“He who sees the calamity of other people finds his own calamity light” – Arabian proverb
The massive 8.8 Richter earthquake that shook Chile on Saturday killing at least 300 people, came in the wake of the destruction wrought by the killer earthquake in Haiti. It seems that earth is well and truly sick of all of us vermin pullulating on its skin and is shuddering constantly to rid itself of our unwelcome and polluting presence…
The result of course is more than a trail of twisted buildings, crushed cars, gaping crevasses, ripped up roads and collapsed lives as people try to cope with the tragedy. It is a reminder that our earth is very small planet indeed, with the tsunami waves roaring at jet-speed across the vast Pacific Ocean with all of the shorelines around it on alert. We are all part of it all. The international community will once again support the devastated people of Chile and provide hope to the survivors. How fragile we are!
I can think of nothing more apt to comment eloquently on this new tragedy, except Giovanni Belini’s “Pietà” of 1505 (Oil on wood, 65 x 90 cm, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice).
Geologists and vulcanologists say we have gone through a relative quiet period in earth's history and one of the longest as far as quakes and volcanoes. And we can expect that to change.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem to me it has and we can only expect more news like from Haiti and Chile. And I can definitely identify with your line, "It seems that earth is well and truly sick of all of us vermin pullulating on its skin and is shuddering constantly to rid itself of our unwelcome and polluting presence…"
I wonder to what extent the mass of humanity and its clutter weight down the edges of the Teutonic plates and actually create or accent the instability of the earth's crust.
And as more of this horrific events occur who goes to the rescue? Time to rethink the rebuilding? And pay more attention to our mother the earth.
Great blog.
九份,
ReplyDelete感谢你的客气的评论你。请再次访问!
:-)
Unfortunately, the death toll continues to rise with 700 dead on Monday morning 1st March (Melbourne time).
ReplyDeleteLooting and public disorder are competing with rescue efforts and stories of selflessness and courage.
Its a terrible occurence and seems so close to the Haiti earthquake. I wonder if there is a connection?
ReplyDeleteThe painting is so apt and I pray for all the people of Chile.
First Haiti and then this tragedy... It's so very sad not only to see the death toll rising daly, but also to see people trapped in the rubble and people who have lost everything and whose town has disappeared in the tsunami.
ReplyDeleteAs the rescue effort continues, I hope people around the world will help in a show of solidarity with the Chilean people.