What do you make of the tsunami?

[Tonya]

This disaster just seems so unfathomable to me. I am in total shock at the devastation. It is unbelievable how so much devastation can happen in such a short time. I feel like it has to have some meaning. Like it can't possibly be just a natural disaster.

I was just wondering, does this mean anything religiously to anyone? Does anyones here have any feelings or beliefs about this disaster that they'd like to share?

[Paul]

   Throughout history earthquakes have always been deadly. On July 27, 1976 at least 255,000 were killed in Tangshan, China. In 1556, 830,000 were killed in China and over a thousand years ago in 856 about 200,000 were killed in Iran.

      Paul

[smokey the elder]

This was a very strong force of nature, consistent with how this planet is put together. (One could argue endlessly about Who wrote the specs.) I'm so sorry for all those people.

[Laura's Babies]

That was terriable and they had no warning. So many died and many left homeless. My heart goes out to all of them. They said 30,000 died on the news this morning.

[Tonya]

Originally posted by Paul
   Throughout history earthquakes have always been deadly. On July 27, 1976 at least 255,000 were killed in Tangshan, China. In 1556, 830,000 were killed in China and over a thousand years ago in 856 about 200,000 were killed in Iran.

      Paul

That is one of the big things that I was wondering. I couldn't find anything in any of the articles about past earthquakes. Thanks, Paul.

[RobiLee]

This is just awful and I don't even have any words.

Robin

[RICHARD]

To this day the Chinese government has denied that the 1976 quake ever happened.

One thing about this disaster is the way the governments and local districts, who rely heavilyy on tourist dollars, will handle the situation.

The people who base their income on those dollars are going to be impacted for YEARS.

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Being in an area where an earthquake has hit makes you humble and makes you wonder if there is a god.

Like the hurricane victims, you are reminded every day about all the things that you took for granted.

The '94 quake crushed the valley.....10 years later there are a few buildings that are still vacant.

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I have said it before. I can do without the wind and water tragedies.. In an earthquake all your stuff stays in in one pile.

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There is the story of the swimsuit model, I had never heard of her,
who spent 8 hours with a broken pelvis hanging on a palm tree.

She had planned a surprise vacation with her boyfriend who was washed away and is presumed to have drowned when the tsumani hit...

It was bad enough to live thru something like this-but to plan it as a vacation and having it turn out like that.........

I don't know here age-If we figure she's about 24- that leaves her about 50-55 years to live with that on her mind.

Is there a god? I don't know.

There is religion.

How do I know??

You can see it in the video from that area....You can see it on the people's faces......the survivors ARE asking their gods, "Why?"

[Barbara]

The Christian god cannot be understood by the human ratio. He's by definition bigger than that. (Read the Hiob story in the bible- a story that was always among the most difficult to understand for me).

Independent of that question: We have forgotten many aspects of nature as we have cars, heatings, planes, dams- we think we can dominate nature (and we do it in many ways- just look at the extinction of animals due to a lack of living space all over the world.)

But at the end of the day the destruction power in nature itself is bigger than even ours: there are rivers (we had a big flood in Germany two years ago), volcanoes (do you remember Mt St. Helens), earthquakes, tsunamis.......... and we better shouldn't forget that.

Whether it makes sense that the world is like this is something I cannot answer.

[Jadapit]

I'm with you Tonya the whole thing has been really hard for me to even fathom. My heart breaks for all the people and their familes. We were watching CNN last night and they were saying it was like a million atomic bombs going off. That blew my mind.

They showed a guy carrying the body of his 4 year old child out of the water. The child had died. It broke my heart and I just couldn't watch anymore. It sure makes you stop and think how lucky we all are and that we really have nothing to complain about you know?

I dont know how many of you watch Oprah but I guess her decorator Nate was there when it happened. They were saying he was lucky to be alive. The whole thing is just beyond sad. It just shows you how powerful nature can be.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Originally posted by Jadapit
I'm with you Tonya the whole thing has been really hard for me to even fathom. My heart breaks for all the people and their familes. We were watching CNN last night and they were saying it was like a million atomic bombs going off. That blew my mind.

They showed a guy carrying the body of his 4 year old child out of the water. The child had died. It broke my heart and I just couldn't watch anymore. It sure makes you stop and think how lucky we all are and that we really have nothing to complain about you know?

I dont know how many of you watch Oprah but I guess her decorator Nate was there when it happened. They were saying he was lucky to be alive. The whole thing is just beyond sad. It just shows you how powerful nature can be.

CNN said the quake was so powerful that it even changed the planet's rotation. We lost about 3 micro-seconds or something like that in time.

Seems to me we are lucky the entire planet didn't blow up.

I just can't imagine enduring something like those poor people are going through.

And as horrible as that is, it may just be a warm up for things to come. People need food, water, shelter, medicine, clothes...
EVERY THING!
There's a good chance there will be diseases making the survivors sick too!

[smokey the elder]

There was an article that I can't find now that said that large natural disasters often lead directly or indirectly to political changes. I hope that at least for a time countries can put aside their differences and help out.

[carole]

Incredibly sad and tragic, words cannot describe how I feel for them all, my heart goes out to each and everyone of these people, anytime something bad like this happens, I am so thankful to be where I am, but let's face it , it can happen to anyone of us anytime.

One NZ'er is Dead, a person who did a lot for the humane society there, helping animals, and 500 kiwis are missing so far.

Let us all keep these people in our thoughts and for those who pray do so for all the people who have lost loved ones, for those survivors,and for there to be no more suffering for them all.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

The Bible says that as the end of the age nears there will be wars and rumors of war, famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various places. These are just the beginning of the 'sorrows'.

Now, I realize these things have always been with us but it is a fact they are occuring more often than ever. Just look at this year alone: 4 hurricanes in Florida, earthquakes all over the world, first snow for Christmas in New Orleans in over 50 years, massive snow storms, more tornadoes in one year than ever and so on.

I think life on planet earth as we know it, is starting to wrap up.

[NoahsMommy]

Its all very, very sad. Its such a huge loss.

I don't know if its religious or not. Interesting idea, though.

[Kirsten]

I recently read a book, "Colère", by Denis Marquet. It's about our planet Earth fighting back, destroying the human species that abused her for so long.

This tsunami (and all the other natural disasters this year) remind me a lot of this book, and of what it's trying to tell us. I don't believe that natural disasters come from a higher power, I'm not a religious person. But we sure did too much damage to our planet, so I figure this may be part of some major climate changes we'll have to face (or the generations that follow us). The recent events reminds you of the bible, the Book of Revelation, though, you know, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse and such...

This is a huge tragedy, and I have no words for it. Meanwhile they say 100,000 may have lost their lives, and those who survived have lost their homes and may face diseases and illness.

Our government has asked us not to buy fire works for New Year's this year, but to donate the money instead. I think we all should help a bit now. What else can we do?

CNN said the quake was so powerful that it even changed the planet's rotation. We lost about 3 micro-seconds or something like that in time.

If that has happened, I'm afraid we will all feel the effects sooner or later in one way or another.

Kirsten