Last night, we had our first tsunami threat while living in Chennai...OK, I guess it was our first tsunami threat ever. In case you missed it, a pretty strong earthquake occurred down by Indonesia.
Now being from the Midwest of the U.S., I'm use to thunderstorm, tornado, and winter watches/warnings and know what to do in these situations. But, what exactly are we suppose to do with a tsunami watch? Well, luckily our company has a lot of locals who know how to find out just how serious the threat is to us. I guess if it would have been serious enough we would have evacuated our house (although at the time of this watch, S and I were in the middle of the city anyway, so no worries for us about having to evacuate this time). Most of the expats who work for our company live along the coast here in Chennai. Some of them have houses right on the beach...our house is inland probably about a half mile or so. I guess this tsunami watch was more to just stay off of the beaches than being a severe warning that an actual tsunami was expected to hit and cause extensive damage. It didn't last very long until they determined that there wasn't going to be a tsunami.
Anyway, the effects of the 2004 tsunami can still be felt here in Chennai. Some of our friends are living in houses that were flooded by the tsunami. I guess S has had the conversation with our driver about what happened during the 2004 tsunami. S said that our driver started to get all choked up talking about it as he knew a lot of people who lost their lives. While walking on the beach this weekend, we went by a local fishing village. There are a lot of new boats with the year 2005 painted on the side and the name of a business or organization that donated the boat to help the local fishermen out after the tsunami washed what little they owned away.
This morning, we woke up to find out that yet another major earthquake had occurred by Indonesia again early this morning. Since it was so strong, they are not thinking that it is just an aftershock from the one last night. There were more tsunami watches that were issued, but this time not for India. Since yesterday, there have been four major earthquake by Indonesia. Something tells me that the earthquake gods are not happy right now with Indonesia.
I don't lose sleep at night worrying about whether or not another tsunami is going to hit Chennai. It's just part of life here...just like tornadoes are part of life in Illinois (and I've been through some tornadoes)...or like hurricanes are part of life in Florida, Texas, the Carolinas, and the Caribbean. No matter where I live in the world there will always be some weather related challenge to incur...with some I will know what to do and with others, I'll have no clue. Be aware though. With that being said, I guess I should be reading up on tsunamis.
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We were freaked out too. Not so much for us, but for the people who sleep on the beaches, or have houses close to the water. I've lived in NC and IL. The good thing about tornadoes or hurricanes in the US, it's usually communicated in some way to expect it. Here, we have to sit tight and wonder. There's no way of knowing for sure until it hits. That's the scary part!
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