Slideshow: Arendt responds quickly for New Zealand quake research

Prof. Lucy Arendt of Business Administration was dispatched as part of a six-member interdisciplinary team to quickly gather data on disaster response and aftermath when a magnitude-7.1 earthquake rocked the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, on Sept. 4. The team was sent as part of the Learning from Earthquakes initiative funded by the National Science Foundation. Arendt and others met with small business owners and homeowners to learn how they were dealing with the quake’s aftermath. Of special interest: though the New Zealand had a higher Richter scale rating than the deadly quake in Haiti, there were no fatalities, mostly due to differences in geology and construction practices. Also, Arendt focused on small business recovery and found that even those suffering little or no damage could be hamstrung by supply disruptions, or by blanket government warnings directing citizens to stay home, even in areas relatively unaffected by the quake. For a fascinating photo gallery, click here.