First, it was the Yogyakarta 6.3 on the Richter scale earthquake last Saturday, where it is reported that the official death toll till yesterday stands at 5,846 people.
Then yesterday, as I was resting at home after the 5-hour drive from Kedah to KL, a landslide hit Kampung Pasir which is just a kilometre or so away from my home. So far, news reports state that two people are found dead while 2 children are still missing.
Before I rant any further, let us first offer our condolences to the victims. For those of us who are Muslims, let us recite the Umm al-Kitab.
Al-Fatihah.
It goes without saying that what happened really is nerve-wrecking. For someone who doesn't go through these ordeals, these earthquaking and landsliding matters are already scary. I can't imagine what it's like for those who have to go through these.
In one of my earlier posts touching on earthquakes, I already stressed on the need for us to really prepare ourselves. Are we ready when an earthquake hits? Are we sure that our rescue protocols are in order? Are we confident that an earthquake will not hit Malaysia?
While it is true that Malaysia lies just outside the Pacific Rim notorious for its volcanic and tectonic activities, we're actually not immune to earthquakes. The earthquake may occur thousands of kilometres away, but we can still be affected by the tremor. Just to highlight this concern, take a look at the risk areas in Southeast Asia should an earthquake hit (right). The blue areas are areas of the highest risk, and you can see that we're living in a high-risk area. The map is scanned from the National Geographic magazine.
As for landslides, I don't know what else to say. I was in the UK when the Highland Towers tragedy struck. I can still remember vividly how it made British headline news. My housemates and I watched in disbelief that something like that could have happened. And apparently, it keeps on happening, again and again and again... in the same area.
Looks like our people just don't learn.
3 comments:
no body will learn anything until the quake or slide hit the "big guy". we...the "small guy" are nothing to them.
manusia masih belum nampak agaknya kekuasaan Allah...
semoga Allah melindungi hambaNYa yang sentiasa bertakwa dan sujud kepada kekuasaannya. Semoga tidak di timpa bencana dan boleh terus sujud kepadaNya dengan aman.
actually.. earthquate can happened anywhere in the world.. althou we are out of tectonic plate site.. but still, we are at risk since things can occur anytime..
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