The uncontrollable power of nature and our feeble efforts to defy that power have been clearly demonstrated through the March 11 Tsunami in Japan. It is a force that is incredible, unrepentant, and really so simple to comprehend when we consider our experiences in water. These 2 videos and one slide shot have impressed this in my mind in an unforgettable way.
Is this interest in this disaster simply voyeurism or is there a real purpose. I believe humankind has been designed to watch and understand disaster as a survival mechanism. There are lessons we learn and pass on to our families and communities from such disasters. See the common need for hospitals, fire departments, and even the need for airbags in your car and the desire for better football helmets for kids. We want to survive, and we learn to survive from others mistakes.
In the case of a disaster like this tsunami it is difficult to plan or prepare in every way for prevention. We all take risks everyday and some people have chosen to live in susceptible locations for it allows survival today or the risk is so obscure or distant that they can rationalize away or forget the danger. We don't worry about that meteor strike and often use it as an example of a unforeseeable event with an nearly infinitely remote change of occurrence but at the same time most of us know that meteor strikes have resulting in the most devastating changes to life on earth in it's history.
So I say: look, learn, remember, and wonder in the power tied to the laws of physics and their influence on our world.
Tsunami pushes inland
Tsunami destroys city
Town washes away
The before and aftermath
Use the slider bar (middle blue spot) to move back and forth for before and after.
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