Nine people have died and hundreds more were injured after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the east coast of Taiwan on Wednesday. Rescuers are racing to locate more people who are trapped after the earthquake and its aftershocks damaged buildings and caused landslides. According to The Washington Post, the earthquake was the largest to hit the island in 25 years.
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.
Barbera was deployed by USAID to Taiwan’s bigger earthquake in 1999, and says they are one of the best EQ-prepared countries in the world.
If you would like to speak with Prof. Barbera, please contact GW Senior Media Relations Specialist Cate Douglass at [email protected].
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