Devastating Earthquake, Tsunami Hits Japan

The horribleness of 2006 is happening again. This time, a 8.9 quake hit Japan and triggered a 10 meter tsunami in the Pacific Basin. Tsunami alerts have been raised all the way to San Francisco and Chile as people sit glued to their TV screen, watching Mother Nature plow through buildings, houses, cars, boats and of course people with all her might.
We had our usual operations meeting until 630pm. The quake had happened around 2.30pm local time so after the meeting, all of us huddled in front of the office TV, in awe of what was happening in Japan. Cars looked like small Match.Box toys as they were being swept away by the waves. Building looked like they were made out of cardboard. Big boats were helplessly thrown over by the huge waves. Last I heard, one of the nuclear reactors was in jeopardy because its cooling system was not working.
Japan is known for their earthquakes and I'm pretty sure the destruction due to the earthquake would have been much more devastating if they had not been prepared for such catastrophe. But the tsunami...there's just nothing any country can do to prevent that. How do you protect yourself from waves that are 6-10 meters high and are moving at the speed of a bullet train?
Let's all pray for the people of Japan and help as much as we can. The easiest way would be to donate money to either the Red Cross or Mercy Malaysia.

*images courtesy from Reuters