the ground during an earthquake.
Effects: ground shaking are damage or collapse of structure; may consequently cause hazards such as
liquefaction and landslide
Hyatt Terraces
Hotel in Baguio
City collapsed during
the 16 July 1990 Luzon
Earthquake.
https://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/index.php/earthquake/earthquake-
hazards
Liquefaction
- Phenomenon wherein sediments, especially near bodies of water, behave like liquid similar to a
quicksand.
Effects: sinking and/ or tilting of structure above it; sandboil; fissuring
Dagupan City during

July 1990 earthquake
Source: PHIVOLCS
Earthquake-induced landslides (EIL)
- Down slope movement of rocks, solid and
other debris commonly triggered by strong
shaking.
Effects: erosion; burial and blockage of roads

and rivers
https://blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/files/2019/11/19_11-Cotabato-6.jpeg
Cotabato earthquake
Bohol earthquake
Source: PHIVOLCS
Tsunamis
- Series of waves caused commonly by an earthquake under the sea. It means harbor wave in
Japanese, referring to the fact that the waves rise highest where they are focused into bays or
harbors.
Effects: flooding; coastal erosion; drowning of people and damage to properties
Hyndman, Donald, and David Hyndman. Natural Hazards and Disasters. Available from: VitalSource Bookshelf, (5th Edition). Cengage Learning US, 2016.
PHIVOLCS
The PHILIPPINE INSTITUTE OF VOLCANOLOGY AND SEISMOLOGY (PHIVOLCS) is an institution under the
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) that monitors volcano, earthquake, and tsunami activity, and
issues warnings as necessary. It is mandated to mitigate disasters that may arise from such volcanic
eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other related geotectonic phenomena.
PHIVOLCS was established on September 17, 1982.
It is located at C.P. Garcia Avenue, UP Campus, Diliman, Quezon

City.
PHIVOLCS actively post earthquake bulletins and information on

their website https://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/
Earthquake Mitigation
1) Building code https://i.pinimg.com/originals/46/77/d1/4677d1c64f20c2d0c3a8ae272c823ac6.jpg
2) Retrofitting
Earthquake Mitigation
https://www.untvweb.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/earthquake-drill-2048x1368.jpg
4) Disaster preparedness
3) Land use planning
Volcanic Eruptions
Supervolcanic event that occurred in
time past
Penna, Anthony, N. and Jennifer S. Rivers. Natural Disasters in a Global Environment. Available from: VitalSource Bookshelf, Wiley Global Research (STMS), 2013.
Volcanic environment
Physical Geology-2nd ed., Earle and Panchuk, 2019

Volcano types
•A volcano is a vent, hill or mountain from which molten or
hot rocks with gaseous material have been ejected; also
craters, depressions, hills or mountains formed by
removal of pre-existing material or by accumulation of
ejected materials
https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-44c060acddce3593a0c64be82c2ed1e2
Why does the
Philippines have many
volcanoes?
• The Philippines sits on a
unique tectonic setting ideal
to volcanism and earthquake
activity. It is situated at the
boundaries of two tectonic
plates – the Philippine Sea
Plate and the Eurasian plate –
both of which subduct or
dive beneath the archipelago
along the deep trenches
along its east and west
seaboard.
https://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/vault/images/volcano/volcanoes-of-the-philippines-updated2016_png.png
Volcanic hazards directly associated
with eruption
• Lava flow are rivers of incandescent of molten rock or lava
moving downslope or away from an eruption vent. Lava flows
composed of low silica magma have low viscosities and tend
to flow at high speeds (kilometers per hour), while those
composed of high silica magma have high viscosities and
tend to move slowly (kilometers per day). Steep slopes https://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/full/public/20
encourage faster and longer flows than gentle slopes or 18/01/15/mayon-eruption.jpg
terrain.
• Tephra fall or ashfall and ballistic projectiles (fragmented
volcanic particles) or ash (fragmented volcanic particles less
than 2 mm in diameter) propelled through the atmosphere in
an eruption plume or an eruption column eventually fall or
gravitationally settle over areas downwind of an erupting
volcano, forming blankets of tephra fall or ashfall. Large
particle tephra called volcanic bombs that are too heavy to
transport in eruption columns are ejected straight out of the
volcanic vent as ballistic projectiles that fall near the vent.
Tephra or ashfall can accumulate as thick blankets of
material, causing infrastructural damages, roof collapse,
contamination of water resources and burial. Ashfall is a
health hazard and a danger to aircraft and other industrial
machinery, such as those for transportation and power
generation. https://philnews.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/taal-volcano-eruption-1-1.jpg
with eruption
• Pyroclastic density currents or PDCs (pyroclastic
flow, pyroclastic surge, base surge) are mixtures
of fragmented volcanic particles (pyroclastics),
hot gases and ash that rush down the volcanic
slopes or rapidly outward from a source vent at
high speeds. PDCs range from pyroclastic flows
to pyroclastic surges depending mainly on
particle concentrations, pyroclastic flows being
denser, and therefore ground-hugging currents
and pyroclastic surges being more dilute, more
mobile currents. PDCs can be generated by the
gravitational collapse of the base of eruption
columns, or explosion of a lava dome, or by
spalling or gravitational collapse of a lava dome
or of lava flow margins (called nuée-ardéntes). A
special class of PDC called base surges, mobile
and water-vapor-rich pyroclastic surges, are
generated by explosive phreatomagmatic
eruptions. PDCs are the most lethal of all
volcanic hazards and can cause incineration,
asphyxiation, abrasion, dynamic pressure impact
and burial in hot volcanic material. https://img.volcanodiscovery.com/uploads/pics/sinabung_j14782.jpg
SOURCE: PHIVOLCS
with eruption
• Lateral blast are laterally-directed thrusts of hot gas
and ash that can be generated from an exploding
dome on the summit vent or inside the edifice when
sudden mass failure of the volcanic flanks occur.
Lateral blasts travel at subsonic speeds at the
onset, flattening everything in their paths and
causing impacts similar to those of PDCs.
• Volcanic gas form a dissolved component of

magma that is released to the atmosphere in large
quantities during eruptions. The principal volcanic
gases are water vapor, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur
dioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen
chloride and hydrogen fluoride. Minor amounts of
nitrogen, methane, argon and helium can also be
degassed from magma. Volcanic gases form
aerosols that can both cool down the earth’s https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d8/48/65/d84865023ecb142400bf2d6b65e6669c.jpg
atmosphere and deplete its ozone concentration for

a period of time. Some volcanic gases such as
hydrogen fluoride are toxic and can endanger
livestock that ingest contaminated vegetation. Non-
toxic species such as carbon dioxide can also be
lethal when released in large quantities, displacing
air and causing asphyxiation in human and animal
populations.
SOURCE: PHIVOLCS
Volcanic hazards indirectly associated
with eruption
• Lahar, flooding
Lahar - (an Indonesian term), sometimes called volcanic

mudflows or debris flows, are slurries of volcanic
sediment, debris and water that cascade down a
volcano’s slopes through rivers and channels. Lahars in
tropical areas are mainly generated by torrential rainfall
on unconsolidated deposits from a past eruption. These
can also be triggered by the sudden draining of a crater
lake or a collapsed natural or man-made dam or the https://ssl.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000Ho5T7nMTiTY/s/850/680/GDeichmann-Philippines0308.jpg
movement of a PDC into a river or lake and eventual

mixing with water.
• Debris avalanche, landslide
Debris avalanche or sector collapse - is the mass

failure of the flanks of a volcano edifice due to magma
intrusion, a strong earthquake or the movements of
faults beneath the edifice. Debris avalanche events
form a horseshoe-shaped scar or amphitheater, from
which the collapse mass has detached from the edifice
to form a field of hummocks or small hills downslope of
the amphitheater. Debris avalanches are rare
phenomena but are extremely hazardous when they do
occur, endangering localities far beyond the usual
extents of more frequent volcanic hazards.
https://www.mshslc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/1_dale1.jpg
Volcanic hazards indirectly associated
with eruption
• Volcanic tsunami
• Ground deformation (subsidence,

fissuring)
• Secondary explosion
• Secondary PDCs and ashfall
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/12/23/23/7771364-6525675-image-m-8_1545606765284.jpg
SOURCE: PHIVOLCS
https://trending.sfo2.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/trending-ph/home/trending/public_html/2020/01/news01-011619.jpg
Volcano hazard mitigation
- Volcano bulletin advisories
- Volcanic hazard maps
- Volcano monitoring
- Volcano Preparedness
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8_KPQhbpktXTTloTXpFVF84RGM/view?resourcekey=0-rvMr5z-xQ6061ywUXuYagQ
Landslide Hazards
Landslide
- the mass movement of rock, soil, and debris down a slope due to gravity. It
occurs when the driving force is greater than the resisting force.It is a natural
process that occurs in steep slopes. The movement may range from very slow to
rapid. It can affect areas both near and far from the source.
Landslide materials may include:
• Soil
• Debris
• Rock
• Garbage
Rockslide-debris Avalanche,Brgy. Guinsaugon, St. Bernard,

SOURCE: PHIVOLCS Southern Leyte, February 2006
Landslide triggers
• Natural triggers
• Intense rainfall
• Weathering of rocks
• Ground vibrations created during earthquakes
• Volcanic activity
• Man-made triggers
SOURCE: PHIVOLCS
Modes of failure
Landslide triggering • Fall
conditions
• Steep Slopes
• Weakening of slope material • Topple

• Weathering of rocks
• Overloading on the slope • Slide
• Spread
• Flow
SOURCE: PHIVOLCS
Common mass wasting terms
• Slump is a complex type of movement involving both sliding and flowing
• Talus - the fan-shaped piles of rock fragments banked up against the base of
a cliff
• Creep is imperceptibly slow movement due to repetitive expansion and contraction of sediment.
• Translational slides move on preexisting weak surfaces that lie more or less parallel to a slope.
These may be planes along inherently weak layers, such as shale, old fault or slide surfaces, or
fractures. Some involve soil sliding off underlying bedrock.
Landslide hazards mitigation
• Hazard mapping • Public Information
Source: PHIVOLCS
• Engineering intervention measures or slope protection measures
Source: PHIVOLCS
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Photo-showing-the-separator-station-located-300m-upstream-of-Mahiao-River-from-the-RI-pad_fig14_240432163
Benching or slope modification

http://www.barangaybatasan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Simultaneous-Riprap-Project-Inspections-4.jpg
Riprap masonry wall
Source: PHIVOLCS
https://www.spargrp.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/mitigation-technique.png
Drainage control
Source: PHIVOLCS
Coconet bio-engineering measure
Vetiver grass
Erosion control
Source: PHIVOLCS
• Landslide monitoring or early warning system (EWS)
- EWS are monitoring systems designed to predict events

that precede landslides in order to issue a hazard warning. It
mitigates risk by reducing the consequences.
Physical Geology – 2nd ed., Earle and Panchuk, 2019

Sinkholes
• Surface feature where the overlying ground collapses into underground soil cavities over
limestone
• Formed by dissolution where the acidic groundwater dissolves the surrounding rock surfaces
such as limestones (CaCO3). Reaction of acidic groundwater with limestone forms calcium
bicarbonate, which is soluble in water
Formation of sinkholes
Groundwater flowing
through soluble
limestone (A) will create
large voids or caverns. As
rivers cut downward (B),
they force the water table
to become lower, leaving
void spaces drained of
water and their roofs in a
weakened state.
Infiltrating water will
eventually cause the
cavern roofs to weaken to
the point where they
collapse, forming
sinkholes.
Reichard, Jim. Environmental Geology. Available from: VitalSource Bookshelf, (4th Edition). McGraw-Hill Higher Education
(International), 2020.
Sinkholes in the Philippines
Bohol https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fXswPTl8aOw/maxresdefault.jpg
https://www.eaglenews.ph/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/1888720_806159942759244_2107096455229305978_n.jpg
Badian, Cebu
Calpi, Sorsogon
https://philnews.ph/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/deep-sinkhole.jpg
Land subsidence
• occurs when the ground settles due to changes in fluid levels underground.
The amount of overburden pressure, or weight, that

sediment grains must bear (A) is offset by the level of
pore (fluid) pressure within the sediment. Compaction
and subsidence can occur (B) whenever there is a
reduction in fluid pressure, or when additional
sediment is deposited, allowing more weight to bear
down on the grains.
Causes of Land subsidence
a) Excessive extraction
of groundwater and or
petroleum
b) Drying of clays
The ground under the tower consists of 3 m of clay-rich sand

and more than 6 m of sand over thick, compressible, and
spreading marine clay.
https://water.usgs.gov/ogw/highlights/images/USGS_Sneed_subsidence_BM
_W_990_CADWRopt1.jpg
Flood
Flood – an event where a water body overflows its banks
• Flashfloods – are also termed

Idealized hydrographs illustrating
as upstream floods as small how a river will respond to heavy
streams and rivers in the rainfall in the headwaters of a basin.
headwaters rapidly overflow As the flood crest moves downstream,
in their banks there is a progressive increase in lag
time between the rain event peak and
discharge; the river downstream also
• Downstream floods - can be
rises more slowly and remains above
defined as one where a river flood stage for a longer period of time.
in the lower part of a drainage Hydrograph (A) is characteristic of a
basin leaves its channel, flash flood, and (C) of a downstream
flowing out onto its floodplain flood, with (B) representing a
transitional phase.
and inundating large areas of
the valley floor.
Land use factors that affect flooding
• Removal of natural vegetation
Sediment pollution (A) occurs when

natural vegetation is removed from
the landscape, which leads to
increased overland flow and erosion
that fills stream channels with
excess sediment. This deposition of
sediment reduces the capacity of
channels to carry water, making it
more likely streams will overflow
their banks and cause flooding.
Photo (B) showing sediment
pollution taking place in a stream
during a rainfall event. Note that
the sediment is being carried off the
agricultural field by overland flow.
• Destruction of wetlands
Wetlands are common along rivers and in topographic depressions in upland areas. Because of their
porous nature, wetlands have a great capacity to capture and store water moving across the landscape.
The destruction of wetlands and the loss of their ability to store water has resulted in an increase in
flooding in many areas.
• Construction activity
Most construction activity
involves removing natural
vegetation and regrading the land
surface. This activity exacerbates
flooding because it increases
overland flow and causes stream
channels to fill with sediment.
Photo showing how excessive amounts of sediment have moved off a construction site and into a
nearby drainage ditch. Note how the culvert is being clogged with sediment.
• Urbanization
Urban settings commonly contain large areas of impermeable surfaces where little to no infiltration takes place,
generating large volumes of overland flow that rapidly enter the drainage network. The result is more frequent
flooding, higher flood crests, and shorter lag time between a rain event and peak discharge
Reducing the impact of floods
• Dams
Dams prevent downstream flooding by intercepting and storing stream discharge in their reservoirs.
By carefully regulating the release of water, engineers can maintain a reservoir such that it provides a
sufficient amount of emergency storage and enough water to meet the demand for freshwater and
electricity.
• Artificial levees are those built by humans for the purpose of keeping a river from
overflowing its banks and inundating its floodplain.
Artificial levees (A) reduce the frequency of flooding by raising the height a river must rise before overflowing its
banks. Most artificial levees consist of a ridge of earthen material constructed parallel to a river bank. Concrete
levees called floodwalls (B) are sometimes used along urban corridors. Note how levees also act as bottlenecks that
make floods worse in upstream areas.
• Channelization involves straightening and deepening a stream channel in order to
increase its discharge capacity.
Channelization increases a stream’s

discharge capacity by increasing water
velocity and the channel’s cross-sectional
area. Here a channel is excavated so it
becomes more box-shaped, plus it is
straightened in order to increase the
stream gradient. Channelization is
effective in reducing flooding, but also
destroys the natural habitat for plants
and animals, resulting in fewer native
species. Note in the photo the steep banks
and lack of shade along the channelized
stream.
• Retention basin – temporary storage of excess water
constructed as a series of depressions within a network of
tributary channels
Retention basins, also called

detention basins, store excess
overland flow captured from paved
surfaces during storm events, then
slowly release the water into the
natural drainage system. The
hydrograph illustrates how the slow
release from a retention basin
reduces peak discharge, thereby
decreasing the potential for flooding.
• Erosion control
• Wetlands restoration
• Flood Proofing – e.g. elevated structures
• Floodplain management - involves floodplain zoning where commercial, industrial, and
residential buildings are restricted to certain areas or zones within a community
• Education – e.g. understanding the hazards of driving a vehicle through floodwaters
Most people are not aware of how little water it takes for their vehicle to begin floating, and thus may place themselves at risk of being swept away with
the current. Approximately half of all flash-flood fatalities are vehicle related.
Disaster Cycle
Bosher, Lee, and Ksenia Chmutina. Disaster Risk Reduction for the Built Environment. Available from: VitalSource
Bookshelf, Wiley Professional, Reference & Trade (Wiley K&L), 2017.
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NATURAL

Shaltami, Physical Geology-Presentation to Undergraduate students

Shaltami, Physical Geology-Presentation to Undergraduate students

Effects: fissuring, displacement of the ground due to movement of the fault

A continuous fault scarp of the

Effects: sinking and/ or tilting of structure above it; sandboil; fissuring

Dagupan City during

Effects: erosion; burial and blockage of roads

Effects: flooding; coastal erosion; drowning of people and damage to properties

PHIVOLCS was established on September 17, 1982.

It is located at C.P. Garcia Avenue, UP Campus, Diliman, Quezon

PHIVOLCS actively post earthquake bulletins and information on

1) Building code https://i.pinimg.com/originals/46/77/d1/4677d1c64f20c2d0c3a8ae272c823ac6.jpg

Physical Geology-2nd ed., Earle and Panchuk, 2019

encourage faster and longer flows than gentle slopes or 18/01/15/mayon-eruption.jpg

• Volcanic gas form a dissolved component of

atmosphere and deplete its ozone concentration for

Lahar - (an Indonesian term), sometimes called volcanic

movement of a PDC into a river or lake and eventual

• Debris avalanche, landslide

Debris avalanche or sector collapse - is the mass

• Ground deformation (subsidence,

• Secondary PDCs and ashfall

Landslide materials may include:

Rockslide-debris Avalanche,Brgy. Guinsaugon, St. Bernard,

• Ground vibrations created during earthquakes

• Weakening of slope material • Topple

• Overloading on the slope • Slide

Benching or slope modification

Riprap masonry wall

Coconet bio-engineering measure

- EWS are monitoring systems designed to predict events

Physical Geology – 2nd ed., Earle and Panchuk, 2019

The amount of overburden pressure, or weight, that

The ground under the tower consists of 3 m of clay-rich sand

• Flashfloods – are also termed

Sediment pollution (A) occurs when

Channelization increases a stream’s

Retention basins, also called

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