Japan Earthquake 2011

It was a scene straight from a disaster movie. A massive tsunami strikes and engulfs a city. It washes everything in its path, cars, farmhouses, silos and even trucks. Only this one is for real. 

Japan was struck by a powerful earthquake earlier today, measuring at 8.9 magnitude.  It caused heavy damages in the cities affected.  It also triggered a massive 10 meter tsunami that brought even more damage to the country's coastline.

So powerful was the tsunami that it sent thousands of people across the Pacific Rim to evacuate.  Here in the Philippines, a tsunami alert warning was issued minutes after the quake struck.  Residents along the coastline of the North Luzon region were asked to go to higher grounds.  Concerns were also raised for loved ones who are living in areas in the Pacific.  I have a sister in Hawaii where a tsunami warning was also declared.  

Thankfully, the waves that reached our shores were not even a meter high so there were no damages reported in those areas.

But the images we see online were scary and troubling.  It's proof that when it comes to natural disasters, there's little, or nothing, that we can do.  It also brought up the question on how well our government is prepared to address such calamities.

We cannot predict when it will be our turn to get hit by an earthquake that's a massive as the one that hit Japan.  The last real devastating tremor we had was 20 years ago.  Since we share the same area with Japan, it really pays that we all should be alert at all times.  

Warning: Earthquake Coming this July!

I haven't received it yet but there's so much buzz about an email circulating in Philippine cyberspace about a prediction of a very strong earthquake that allegedly, will hit our country on July 18. The "prophecy" says that it is so strong, 8.1 in the Richter scale, it will level Metro Manila and will bring about tsunamis in various parts of our islands.

It must have been so widespread because last Sunday, we had a jolt and the Philippine Volcanology and Seismology Institute had to advise the public that the 5.4 earthquake has nothing to do with the prophecy.

What really troubles me about this whole episode is not the prophecy itself but that people actually believed it. Wasn't it only three years ago when a similar prophecy was allegedly made by a visionary nun? Everybody was so concerned that our boss even sent us home early to be with love ones in case the tremblor actually struck.

When will people learn that nobody could know when an earthquake will hit. Not even science, with all the strides it has made, could tell us when the ground beneath us will shake.

Interestingly enough, there's a group of people who believe that one can actually know when an earthquake is imminent by looking at clouds. They say that clouds will take a different pattern before the ground starts shaking. These clouds were there, according to them, before the great quake in China but nobody took notice.

So should we start looking skywards more often from now on? If everybody does that, I think the chances of getting killed looking at clouds will be greater than dying in an earthquake. Why? Because one might get hit by a car or slam on a wall while looking for earthquake clouds!