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Disaster-zone research needs a code of conduct

Study the effects of earthquakes, floods and other natural hazards with sensitivity to ethical dilemmas and power imbalances.
  1. JC Gaillard

    1. JC Gaillard is an associate professor in the School of Environment at the University of Auckland, New Zealand; and extraordinary professor in the Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.

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  2. Lori Peek

    1. Lori Peek is professor of sociology and director of the Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder, USA; and principal investigator of the US National Science Foundation-supported CONVERGE, SSEER and ISEEER Initiatives.

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A resident stands on the ruins of a building that was destroyed by the earthquake on Palu, Indinesia

A collapsed building in the city of Palu in Sulawesi, Indonesia, after a magnitude-7.5 earthquake hit the region in September 2018. Credit: Hariandi Hafid/SOPA/Zuma Wire

A magnitude-7.0 earthquake rocked Anchorage, Alaska, in late November 2018. Roads buckled and chimneys tumbled from rooftops. Business operations were disrupted. Schools were damaged across the district. This was the largest earthquake to shake the region in a generation, and there was much to learn. What was the state of the infrastructure? Might further quakes occur? How did people respond? Teams of scientists and engineers from across the United States mobilized to conduct field reconnaissance in partnership with local researchers and practitioners. These efforts were coordinated through the clearing house set up by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute in Oakland, California, which provided daily in-person and online briefings, as well as a web portal for sharing data.

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Nature 575, 440-442 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03534-z

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