2001

Lizzie Blaisdell

January 26, 2001

Mw=7.7 earthquake in Kachchh near Bhuj, Gujarat, India kills over 20,000 people and destroys over 400,000 homes.  It got Elizabeth’s attention: why do so many people die when an earthquake happens in a developing country?  It’s not the earthquake that kills people, it’s the collapse of a poorly built building.  A man-made problem with a man-made solution.  So it started as an engineering challenge and a social justice issue: everyone deserves the right to a safe house.