Welcome to this deck on Tectonic Hazards for AQA GCSE Geography. We'll explore the powerful forces that shape our planet, from the structure of the Earth itself to the dramatic events of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Understanding these processes is crucial for Paper 1, and by the end of this deck, you'll be able to explain why these hazards happen and where they are most likely to occur.

To understand tectonic hazards, we first need to look inside our planet. The Earth isn't just a solid ball of rock; it's made up of several distinct layers. At the centre is the core, surrounded by the mantle, and on the very outside is a thin skin called the crust, which is where we live.

The core itself is split into two parts: the outer core and the inner core. The outer core is a layer of molten, liquid iron and nickel. The immense pressure at the very centre of the Earth, however, squeezes the inner core into a solid ball, despite it being even hotter.