The earthquake struck again. This time in an area that I know quite
well and the place my family calls hometown. Padang, West Sumatra. I
guess we know that it was only a matter of time that a large scale quake would rock this part of the island, but then we could never be ready enough for these things. When the temblor comes, we will always react with surprise and we will never be prepared.

As the bodies are being counted, the survivors rescued, the damage
assessed, perhaps it’s still too early to ask questions and to gather the lesson. But one thing is clear. We live on very shaky grounds and it’s for us to adapt to this fact and not leave things in the hands of fate or invoke the deities to come to our aid.

Our lives, our buildings, our education, our infrastructure and our
mode of travel should take this fact into account. Why is it that some buildings barely shake while others crumble to the ground in the earthquake? Surely it’s time that basic regulations about building
constructions were enforced so that when the earth moves these
edifices do not become death traps.

Cities built in quake-prone areas should have evacuation procedures
built into the system and as part of the curriculum in schools.
Buildings with multi-floors should be regularly inspected while all
high-rises should be quakeproof for even the most severe temblors.

Perhaps we feel that major disasters are rare occurrence and will not
be repeated in a short space of time. This is wrong. It’s time we
enlighten ourselves with what is happening around the world and see
the pattern. Disasters are happening more and more and within short
spaces of time all over the world. I personally believe that global
warming is not the cause but an effect of a much bigger planetary
phenomenon as opposed to merely the results of our human activities
and industrialised world.

Most of the time we are so busy and self-absorbed with our activities
and chasing our version of success and achievement that we forget
where we actually are and who we really are. We are merely
inhabitants on this planet, much like the vermin infesting the back of
an animal. We are not the subject, but the object that are at the
mercy of a living planet following its own course and subservient to
planetary rules of the galaxy.

A shift in its position, a change in its atmosphere, a tilt on its
axis and a slight rise in its temperature can have effects on human
lives that we would describe as phenomenal whereas on a planetary
scale, barely discernible.

If the waxing and waning of the moon could affect the ebb and flow of
ocean tides and the hormonal changes in a woman’s body, imagine what an increase in the sun’s rays could do or a slight shift in our
planetary position.

Our planetary system, moving around the sun, is also constantly moving
around our galaxy The Milky Way. Sometimes we are at the edge,
sometimes further in, other times closer to the centre. To be sure
we’re talking in terms of thousands of years. But it is a relentless
cycle nevertheless. Like our earth going round the sun and the moon
circling the earth. It is as inevitable as day follows night and
nothing we can do could stop this movement.

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