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Multiple-hazard zones: the Philippines and California

Edexcel IAL Geography · WGE01 Global Challenges

Some places face several hazards at once. The specification uses the Philippines and California as hazard hotspots, where repeated losses affect economic development.

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The Philippines: an emerging country at very high risk

Located on a convergent plate boundary zone, so it has active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes; it also lies in the main typhoon track of the western Pacific, and steep, deforested slopes add landslides and floods.
Mount Pinatubo, 15 June 1991: VEI 6, about 10 km3 of ash (USGS). Monitoring and evacuation saved at least 5,000 and possibly 20,000 lives; fewer than 300 people died. Monitoring, preparation and evacuation cost about US$56 million and saved at least US$250 million of property (USGS Fact Sheet 115-97).
Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), November 2013: 6,300 deaths, 1,061 missing, 28,689 injured, over 16 million people affected, over 4 million displaced, more than 1 million houses damaged or destroyed, damage of almost 90 billion pesos (NDRRMC, April 2014).
WorldRiskIndex: first of 193 countries every year from 2022 to 2026 (scores 46.91 in 2024, 46.56 in 2025 and 46.69 in 2026).

California: a developed region on a transform boundary

The San Andreas Fault is a conservative (transform) boundary between the Pacific and North American plates.
USGS (Fact Sheet 2008-3027, published 2008) forecast a greater than 99% chance of at least one magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake in California in the next 30 years, and a 46% chance of a magnitude 7.5 or larger, most likely in the southern half of the state.
Other hazards: wildfire, drought, landslides and floods, sometimes linked (wildfire burns vegetation, then winter rain causes debris flows).
High capacity to cope: strict building codes, monitoring, insurance and emergency services. But very high-value property means potential economic losses are enormous.

Costs and development

Repeated disasters affect development:

Philippines: money for rebuilding is diverted from schools, health and infrastructure; farming and fishing livelihoods are destroyed; investors may see higher risk.
California: deaths are usually low, but a major earthquake would cause huge losses to housing, transport and industry, and insurance premiums are high.

In exams, compare the two using the risk equation: similar hazard exposure, but very different vulnerability and capacity.

Worked example

Using the USGS figures, how many times greater was the property saved at Pinatubo than the total cost of monitoring, preparation and evacuation?

Property saved: at least US$250 million.
Total cost: about US$56 million.
250 / 56

Answer: At least about 4.5 times, before counting the 5,000 to 20,000 lives saved.

Key idea: Hotspots face several hazards. Philippines: volcanoes, typhoons, earthquakes, landslides; low capacity, top WorldRiskIndex. California: transform fault, wildfire, drought; high capacity but huge economic exposure.

Check yourself

Pinatubo: about US$56 million spent on monitoring, preparation and evacuation; at least US$250 million of property saved. Calculate property saved per dollar spent, to 1 decimal place.
Show answer
4.5. 250 / 56 = 4.5.
Typhoon Haiyan: 6,300 deaths and 1,061 missing (NDRRMC). What is the total of dead and missing?
Show answer
7361. 6,300 + 1,061 = 7,361.
The San Andreas Fault in California is which type of plate boundary?
- Divergent
- Oceanic-continental convergent
- Continental collision
- Conservative (transform)
Show answer
Conservative (transform). The Pacific and North American plates slide past each other.
What did the USGS forecast for California over the next 30 years?
- A greater than 99% chance of at least one magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake
- A 10% chance of any earthquake
- No major earthquake is possible
- A certain magnitude 9 earthquake
Show answer
A greater than 99% chance of at least one magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake. Fact Sheet 2008-3027: greater than 99% for M6.7 or larger.
Why does the Philippines rank first on the WorldRiskIndex while California's deaths are usually low?
- The Philippines has no plate boundaries
- California has no hazards
- The Philippines combines high exposure with high vulnerability and lower coping capacity
- The index only measures earthquakes
Show answer
The Philippines combines high exposure with high vulnerability and lower coping capacity. The index combines exposure and vulnerability (including coping and adaptive capacity).
In California, burned hillsides after a wildfire followed by heavy winter rain can lead to
- debris flows and landslides
- tsunami
- volcanic lahars
- liquefaction
Show answer
debris flows and landslides. Vegetation loss reduces slope stability, so rain triggers debris flows.
Explain how repeated disasters can slow economic development in the Philippines.
Show answer
Money has to be spent on rebuilding instead of schools, health and infrastructure, and farms, fishing and businesses are destroyed, so incomes and investment fall.. Rebuilding costs divert money and destroy livelihoods, so development slows.

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Last updated 8 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.