I had a full day yesterday; normally I check out my kitchen and snack a bit after I get home from work, usually around 11:30 PM. But last night I skipped stuffing my mouth with food and promptly passed out moments after slipping into my recliner. About 1:30, my son, who is on spring break from college, came into the room and woke me up, telling me that there was a breaking news story that I might be interested in. I know that Will was, as he had just spent some time last summer traveling through Japan and is learning the Japanese language.
The massive, 8.9 level earthquake just off the east coast of northern Honshu island, occurring at around 1 AM EST, was devastating enough for those immediately affected. But although there sadly were casualties and much damage from this disaster, it would have been much worse had this nation not prepared for earthquake contingencies through strict building codes, civil engineering, and disaster preparation. Quite a contrast to countries like Haiti or Pakistan!
This is obviously going to be a headline-grabbing news story for some time to come, even after the last tsunami threat from this earthquake to Hawaii and the U.S. west coast has been long forgotten. It will be interesting to see how Japanese society works together to recover. Maybe some of those other countries should be taking notes (as well as the United States with its Katrina debacle)!
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That's a great point of comparison: see how the Japanese do compared to us during Katrina.
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