What a coincidence: I've just plowed through Amanda Ripley's book "The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why". I have just skimmed the abstract, but it seems to be conveying exactly the same message: People in general are calm and civilized in face of disaster. If anything, they are TOO calm - and will need leadership to snap out of the "denial" phase and into the "action" phase.

Mass panic does happen - but it is rare, and occurs only under a very limited set of circumstances.

Martin: I'll read this with great interest. And for anyone interested in this topic I can highly recomend Amanda Ripley's book.