Earthquakes...Tsunamis...What Else??

Since arriving here in September 2010, we’ve experienced countless earthquakes – some just a short “jiggle”…some short but yet intense….some like a roller coaster…and some that were downright scary. Friday evening, March 11, we had a tsunami warning as a result of the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Peace Corps staff members were alerting everybody to get to higher ground. Many volunteers were in Port Vila for training and were staying at a hotel very close to the sea front. As a result, they were evacuated to higher ground. In fact, two of my friends came and spent the night with me. The tsunami warning was in effect from Friday evening at about 9 pm until about 4:30 Saturday morning.

Since then we’ve experienced two earthquakes in one day…the second of which prompted this text message from a fellow volunteer on a neighboring island: “Holy Shit!!. Although we’ve had some measuring in excess of 7.0 on the Richter scale, both of the most recent ones were in the 6.5 or 6.3 range…kind of blasé in the grand scheme of things. But on the heels of the horrific earthquake and tsunami in Japan, it was a bit unnerving to say the least. Although no Volunteers have television service here, some of us do have periodic access to the internet and are able to see the devastation. I think we’ve begun to realize just how serious this could become and thank our lucky stars that so far we haven’t seen anything to equate to the tragic results of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Most of you who know me also realize that I am a proponent of nuclear energy. I’ve been keeping a close watch on that situation as well and have been watching in disbelief with the issues that they are grappling with at the nuclear facilities there. Despite the fact that they had safety redundancies in place, Mother Nature seemed to have crafted the “perfect storm” which even negated some of those safety nets that should have been adequate. I am hoping and praying that the worldwide experts who are converging on Japan can work together to get things under control and minimize any effects to the environment and human health. Unfortunately, I believe this could seriously jeopardize the future of nuclear power throughout the world…particularly the United States. All of this just when the “N” (nuclear) word was actually said out loud by our President.

So, the rest of the story is still unwritten. I can only say with the deepest respect and sorrow that I hope God is with the people of Japan…I hope that the effects from the nuclear situation is minimal…and I pray that their families and nation will recover from this unthinkable event. It will likely have ramifications for generations to come…in so many ways.