The Japanese earthquake

[Tonysmedley]

The Japanese earthquake is a powerful reminder of the incredible power of nature to cause disasters to human life.
Japan is perhaps the country best prepared to withstand this sort of event and it does seem that the destruction of buildings and consequent loss of life so common elsewhere has been greatly minimised.
We can offer our sympathy to all those affected, but sadly there is little that we can do to help them. And of course the effect on the many small Pacific islands which will be affected by the tsunamis may be even more devastating as they have neither the preparedness nor the money to deal with such catastrophes.

Tony

[douglee]

Hi All,
Basically the Earth is not Fit For Purpose. It should be returned to the maker.........

If there is any consolation as Tony says Japan is prepared and has the recources to cope.

However what we are seeing is how the world will end. Each and every natural event overlapping the recovery from the last one.
Floods India, Austrailia. Earthquakes New Zealand, now off Japan. Eventually it will become uninhabitable. I wonder how long we have got?

Doug

[CaptainBazza]

We were lucky, here in NZ, to escape damage from the tsunami effects. The news video feeds were most harrowing and distressing to watch. I only found out by accident when I changed over to a news channel about one and a half hours after the major event. During the Christchurch quake, and now the Japan quake, the power of the internet has shone brightly. Our sympathy goes out to the families caught up in the disaster and to the people of Japan.

Cheers Bazza

[stephenholmes]

I agree entirely Barry
My sympathy too goes to those affected
Kind regards Stephen

[Tonysmedley]

In the event of any comparable major disaster in the UK it is doubtful whether we could find anything like the number of helicopters and military personnel involved in the Japanese rescue efforts.

Tony

[gswindale]

With respect Tony; part of the reason why Japan has so many resources available to deal with this type of disaster is down to their location and the fact that the islands are extremely susceptible to earthquakes etc. The UK is not and so would not require the same type of disaster management resources.

We are somewhat lucky in our location that we are a reasonable distance away from any major fault lines or other breaks in the earth's surface. Therefore any major disaster to hit the UK is likely to be caused by mankind rather than by natural causes.

[Tonysmedley]

There was a major disaster exercise at Sutton-on-Sea last week. There are still memories of the 1953 floods which led to the loss of many lives.
Where we live we are below sea level at Spring high tides and possible natural disaster is not too far away!

Tony

[CaptainBazza]

And no one knows for sure, the state of the cargo of WW2 munitions left aboard the wreck of the 1940s Liberty ship, Richard Montgomery, lying a short distance off the Kentish coast.

Cheers Bazza

The Richard Montgomery story:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Richard_Montgomery

[g0fthick]

Floods India, Austrailia. Earthquakes New Zealand, now off Japan. Eventually it will become uninhabitable. I wonder how long we have got?

Doug

The glass is half empty then?

My thoughts are with those suffering under conditions I couldn't possibly comprehend. I wish them the best of luck with the recovery efforts.

[CaptainBazza]

Not so gloomy, Doug, we're still above the high tide mark.

Cheers Bazza

[douglee]

Hi All,

Floods India, Austrailia. Earthquakes New Zealand, now off Japan. Eventually it will become uninhabitable. I wonder how long we have got?

Doug

The glass is half empty then?

My thoughts are with those suffering under conditions I couldn't possibly comprehend. I wish them the best of luck with the recovery efforts.

Not so gloomy, Doug, we're still above the high tide mark.

Cheers Bazza

More resignation than pessimism. Basically we have no control of any of it.
Of course I feel for the victims. The Guy found on his roof 10 miles out at sea, was considered lucky????

Yes Bazza, but where is the high tide mark now?
Most who read my posts will know I try to keep on the light hearted side of things, but it is increasingly difficult.

Doug