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News & ArtsThursday, March 24, 2011
Panic As The Restless World Turns
Posted by Charles Mudede on Thu, Mar 24, 2011 at 8:07 AM
Bangkok dodged a bullet:
The first 7.0-magnitude quake was just six miles deep, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was followed by another of the same strength but far deeper: 140 miles.Who will be next?The quakes struck along Myanmar's borders with Thailand and Laos, about 70 miles from the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai.
Buildings swayed in Bangkok, 500 miles south of the epicenter.
2
"Who"; the fundamental personalization of the pronoun implies the philosophical bent; earthquakes strike not people, but places. One imagines that the writer's answer to the eternal question "if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" would be to consider that the tree did not even fall; there was no "who" involved, merely a "what", therefore the occurrence was of so little import as to have not happened. If an unknown French philosopher fell in a forest, would they make a sound? One imagines the philosopher toppling, gauloises in hand, unable to steady himself for the tiny cup of espresso in his other hand; struck dumb by this indignity, wordless, soundless, ultimately meaningless.
4
"Who will be next?"
Who cares? There's absolutely nothing I - a somewhat portly, middle-aged utility worker - can do about it. So I'm not going to stress. If/when we get an earthquake, about the only thing you can do is hold on and hope it's not any worse than the others we've had.
It's a good thing you don't live in tornado country, Charles. You'd be one of those people who loses his head and runs to the basement every time the thunder strikes.
(during the last earthquake, I passed the time under my desk in Pioneer Square, thinking - for some odd reason - about two Trader Vic's mugs that were on a cheesy little shelf at my house. I was sure they were goners. When I got home, they were fine.)
Who cares? There's absolutely nothing I - a somewhat portly, middle-aged utility worker - can do about it. So I'm not going to stress. If/when we get an earthquake, about the only thing you can do is hold on and hope it's not any worse than the others we've had.
It's a good thing you don't live in tornado country, Charles. You'd be one of those people who loses his head and runs to the basement every time the thunder strikes.
(during the last earthquake, I passed the time under my desk in Pioneer Square, thinking - for some odd reason - about two Trader Vic's mugs that were on a cheesy little shelf at my house. I was sure they were goners. When I got home, they were fine.)
5
There were 13 earthquakes larger than magnitude 6.0 in 2011 that occurred before the recent 9.0 in Japan. These large earthquakes are occurring at about the same rate as in previous years. Prior to the Japan quake, they were scarcely reported. Now, any time the Earth shakes, everyone gets their panties in a bunch and thinks the end is nigh.
Unless these stories are promoting disaster preparedness, they are just a bunch of media hype.
Unless these stories are promoting disaster preparedness, they are just a bunch of media hype.
6
Personally, what with my dam fetish and all, I like stories that link the earthquakes to the three gorges dam.
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