Impact of Disasters in Higher Education

Abstract

The chapter presents the results of the impact of the two 2017 earthquakes that occurred in Mexico City and the hurricane Otis that hit Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico. Moreover, the perception of fear of buildings collapsing during the occurrence of the two earthquakes. The case study was centered on university students of the affected cities. The main conclusions were the following: a) Overall, there is a lack of studies or reports on the extent of the impacts caused by disasters in higher educational systems in Mexico. University students are affected by the interruption of their studies and this issue has not been addressed explicitly on how to deal with it. b) The disasters covered in the chapter suggest that university students (and lecturers) exhibited prosocial behavior not only those in the affected areas but also students nationwide. c) Disasters trigger disruption to critical infrastructures such as the water supply systems, energy sector, transportation, communications systems, and d) university students exhibited fear of building collapsing during the 2017 earthquakes.