Disaster aftermath

There was a terrific article in late March in the Financial Times by their Asian Managing Editor, David Pilling, entitled "Japan: the aftermath". In there he provided detailed personal on-site observations of this historical disaster. I was particularly impressed with this reporting:

When I talk to people, many of them fishermen, they scoff at reports that the tsunami was 10m tall. No, they say, this one was at least 20m, perhaps 23 or even 24. One man swears it must have been 30. However high it was, it crashed in like a wild beast, breaching the once-formidable tsunami-defence wall, parts of which now lay toppled on the ground. The water picked up houses and boats and cars and people. It then sucked back before lunging at the town again, the debris in its churning waters now transformed into lethal weapons that smashed through walls and metal and teeth and bones.

The tsunami that attacked Ofunato was the terrible progeny of a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, the fourth largest in recorded history, which struck some 70 miles off Japan’s Tohoku coast at 2.46pm on March 11. When the tsunami started its life out at sea, reports said, it was travelling at 500 miles an hour, the speed of an aircraft. As it approached the shoreline, it slowed, first to the speed of a bullet train, then to that of a car and finally to that of an athlete. Still, for those who had not managed to flee to higher ground, its progress was unstoppable and its vengeance was swift.

I can only attempt to describe the devastation it left behind. . . .

And he certainly did an absolutely superb job in describing them masterfully. Please read his original article: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/d7fac1ca-55b9-11e0a00c-00144feab49a.html#ixzz1JQ4WWhgn. It is definitely well worth the time!

Today The Sun published a terrifying video that shows the vivid terror of tsunami attack, that of "the water picked up houses and boats and cars and people, . . ."



Against the onslaught of tsunami forces, the human creature just seemed totally helpless, hapless, and hopeless! As we earnestly pray for the people victimized by this disaster, we can not help but sincerely thank Almighty God for keeping us away from the disasters. Hope the human ingenuity can be successful in making accurate and efficient predictions someday to minimize theses human tragic happenings !