Be careful of re-inforcing the non-factual Hollywood scenario of disaster movies. In real disaster situations, most people are rescued by other survivors rather than Emergency Services. It appears that this event was the worst case of “no clear threat but no clear mitigating response either,” combined with vacillating authority figures. It seems more a case of frustration with uncertainty than abandonment of social order. There is much to learn from this.

There are plenty of good people out there. It’s just harder to find them when everyone is scared. I’m sure there are stories of triumph and heroism associated with our earthquake. I hope I hear some soon.

Thank god there are still good people around too. There are, aren’t there?

“Not because of the damage it did, but because of how people reacted.” Exactly. It wasn’t the event but the people who frightened me, how quickly they ignored society’s rules, how easily they descended to violence and hostility.

Fair play to you for helping those two women.