Disaster Recovery Journal

As anyone who monitors news sources knows, British Petroleum (BP) has taken a beating in the media since the April 20^th explosion that led to eleven deaths and hundreds of millions of gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico.  While the latest effort to cap the well appears effective, the perception associated with BP's reactive "by the seat of our pants" response effort failed to restore feelings of goodwill and faith, which will most likely lead to a continuation of boycotts, lawsuits and market-share loss. 

Lisbon Earthquake, 1755.
A number of deadly historical events inspired Voltaire to write Candide, most notably the Seven Years War and the 1755 Earthquake.  He used his novel Candide to influence thinking about disasters, leading to the birth of seismology.  Geologists today estimate the Lisbon earthquake approached magnitude 9 on the Moment magnitude scale, with an epicenter in the Atlantic Ocean about 200 km (120 mi) west-southwest of Cape St. Vincent.

"Voltaire turned this into a modern moral imperative. A civilization worthy of its name should pay special heed to disasters, learn from the mistakes they revealed, and harness intelligence, science and sympathy to make a more secure world. This was the project of modernity."  (Kevin Rozario, Author of "The Culture of Calamity: Disaster and the making of Modern America").