Tsunami terror
Yet, remarkably, the number of casualties appear to be mercifully small, given the magnitude of the earthquake and the number of people who were living within the vicinity of the epicentre. Of course, this is no comfort to those grieving loved ones and those families made homeless, but the tragedy could have been on a far greater scale.
What this shows, however, is the effectiveness of early warning systems. Though not deployed in Japan for more than 15 years, their activation allowed families in the path of the sea surge to move to safety – an escape to freedom denied to so many when Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia were submerged by the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThough the world is powerless to stop natural phenomenon, it can take steps to mitigate the
impact of natural disasters – a point that needs remembering as Chile prepares to rebuild the stricken areas, and as global leaders ponder how to help Haiti, one of the world's poorest countries, emerge from the rubble.