Earthquakes

3. Levels of destruction

Required Resources

• Student Worksheets 2-3
• Slide 11

Delivery

• Split students into groups of three or four and give each group a copy of Student Worksheets 2 and 3. The Worksheets offer students a range of further information pertaining to the Kashmir earthquake. Information includes a number of photographs of the region, population density graphs for Pakistan, and information referencing the political contention over the ownership of Kashmir. The photos and background information infer the poverty levels of the region, the wintry conditions and the mountainous terrain.
• Using these sources of information, students make a list of factors that contributed to the high rate of fatalities as a result of the earthquake. Students should conclude that the following factors greatly increased devastation: a. Mountainous terrain b. High population c. Poor quality housing d. Onset of winter e. Few emergency services / poor healthcare f. Isolated area - difficult to reach g. Poor infrastructure h. Politically contentious area.
• It is likely that most students will not cover all of the factors listed above in their response, so an opportunity for the class to feed back and to explore and expand on these points would be valuable here.

Differentiation

Lower Ability:

You might prefer to give some students a pre-prepared list of the factors that directly affected the impact of the earthquake and asks them to explain why each of the factors had an effect.

Higher Ability:

Higher ability students can draw up a list of factors that help reduce devastation in more economically developed countries, citing examples if possible.