GW Search & Rescue Expert Available to Discuss Devastating Earthquake in Morocco

“Rescuers have begun to reach some remote mountain villages in Morocco that were hardest hit by the strongest earthquake in the area in more than a century, but on Monday, three days after the disaster, many more settlements were still waiting for assistance. Some roads in the Atlas Mountains near the ancient city of Marrakesh remained blocked by landslides after Friday’s earthquake, which had a magnitude of at least 6.8 and killed at least 2,497 people.” (Via The New York Times)

Joseph Barbera is an associate professor of engineering management and systems engineering at the George Washington University. Barbera is a board-certified emergency physician with a 35-year history in developing emergency response systems and responding to local, national, and international emergencies and disasters. He has extensive experience participating in the management of response to earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes, such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Through the GW Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management, he studies disaster response and recovery, risk management, and business continuity. Barbera can speak to the earthquake vulnerabilities, search and rescue issues, and the medical impact from an earthquake series.