The world around us is complaining and the world is shaking . Japan was hit today with a powerful earthquake that reached magnitude 8.9 on the Richter scale, and a major tsunami , a wall of water reaching heights of 30 ft. raced inland, causing unbelievable damage.
To keep the severity of this earthquake in perspective, many of the dozens of aftershocks were recorded at magnitude 6.0, stronger than many individual earthquakes on record.
The earthquake, one of the largest ever recorded, caused the tsunami which affected over 2,000 km. of coastline, washing away homes, trees, vehicles and people. At this date, hundreds of people have been killed, with as many missing.
At Incoming Bytes our hearts and prayers go out to the families of those lost in this terrible tragedy.
lunar cycles and position in relation to planets has affected the magnetic pull of seas and fragile tectonic areas.
ReplyDeletethere will be long term suffering due to this strong a quake..vanatua and fiji must have felt the effect rather soon. hawaii later, and all micronesia at all sea rises...
so many affected..
Our existence on this earth seems more tenuous every time we see another natural occurrence like this, doesn't it...
ReplyDeleteI was out at sea on the night of Dec 25th, 2004 - when the Tsunami hit the Indian Ocean. My kids were on the island with my mom and grandmom, our house being just a hundred meters from the coast line. Nothing happened around us until our boat reached the land, but a little later, about 1 km radius away from our place, the sea just entered in and toppled over a giantwheel (X-mas-new year fair) , and washed out to sea a whole line of bikes (bike racers') houses and some light vehicles. It is a miracle that at our side of the island, the waters miraculously stayed calm.
ReplyDeleteMandy! You were SO fortunate, that WAS a terrible tragedy. I believe there are miracles every day; that you and your family survived 2004 was certainly one of them.
ReplyDeleteSadly, it seems the damage and death toll in Japan may be much worse than initially reported, much like what happened in the 2004 Tsunami.
It is very heartbreaking to watch the news. I am reminded of the evacuation measures that took place at my island Vypeen; how my grandmother who couldn't walk refused to be moved from home to a higher building. She weighed close to 220 pounds. And so my mom stayed back with her and grand-dad in the single floor, tiled-roof house. We had heard stories of how the tiles of houses went flying around with the stormy winds that accompanied the raging tide. The metal sheeting of roofs and water tanks were seen flying around too, dangerously. We could only hope and pray for their safety. It was only much later that we could get the car across to the island to evacuate Nana, Gramps and Mom from there. Further down the island - the scenes were horrific. Mourning... loss, homes in water, pots and pans, and food floating all over the place. And majority being fishing folk, had loved ones out at sea - fishing.
ReplyDeleteMandy, thank you so much for relaying that difficult story as a survivor of the 2004 tsunami. Thank God your family was spared. Most people including myself can only imagine such devastation; your description of a scenario actually experienced helps bring better awareness of the horrific situation and difficulties developing in Japan. Thank you again.
ReplyDeleteRaymond, thank you for giving me a chance to share this. What we experienced was absolutely nothing compared to what the actual victims of the tsunami suffered. We were on the west coast of India, while the east suffered much. The death toll was high.
ReplyDeleteJapan needs our prayers our support and us. It is most unfortunate that they have to suffer so much. I cannot place anyone I know who could probably be living in Japan, but I am shocked at the magnitude of the devastation. My cousin lives in Indonesia and he says that they've been experiencing a couple of earthquakes measuring around 6.6 on the scale. He lives at an elevation; but at unfortunate times there's no escaping earthquakes, even if the sea doesn't reach you.
Mandy, thank you again for sharing. Indeed, our prayers and thoughts should be going out to Japan; we never know where tragedy will strike next --as has been so clearly demonstrated.
ReplyDeleteAmanda....I remember these times of A.Pearl....this was not long after her visit to Mumbai...soon after her health went crumbling...I was fortunate to have some one to one time with her....I know for sure I had a place in her heart.
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