Nuala
Hell's Finest Daughter
- 15 Jul 2004
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- #26
Whirlpool off of Oari City, Ibaraki Prefecture. The death toll has gone beyond 300 now, and more than 500 people have been reported missing. Let's hope that those missing people are found alive!
On a more personal note in regards to this disaster: I'm probably not going to be sleeping until later tonight. Japan is a great country and I've spent many years interested and intrigued by it. The devastation caused by the earthquake and ensuing tsunami has torn me up. It's my hope that the death toll doesn't get much higher, although the probability of that being the case seems slim as search & rescue teams get to the areas heavily affected by it. And yet, no matter how badly all of this seems, it pales in comparison to the devastation caused by the Haiti earthquake, and the Indian Ocean tsunami/earthquake in 2004. Those are the perfect example of why the Japanese government has been incredibly smart to prepare for such a disaster. The fact that the earthquake occurred 80 miles off the northeastern coast of Japan was a massive amount of luck. I shudder to think of the damage that could have been caused had it occurred closer to a major metropolitan area such as Tokyo. I am incredibly relieved that it wasn't the case, and yet my heart is swollen with sadness for those who have lost their homes, businesses, friends, family, or their own lives.
Please hope for the best, everyone. Everyone needs to realize what a massive amount of energy is released with a 8.9 magnitude earthquake. No matter how horrible it turns out to be as the day goes on, it could have been so much worse had the Japanese people not taken the measures it had to ensure minimal loss of human life. From earthquake drills to the measures taken in regards to building stability in such events, it's all helped minimize the loss of life today.
Damage after an earthquake in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture. A house used to stand behind where the man is.