Time For A Prayer

It is complete and utter destruction.

the worst earthquake in the history of japan since the government officially began keeping records in the meiji era, the earthquake that took place off the eastern seacoast of miyagi prefecture in northern japan yesterday afternoon has wreaked extensive and debilitating damage on many parts of the country.

just looking at the news footage on tv is painful.
entire towns submerged
cars and huge fishing trawlers swept up against buildings
houses floating away on an ocean of mud and water
people stranded on the rooftop of hospitals and schools waiting for help
nuclear energy facilities in danger of implosion
burning petroleum tanks and refineries
a car with its headlights on and horns blaring, washed away into the sea
thousands encamped in central tokyo due to a transportation deadlock
hundreds and thousands of households left without electricity and water

there was footage of an old lady clasping her hands to her mouth as she watched her town being flushed away by the tsunami. another woman crying out for help from under the debris of a demolished house. one young woman crying out her son's name to a search-and-rescue team. a man walking distractedly through a street that had been laid to waste by the disaster.

it is damage of an extent not entirely and immediately comprehensible to people. it seems almost unfair that we have been spared the catastrophy and given the privilege of watching the terror unfold across from a television screen.

people who have experienced an earthquake will tell you that it is not something that you can ever learn to get used to. the earth starts to rattle and there are ungodly rumbling and creaking sounds that come from below you, almost like the voice of the earth groaning. your apartment building shakes from side to side, and things start to fall. you are paralysed with fear and you can't even move, let alone remember to evacuate.

it's a terrible cliche, but again i am thankful that the kinds of disasters that we have to endure in singapore are limited to man-made flash floods triggered by a questionable barrage. it makes you grateful that we never have to worry about our physical safety being threatened by natural calamities.

there really is so much to be thankful for.