Simon Simoudis Personal Reflection: Riding the Wave of Awareness

Luckily for us Australians, we don't live in an earthquake-prone region. But our neighbours in New Zealand aren't as fortunate. I, Simon Simoudis, live in Australia, and while we've experienced a few tsunamis in recent times, they haven't been severe, nothing like the ones witnessed in Japan or other countries. 

This earthquake that hit the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia is the 6th most severe ever. Luckily, there aren’t any reported casualties, although its severity was 8.8, which is considered massive. It happened in a remote part of Russia, and hence the damage was limited.

Lots of life could have been lost had there been cities within even hundreds of miles. Saw the videos from the town most impacted, which was near the epicenter of the earthquake; the scenes made me shudder. The houses shook like they were toys. 

When an earthquake of such magnitude strikes close to the ocean, there are very high chances of a massive tsunami. And I, Simon Simoudis, though living in an area marked as safe from this tsunami, can’t help but think of millions whose lives are going to be chaotic in the days to come. And not just me, the whole world today is engrossed in keeping itself updated about the progress of the killer waves.

As expected, soon after the earthquake struck, warnings were issued in all the countries facing the Pacific. The countries that were most likely to be impacted the most were Japan, of course, some parts of Russia, Alaska, Hawaii, New Zealand, and countries as far as Chile.

Saw the alert issued by the governor of Hawaii, one of the first states expected to experience the impact. It was heartening to see their preparedness. When you get a warning well in advance, you get enough time to evacuate people living close to the sea, and deaths are minimised. 

When I, Simon Simoudis, think of the massive tsunami of Japan in 2011, it makes me wince. There had been so much devastation and loss of life. Japan is still paying the price for the damage to its nuclear facilities. They are a threat not just for Japan but also an environmental threat for the world, especially the Pacific Ocean.

They have moved on since then. Have made their infrastructure more resilient to earthquakes and tsunamis. Their preparedness for any such event is top-class. I admire the Japanese for how fast they adapt.

The one thing that stood out, in my view, this time was the level of awareness,  the prompt alerts, and the swift action by all the governments of all the concerned countries to avert any damage.

The good news is that the high alerts for tsunamis have been lifted from all the countries. Although they will remain vigilant in the coming days because the scientists are predicting aftershocks, which could trigger a tsunami.

I, Simon Simoudis, am really happy that such a calamity occurred, but because of our preparedness, there wasn’t a single loss of life.