I was interested to read the Deseret Morning News profile of the damages and response to the Great Earthquake in San Francisco in 1906. The article correctly noted that a domino effect can take place, with one crisis spawning another. The initial earthquakes caused damage, which started fires, which led to multiplying the death toll.
Today, our country faces many challenges, including terrorism, bird flu and immigration. Our officials need to learn a lesson from the 1906 earthquake and be prepared for that domino effect. All three of those issues could lead to food shortages. Adequate crisis preparedness is not so much the response to the initial threat but the response to those secondary crises.
James A. Marples
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