tsunami

Ripples in a pond. Such a small idea that could literally wipe out neighborhoods, towns, even entire islands when you label those ripples as a tsunami. I caught wind of the massive earthquake in Chile last night (their morning) while I was watching CNN and my ears quickly perked up when I heard Pacific Islands. Wait, THAT'S ME!

It's amazing to think that a tragic natural disaster in one continent can effect a little island in the Philippines on the other side of the world. We got the safety and security text from our SSC guy in Manila to let us know that we were in a Level 2 Tsunami warning, and like the rest of the Pacific basin countries, it became a wait-and-see game. Fortunately my site is on the western side of Leyte, which I'm guessing would be the safest place to be aside for the mountainous center of the island.

The day is now over, and we just got the text from SSC letting us know that the warning is over. I haven't heard of any major, or really minor for that matter, reports of damage in the Philippines. All is well.

I did read however in today's Philippine Inquirer that in 1960 when Chile had their major 9.5 earthquake, it was reported that 24 hours after the quake the Philippines had waves measuring in at up to 6 meters. Those were some major ripples. I'm glad today turned out the way it did.