The earth moved

Years ago, I fought the helm of a small boat in a coastal gale. With each new wave, the boat twisted, shuddered and rolled under us; the water pounded the windows of the pilot house, dribbling through cracks in the old wood frames. Rising to the crest of the next wave, the bow steadied for a second, and I caught my breath again, just in time for the next sideways skew and dive. The muscles in my arms ached. I wasn't sure we would make it into port; nor was my companion, the boat's owner, he told me later.

On that trip, I realized, not for the first time, the power of the ocean, and our utter frailty; we were no more than a leaf tossed in the wind; in spite of all our struggles, the wind and waves would make the decisions for us.

I get that same feeling now, reading the news. Yesterday, I watched entire buildings sailing down the stream, semi trucks rolled and up-ended, boats lifted onto roadways. Now, I just learned that yesterday's earthquake shifted the island of Japan 8 feet. A whole nation, Mount Fuji and all her colleagues, deltas and valleys and forests, huge cities; pushed aside, as by a careless hand. 8 whole feet!

But that's minor.

Reports from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy estimated the 8.9-magnitude quake shifted the planet on its axis by nearly 4 inches (10 centimeters).
(From CNN)

I can't get my head around this. How can this be? How, and we not notice it? What next?

And then, about an hour ago, the outer shell of one of the nuclear reactors affected by the quake, exploded. There is talk of leakage, "meltdown", rising radiation levels.

This, we partially did to ourselves. But the laws of physics have taken control. The Japanese can fight it, but it's really out of their hands.

This is frightening.

There's more in the offing. I still keep thinking of all those little island nations in the Pacific. Are they still there? Are there survivors? I haven't seen any mention of them. How about Indonesia, the Phillipines? Hawaii was spared; are there others?

And all we can do now is steer for harbour, hoping.

I don't know what are the best ways to help at the moment. Here are a few I found:

Red Cross: Text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 from your phone. This will donate to the general Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, so if you want to ensure that it goes to Japan specifically, donate from their Web site.
Salvation Army: To contribute to earthquake relief, text 'JAPAN' or 'QUAKE' to 80888 to make a $10 donation or visit SalvationArmyUSA.org.
From Watching the ripples ...

And Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) is attempting to reach the worst hit areas of northeast Japan by helicopter, to bring medical aid. I will be sending my donation there.

Haiti; who's helping, how to join in

I'm still watching coverage from Haiti. The scenes are as I remember them from Nicaragua - frightening, stomach-turning, shattering. Now they're saying there may be 100,000 dead. Or more.

It's going to be a long road back. Haitians have been living on $2 a day; now even that is gone. Water is already a scarce commodity. (How long can a human survive without it? Three days?)

Worse than thirst, though, is panic and desperation. People don't reason well when they're thirsty and starving; even less when they're also grieving the loss of family and home. They do foolish things, take violent action, or just give up and die. (Yes, it happens.)

Haiti needs help, will need it for a long time to come. If you have already sent help, good; send more. If you haven't, why not?

Here are a few organizations that are providing aid;

Doctors Without Borders is on the ground already; they have been for some time. However, their building was destroyed; they're badly stretched.

"MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres)has already treated more than 1,000 people on the ground in Haiti following Tuesday's earthquake, but the needs are huge. An inflatable hospital with operating theatres is expected to arrive in the next 24 hours."

I've heard good things about ShelterBox. They provide boxes containing,

"... one (sometimes two) ten-person tent(s). Other items can include insulated sleeping mats and thermal blankets, water purification tablets, water purification kits, water containers/carriers, a trenching shovel, a multi-fueled cook stove, eating utensils and plates, a childrens' activity kit and other essential items."

Red Cross International.

"The ICRC plans to focus on providing medical aid for survivors of the earthquake and support for efforts to recover and identify the dead. It will also support Red Cross efforts to restore contacts between family members separated because of the earthquake and its aftermath. Finally, it plans to assess the needs of the prisons where it has been regularly visiting detainees".

UNICEF

"UNICEF's offices in Port-au-Prince were damaged yesterday, but staff are ready to deliver disaster relief to the children and families affected by yesterday's earthquake in Haiti."

Mercy Corps

"Mercy Corps has deployed an experienced emergency team to rush critical supplies and other urgent assistance to survivors."

And more ...

Bryan Williams, talking to Keith Olbermann, said about a disaster this "horrible", that it is so far removed from our daily life, that coming back, he has to "put it in a box." True. We have our own problems, our own life to live. But sometimes, unpleasant or not, we have to open that box. Now is the time.