Imagine the devastation in The Bahamas if Hurricane Dorian had triggered an earthquake to boot. Tragically, that’s the double whammy Japan is coping with today.
Seven million people have been told to evacuate in Japan as a typhoon [Hagibis] forecast to be the nation’s most powerful in six decades made landfall on Honshu island. …
At least two landslides have already been confirmed across Japan, with a man in his sixties killed in Gunma north of Tokyo.
By early evening, tens of thousands were in shelters and receiving emergency rations and blankets, though a 5.7-magnitude quake that rattled the Tokyo area did little to calm nerves.
(Daily Mail, October 12, 2019)
This might not seem as apocalyptic as the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. After all, that double whammy triggered the infamous Fukushima nuclear meltdown. But the devastation afoot could be much worse.
The Bahamian government faced the daunting task of evacuating 70,000 people from harm’s way. The Japanese government is trying to evacuate 7.3 million.
Granted, unlike The Bahamas, Japan has the land mass and resources not only to execute this evacuation but also to recover and rebuild. No doubt this is why Japan is receiving relatively little international media coverage, and even less outpouring of support.
Only two people have been reported killed. But that toll is bound to rise, not least because many are reported missing.
In any event, my prayers and thoughts go out to all those affected.
Related commentaries:
Hurricane Dorian…
Fukushima…