Whenever we hear this word, Tsunami, many of us would recall that fateful day on 26 December 2004 where it unleashed it's fury caused by the sudden movement of Indian Australian plate tectonics near Sumatra. The effect was so catastrophic that more than 200,000 lives were lost and billions of dollars in damages were reported. Aceh was the worst hit due to it's close proximity to the epicentre and it was reduced to rubbles in a matter of seconds. It is one of the deadliest natural disaster in history.

We were lucky to be spared from the mother nature's awesome fury almost 4 years ago but are we completely safe? Are we completely immuned? Most of us Singaporeans would take things for granted as we don't experience major disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, blizzards that other countries are experiencing and it's probably due to our geographical location. Occasionally, we felt tremors from the Indonesian earthquakes but nevertheless, we should all be prepared.

What got me interested in tsunami is the article that I came across at the yahoo search engine. Below is the article that I've extracted from the yahoo search engine:

Channel NewsAsia - Sunday, September 21
SINGAPORE — Singapore is not completely immune from a tsunami and should prepare for the possibility, an expert on coastal areas warned Friday.
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The island—state can be hit by a tsunami generated from three locations and the waves could damage key coastal infrastructure without being too high, said Professor Wong Poh Poh of the National University of Singapore geography department.
"It’s not that we are totally immune. No, we are not immune," Wong said.
He was speaking at a news conference to launch a report, by the aid and development organisation World Vision, on the impact of climate change on poor people.
To cause damage, waves hitting Singapore need not be as huge as the ones that devastated Indonesia’s Aceh in December 2004, killing 168,000 people, Wong said.
Aceh was struck by a wave about 10 metres (33 feet) high.

"We don’t need 10 metres. The problem with Singapore is... we have a lot of infrastructure on the coast. All you need is a very low wave to just come in and hit certain areas," he said.

"Changi Airport will be very vulnerable," he said, adding the man—made island of Jurong which houses a sprawling petrochemical complex is also at risk, and urged the government to commission a study on tsunamis. — AFP/vm





Tsunami strikes Ao Nang, Thailand.





A town near the coast of Sumatra lies in ruin on January 2, 2005. This picture was taken by a United States military helicopter crew from the USS Abraham Lincoln that was conducting humanitarian operations.





The photos and article serve as a reminder that we are not that far from the pacific ring of fire and anything could happen to us.