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The tsunami made me feel cold and ineffectual. I had read somewhere that a magnitude 9 earthquake was powerful enough to rend the earths crust - it is at the outer limits of what we understand about the energy release capacity of our planet. And this let loose undersea, in a heavily populated area. I was frankly astonished at the low death toll, and how the destruction didn't run too far inland due to the relatively small waves generated (30 - 40 feet max I believe some of the worst hit places got).
The western world is past due for a major event that will make that tsunami look like a kiddie play park. There are sea mounts in the Atlantic (the Canary Islands) and the Pacific (in Hawaii) which are splitting apart. When they drop the water displaced will generate waves in the order of a couple of hundred feet in height and these waves will wash the entire ocean basin. They will travel at several hundred miles per hour, as well. This will transform the world, because the West will be rather preoccupied for a couple of generations after the shit hits the fan.
Seeing what happens on the (relatively) small scale of the Boxing Day Tsunami just brings home yet again how precarious everything is. And that in turn means that we should try to be a little more appreciative and effective in our lives. Because tommorrow someone else will be hearing about us - and I hope that we can make enough of a positive impact to actually be missed instead of just ignored or the source of bemused wonder.
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And now to disengage the clutch of the forebrain ... 
I'm going with this - if you like artwork visit http://markfineart.ca
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