Lessons from the quake

Lessons from the quake

Lessons can be learnt from the strong earthquake which hit
Jakarta Monday. The disaster left neither casualties nor serious
construction damage but people -- who are always appreciative of
such an outcome in any calamity -- were quick to express their
gratitude to God.

The following day the topic on everyone's lips was their
feeling of panic after the quake which registered 6.0 on the
Richter scale -- a rare and electrifying experience.

But people's reaction did not stop there. As people of this
spectacular planet we should ponder what wisdom can be learnt
from such a calamity. Although the capital has never been rocked
by a killer quake -- unlike some provinces -- nobody could
guarantee that such a disaster would ever strike the city on a
more disastrous magnitude.

Even scientists have not been able to protect us from the
powerful forces of nature, much less predict such an event. This
natural phenomenon is still entirely the prerogative of the
Almighty.

But fortunately God is compassionate and merciful. He not only
reminds us how limited our will and power are in facing the
forces of nature, but he has given us the ability to cope with
such calamities. The fact that we were safe and sound Monday does
not mean that we should sit still and do nothing, the habitual
inaction which has been part of our tradition in taking things
for granted.

In recent cases of fire gutting high-rise buildings, we have
shown our unpreparedness for disaster. We rarely conduct
exercises or educate people on how to respond to such disasters.
It is important that if a fire guts a high-rise building, we have
the knowledge and expertise to deal with it and thereby save
lives.

It is our lack of knowledge regarding disasters which is
dangerous. Panic is heightened if people are not aware of how to
react in a disaster and eventually people's ignorance will lead
to a repulsive tendency to hide the results of our carelessness.
The lack of professional ethics among officials in preparing
people for disaster is nothing but a naked truth and one day the
people will pay a high price for this.

Although earlier reports said no buildings had been seriously
damaged by Monday's earthquake, serious investigation should be
conducted to uncover the real impact of the disaster. Our
buildings should also be evaluated to assess whether they have
been constructed on the basis of a special design to withstand --
or at least minimize the damage of -- a more devastating
earthquake.

This is no trivial job and the city administration needs to
take stern measures against those who are reluctant to cooperate
in such efforts.

We should take Monday's panic as the last warning because an
earthquake cannot be predicted. If we cannot learn from our own
experiences, we can learn from others who have suffered greatly
from calamitous seismic activity.