The South Pacific is getting hammered

The South Pacific Rim has certainly been getting a hammering over the past week. The good folks from Vanuatu, Santa Cruz and Samoa Islands in particular have been experiencing a series of earthquakes way above average. My heart goes out to the locals that have met misfortune and loss as a result of these extremely powerful and unpredictable reactions by Mother Nature.

Early this morning Tsunami Alerts were issued all along the north and east coasts of Papua New Guinea. By lunch time people around Goroka town were spreading stories about Port Morebsy  being washed away and lashing out how ol numbis lain (coastals) were being punished for their evil ways and sins. A couple of fellow bloggers from Moresby and Madang remained calm despite the mayhem that was unfolding around them.

The first news I received about cancellation of the Tsunami Alert was at 10:20am this morning via the following tweet: relieved to hear the tsunami alert for the #Pacific has been cancelled following the earthquakes off Vanuatu http://bit.ly/fi3RR.

So during lunch hour and a wander around Red Corner I was able to join in on several conversations on the subject and at the same time bring folks up to speed with latest on the topic. I find it ironic how God inevitably ends up copping the blame for natural disasters – something about feeling anger and punishing “evil” in the world.

Let me remind you that… man was created in God’s image and not the other way around!

Why am I on about this God thing?  I’m a buddhist for crying out loud!! (…and a Christian, and a Muslim, and a Hindu…). It stumps me to bits how anyone person or group can profess to have a monopoly on truth. When truth becomes institutionalised, bureaucratised and packaged, slowly but surely it loses the essence of the original teachings – this goes for all religions.

I’m digressing away from the topic! Back to earthquakes….

Below is a list (courtesy USGS – US Geological Survey) of earthquakes from the past week with a magnitude greater 5 in the South Pacific Region. Unbelievable! Note that during the time that it’s taken me to write this post – there have been four additional shocks (> 5) around Vanuatu. The magic of RSS feeds – I’m literally alerted via my newsreader of eartquakes (>5) within minutes of them happening.

PS. to see the time, location and depth of the latest quake around the globe you are welcome to visit the Resources (http://www.trupela.com/resources/) section here at Trupela Tok. Be adventurous and witness 1st hand the magic and convenience of RSS.