Another round of Earthquakes

I felt the wind knock out of my body when I watched the 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit Chile on the 27th of February live on the news. The casualties were much less in comparison to the earthquake that hit Haiti but it still seems as though the apocalypse predictions made for 2012 will surface. First Haiti… then Japan… and now Chile… These disasters just seem so out of the blue to me.

I spent most of my childhood in Singapore and because of how it is sheltered from most of the natural disasters that afflict its neighboring countries and beyond, I actually have never experienced any earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, typhoons and whatnot in my life before till the age of 16 when I moved to Japan. It was only then where I was able to experience the mild tremors of the small quakes Tokyo gets from time to time.

I thought it was sad enough when tragedy stuck Port-au-Prince – a nation that’s already economically fragile. And even though Chile (who’s infinitely wealthier than Haiti) was better prepared for the earthquakes, I think that that difference still does not make up for the extent of the lost of lives inflicted on its people. My thoughts and prayers go out to the people in Chile and all the other countries affected by this devastation. May God be with them.

On a side note, if you are interested in helping Chile by donating – click here to see how you can do so.