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Organizational response to the Mexico City earthquake of 1985: Characteristics and implications

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Abstract

A study involving a collaborative effort between American and Mexican social scientists was made of the individual and organizational response to the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City. Our general findings only about the activities of organizations are summarized under five general themes: (1) the massive and complex organizational response was decentralized, (2) resources for organizational actions were not problematical but there were difficulties in their quick and effective use, (3) the dominant organizational behavior was emergent rather than traditional, (4) organizational personnel carried out their work and occupational roles, and (5) there was changes in disaster planning of organizations as a result of the disaster. Both practical and theoretical implications of our research findings are noted.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware, Newark, 19716, Delaware, U.S.A.

    E. L. Quarantelli

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  1. E. L. Quarantelli
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The findings summurized in this article are drawn from a very detailed and extensive report on the disaster by Russel R. Dynes, E. L. Quarantelli, and Dennis Wenger,Individual and Organizational Response to the 1985 Earthquake in Mexico City, issued in 1990 by the Disaster Research Center at

The findings summurized in this article are drawn from a very detailed and extensive report on the disaster by Russel R. Dynes, E. L. Quarantelli, and Dennis Wenger,Individual and Organizational Response to the 1985 Earthquake in Mexico City, issued in 1990 by the Disaster Research Center at

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Quarantelli, E.L. Organizational response to the Mexico City earthquake of 1985: Characteristics and implications. Nat Hazards 8, 19–38 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00596233

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