Calamity

After the showing of the movie 2012, doomsday topics have been rife. Although most believe that the world will not end by 2012, at the back of our heads there is always the ‘what if’ thought. It doesn’t help that here in Davao, for the past few months, magnitude 5-ish quakes have been very frequent. The epicenter has always been either in the southern part of Davao Oriental or off the province’s Pacific shore. Davao Oriental is just across our city on the opposite shore of the Davao Gulf. This while Haiti faced a widespread devastation after the 7.0 earthquake there and Chile also had 8.8(!) earthshaker. Chile’s earthquake actually triggered a tsunami warning even here in Davao. (breaking news, a mild 6.4 magnitude earthquake rocked Taiwan... yikes getting near!)

I really can’t help but be scared at the thought that what happened in Haiti and Chile CAN happen in Davao. Our lives are entrenched in this city we call home. My family is here. I can’t imagine how it would be if such a calamity will befall us here. I am not a pessimist, but this is a realistic expectation being part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

On the brighter side, our volcano here is extinct and we don’t get typhoons. Oh well, to each his own calamity.