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The immense tragedy suffered by
hundreds of thousands, if not millions
of people in consequence of the tsunami: death and injury of family and
friends... loss of homes, workplaces, and farmland... effects that will
linger for decades if not generations, cannot and should not be
minimized, and both immediate 'disaster relief' and long-term
international aid with recovery are urgently needed ...
but ... the even greater tragedy
is that almost
all of the deaths were preventable.
There is an
interconnected global system that monitors
earthquakes ... an enormous tsunami was an inevitable, predictable
certainty of an earthquake of that magnitude, shifting the earth's
crust upward into the ocean ... something as simple as
an emergency radio broadcast warning people to get to high ground would
have saved tens of thousands of peoples' lives.
The 'developed'
countries, particularly those on the Pacific, have
'tsunami plans' in place
... so why weren't the people devastated by the tsunami given adequate
warning?
There will be a 'next time': not only because
earthquakes are a
'fact of life-and-death' on this geologically active planet, but also
because global warming is shifting the weight distribution on the
planet's crust as the polar ice caps melt and earthquakes of increasing
intensity and frequency are a to-be-expected consequence ... as
well as higher water levels increasing the 'inland' extent of tsunami
destruction.
So - next time,
whenever it comes, and it will inevitably come:
is there going to be a near-instantaneous response to detection of a
high-magnitude earthquake, all-channel emergency broadcasts warnining
people to get to high ground, and well-informed people ... or, will the
recent - needless - tragedy and death be repeated? |
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