FOR sheer power, nature has no rival. The shifting of tectonic plates off the west coast of Sumatra on 26 December triggered a magnitude 9 earthquake, dwarfing all since 1964. It started 30 kilometres beneath the sea when a 400-kilometre stretch of the Indian plate juddered by some 15 metres beneath the Burma plate, raising the seabed by several metres. Within hours, the seismic shock and tsunamis had killed at least 145,000 people in countries thousands of kilometres apart, and destroyed the homes of up to 5 million people. We humans may be powerless to prevent such events, but there is much we can do to minimise the toll of death and destruction they cause. This tragedy will be all the worse if we learn nothing from it.
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