Magna earthquake damage. Photo credit: earthquakes.utah.gov
Earthquakes can happen at anytime, even in the midst of another emergency situation. For example, emergency managers were already engaged in COVID-19 pandemic response when the magnitude 5.7 Magna earthquake shook up residents of Utah on March 18, 2020, and when a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck near Boise, Idaho, on March 31, 2020.
Compound disasters in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic have been challenging, but also instructive. A recent webinar hosted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine explores the lessons learned from the pandemic and how they can be applied to improve disaster planning and response, especially in situations where multiple disasters coincide.
View the webinar recording and read the report.