Natural Disasters: Lesson for People

The recent tsunami and earthquake in Japan have once again sent a wave of horror among the nations of the world. As a result of this devastating quake, hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes, thousands of bodies have already been discovered and search is going on to find more. The international community is seriously concerned because the recent quakes have also affected the nuclear reactors and there are reports of radiation leaks from some of these reactors. Japan has asked the World Commission for assistance in handling the crisis, so that any possible crisis can be prevented in time.

The way tsunamis and earthquakes have frequently caused destruction in numerous countries around the world during the past few years is something very worrying. The Western scientists and people under their influence have established big research centers and institutions to find out the reasons and causes of natural disasters. Based on their knowledge and ability, they have discovered some of the causes and have also come up with ways to prevent such disasters.

Modern Technology vs Natural Disasters

The surprising thing is that Japan, a country that has made great progress in the field of science and technology, has been hit by an earthquake. All the coastal areas of Japan were made "earthquake-proof" and they even had equipment that can provide advance warning when a quake is on its way. But when devastating earthquake hit Japan, neither were the quake-proof buildings and houses able to survive nor was the equipment able to give any warning. This incident has once again exposed the weaknesses in modern technology and has forced people to think that human wisdom and knowledge is still not as powerful as the forces of nature.

We are not saying that finding out the reasons and causes of these earthquakes and tsunamis is useless or pointless. But what we mean is that in addition to finding out about the worldly causes of such disasters, we should also pay attention to the spiritual factors behind these tragedies that often go beyond human wisdom and knowledge. In simple words, we need to find out the worldly factors that lead to such disasters and take effective measures to avoid those factors.

God and his messenger -- Prophet Mohammad -- has told us everything about when and why such disasters strike humans. The most significant of these reasons are the wicked deeds that bring the wrath of God. We can find a lot of examples of these deeds among the nations that came before us. Earthquakes, storms, floods, and other natural disasters have destroyed countless powerful nations, erasing all signs of their existence. All this was a result of disobedience of God by these nations.

Impact of Vulgarity and Immorality

As far as earthquakes are concerned, it has been said that they occur when vulgarity and immorality are widespread on earth. Now we can see this truth with our own eyes. The "naked" culture of Europe and the West has promoted vulgarity and immorality. Under these circumstances, the occurrence of earthquakes and tsunamis is not something to be surprised about. In fact, it gives us a glimpse of the kind of punishment we will get for our sins.

All of this means that along with worldly causes of natural disasters, we also need to address the spiritual factors behind such tragedies and make sure we follow the commandments of God and his messenger.

Performing Good Deeds

Moreover, such disasters and tragedies are a warning from the nature that no matter how hard the humans work, they can never reverse the unwavering decisions of the nature. When a minor natural disaster can cause so much damage and destruction, is it something hard for the creator of this universe to destroy the entire world? All these incidents take place, so that we can have faith in the day of judgment.

The people who still do not believe in the hereafter or show ignorance in this matter should learn their lessons from such incidents. They should prepare for the life after death before another horrible tragedy takes place and perform some good deeds that can help them avoid God's wrath. Otherwise, natural disasters can have an effect on anyone, anytime. Intelligent people will learn their lessons from such incidents rather than themselves being part of the lessons of history.

Catastrophe in Japan: A Matter of Concern

Mankind may make tall claims of scientific and materialistic progress, but if providence gets annoyed and gives mankind even a slightest jolt, all claims of progress and development come crumbling down like a house of cards. Man's tall claims appear hollow and baseless. Facing the wrath of the Almighty, man realizes that all his hard toil to protect himself from an emergency situation is of no use. Luxuries of life, scientific inventions, all are fragile and incompetent to ward off destruction. He is forced to ponder how helpless mankind is in the face of the nature's fury.

Man usually forgets it while competing in the race of scientific and materialistic progress that in the system of the universe, as designed by nature, he is nothing more than a grain of sand and dust. If man attempts to tinker with rules of nature and strives to cause damage to it, he would have to bear the consequences in the form of huge devastation and destruction.

Motivating Factor
Although earthquakes, typhoons floods, tsunami, cloudburst, draught, famine endemic and epidemic diseases, and other natural disasters usually motivate us to turn to Almighty God, the creator of the universe, they also make man realize that these are admonishment from the Almighty to mend our ways. The gigantic tsunami rising to the skies, blasts and fire in nuclear reactors, and leakage of nuclear radiation in Japan have caused heavy damage. At the same time, it teaches a lesson those in love with nuclear energy and scientific and materialistic progress.

It is indeed a time to ponder seriously whether they should continue to depend on nuclear energy, or should give it up. Reportedly, some developed nations have, in view of the devastation in Japan, decided to give up their plans and designs for nuclear energy, or have decided to close down present nuclear plants.

Current Situation
The current situation is that Japan not only continues to jolt under earthquakes, the number of those killed in the quake or tsunami is on the rise. Leakage of nuclear radiation continues unabated there. Since 11 March, more than 200 jolts of the magnitude of 5 or less on the Richter scale have been recorded in north and central Japan.

The people living in the capital Tokyo have had to face several aftershocks of the magnitude of 6 or more. Meanwhile, snowfall since 15 March in the quake and tsunami-affected areas has made life difficult for people. It has further escalated the threat of spread of nuclear radiation. Nuclear experts maintain that last efforts are on in the nuclear complex to avert the worst ever-industrial calamity.

The French Nuclear Safety Authority has warned that the next 48 hours would be decisive, as all attempts to address the problem have proved futile so far. According to a British newspaper, The Mail, France has even claimed that the Japan's Government has lost control of administration, and Japan is striving to hide the seriousness of the situation from the world. Latest details reveal that nuclear leakage from the Fukushima nuclear plant has reached even the Russian city of Vladivostok.

Apprehension in India
Senior environmentalists and scientists in India have assured people that the country faces no threat from nuclear radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant. They have added that there is no apprehension either that radiation may reach India through rain or air. Minister for Science and Technology Ashwini Kumar has also reiterated that India faces no threat from the leakage of nuclear radiation from Japan, as radiation is heading toward the eastern region and that there is a huge distance between India and Japan's ill-fated nuclear plant.

Meanwhile, people of Jaitapur in Maharashtra, where a nuclear energy plant of 9,900 MW capacity is to be set up, have intensified their protest against it. It may be recalled that the Jaitapur area falls under the third category seismic zone.

Measures To Be Adopted
According to statistics of the Geological Survey of India, between 1985 and 2005, there have been 92 earthquakes there. The quake that jolted Jaitapur in 1993 was of 6.2 intensity. Geologists and social workers believe that land in Jaitapur is not stable and should an earthquake occur, it cannot be guaranteed that measures to be adopted by the government for safety of the proposed plant and people there would be able to protect them, and the sensitive Konkani coastal area from a possible nuclear disaster. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has said the government was seriously considering to initiate some more environmental and protective measures for the proposed nuclear plant at Jaitapur, as well as nuclear plants in other parts of the country.

It must be borne in mind that 40 percent of the world's population lives within a radius of 100-km from the coast, and the population there continues to rise. In India also, 23 percent of our population resides within a 100-km radius of seacoast, while 35 percent of Indian population resides and lives within a radius of 200-km from seacoast.

Post-Disaster Economic Impact of Japan on International Community

Japan's earthquake and tsunami disaster has led to radiation spewing out from the damaged nuclear reactors after explosions. The economic impact of the post-disaster has led to Tokyo's share market dropped by 16 percent in the past two days. Since investors have massively withdrawn from the Japanese stocks, the trading volume by investors to withdraw their shares from the Japanese stock market in the past two days was the highest since the Second World War.

While, the Asian share market could not avoid being dragged by the Japanese share market, the share market in the United States and European countries also could not avoid being affected. All of a sudden, the global share market turns color and becomes weak. The economic response to Japan's natural disaster is gradually fermenting.

Financial and Property Damage
According to expert prediction, the financial and property damage caused by this round of earthquake and tsunami in Japan can easily be at least above $150 billion. Moreover, new financial damaging figure has continued to pour in. Some estimated that the financial damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami is about three percent of Japan's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2010. Besides, the Japanese capital will soon become very tight, interest rate will rise while national consumption power will decline; and all Japanese export manufacturers will suffer losses.

The United States will of course bear the brunt of it. Taking into account the economic prospects for the future of Japan, the United States will likely to take the lead to withdraw its capital fund from Japan. This can result in the fall of Japan's stock market in a breaching manner. As it stands, quite a lot of fund managers have already invested in the Japanese shares. Nevertheless, when the Japanese stock market changes color after the earthquake, the fund redemption actions taken by the fund managers have also drastically been increased. In order to keep cash and in order to carry out fund redemption operations for their clients, the fund managers have no choice but to sell their Japanese stocks to maintain their cash flow. As such, when the Japanese share dropped drastically in the past two days, it triggered a chain reaction on the global stock market. This can exacerbate the decline in the Japanese and global share market. Japan also has large investments in the United States; it has now become an imperative for Japan to pull back its investment in the United States to rescue its stock market.

Negative Impact on Economy
Ever since Japan suffered the massive earthquake and tsunami, Japan has been quite cautious in reporting the damage caused by the calamity to prevent negative impact on its economy. Japan's Nomura Securities estimated the losses because of the disaster as $100 billion only. Meanwhile the Central Bank of Japan has taken the lead to announce the injection of $ 183 billion to the market in order to stabilize Japan's financial market. The Central Bank of Japan also hopes that Japan's banking system can release larger amount of fund to satisfy the capital demand of Japan's post-disaster economy and to further stabilize the country's economy. In the days to come, we can expect the Japanese Government to adopt a control mechanism to monitor the prices of oil, steel, cement, glass, food, as well as prices of daily necessities.

Yet more and more bad news is coming out from Japan's domestic scene without ceasing. The strong earthquake in Japan has severely damaged some crucial nuclear power plants as well as Japan's local enterprises and factories in various sectors resulting in an acute shortage of electricity supply. Toyota, the world's largest carmaker, might have to reduce its production to by at least 40,000 Toyota vehicles. When the Toyota plant in the disaster affected area stops operation, the daily profit of Toyota might reduce by $72 million. Other Japanese car makers such Nissan, Honda will also be affected.

The earthquake and tsunami affected disaster area is the base for the Japanese electronics, automobile, machinery industry, especially the semiconductor industry, where the demand of the integrated circuit for large factories in the western countries is met here. When these Japanese factories are halted, the global computer production will also be affected. Moreover, if the Japanese computer manufacturers cannot get its spare parts, the computer industry in Japan can become paralyzed. In addition, the insurance companies in Japan need money to pay for compensation for damage done by the earthquake and tsunami, these insurance companies will have no choice but to pull back their overseas investment. Japan is one of the countries with highest foreign direct investment. Japan's foreign direct investment is estimated at $1,000 billion. Among them, three quarters are bonds and stocks. While it is too early to tell if this round of sharp share market drop in Japan will speed up the withdrawal of Japan's overseas capital or slow down its capital flow process, the drastic drop in the Japanese share market has already upset the original share market deployment in Japan. Fortunately, Japan's share of global GDP ratio is declining. As such the impact of Japan's stock market on global economic growth may be limited.

Asia-Pacific Markets
As for the US stock market, at this stage of time, it is also at a weak and disadvantage situation. As a matter of fact the production activities and financial resources in the West have already suffered serious dislocation. In the past few years when bank interest was low, the floating capital could not find a good ground to invest and as a result, huge amount of hot money has poured into the stock markets particularly into the new Asia-Pacific emerging markets.

With the global stock market now risen to a considerable higher level, opportunist investors will begin to feel that the high interest day will come soon and so many of them will begin to leave the stock market to reap their harvest and gains and then move to engage in other forms of investment. As a result, stock market volatility is particularly significant in the West at this moment.

Lack of Power and Water Supply
For a long period of time, Japan is Malaysia's long-term major importer of raw materials. The earthquake and tsunami affected areas in Japan are mainly tourism, agriculture and forestry industries. These are not the main areas for Malaysia to import its key industrial spare part components. Therefore, the aftermath economic impact of Japan's earthquake disaster on Malaysia should not be too great. Of note is that the industrial supply chain between Malaysia and Japan is quite close and the earthquake and tsunami have damaged part of Japan's industrial areas there.

However, we believe that as long as Malaysian manufacturers can obtain short-term industrial supplies from other countries, the economic impact of it on Malaysia is very limited. Moreover, not all Japanese auto plants are located in the earthquake disaster area. Even if these industries are located in the disaster areas, if it is only a matter of lack of power and water supply, it will only be a short-term phenomenon. As such, the relevant Malaysian industries should not be over worried about the aftermath effect of earthquake in Japan.

Spreading Economic Risk
However, it remains a fact that for a long time, Malaysia's automobile industries have heavily depended on importing auto spare parts from Japan. When the Japanese automobile industries cannot supply what Malaysia needs regularly, it will become a big headache for Malaysia. The difficult experience for the Japanese industries in supplying the needed goods and industrial spare parts to Malaysia can still be recalled vividly when Kobe suffered massive earthquake in the past. Kobe is a cargo transit port for goods coming from the Western Hemisphere for forward transit to the East. But during the Kobe earthquake, the wharf and harbor in Kobe have been destroyed. As such shipping schedules from Kobe had been disrupted resulting in surging shipping charge and hike in the cost of imported goods from Japan.

In this round of natural disaster that happened in Japan, the impact of the massive earthquake and tsunami Japan encountered is much more massive and severe than that of the Kobe earthquake. In this regard, it is time for Malaysia to reduce its dependency on Japan for getting the required goods and industrial supplies. Malaysia must begin to diversify and decentralize its procurement sources so that the country can enhance its self-control over unexpected situation such as natural calamity in other countries. Malaysia must make more alternatives in its overseas procurement routes. Malaysia must guide and lead the local companies to spread the economic risk thinly to reduce the economic impact of it on the country's economy.

Explosion in Japan's Nuclear Plan

An explosion and feared meltdown at one of Japan's nuclear plants on 12 March exposed the scale of the disaster facing the country after a massive quake and tsunami left 1,000 feared dead. The cause of the explosion remains unknown though several employees were injured in the explosion. Damage to the nuclear power plant came as a result of an 8.9 magnitude earthquake, the strongest ever recorded in the country that rocked the nation on 11 March. However, it is said that the reactor cooling systems failed at two plants after the earthquake hit, unleashing a terrifying 10-metre (33-foot) wave that tore through coastal towns and cities, destroying all in its path.

Declaration of Atomic Emergency
After declaring an atomic emergency, the government said that thousands of people living within 20 km (12 miles) of the Fukushima No 1 plant should leave, widening the evacuation zone from 10 km. Nuclear authorities had earlier warned that the Fukushima No 1 plant, located about 250 km (160 miles) northeast of Tokyo, an urban area of 30 million people, 'may be experiencing a nuclear meltdown.' The plant's cooling system was damaged in the quake that hit on 11 March, leaving the government scrambling to fix the problem and evacuate more than 45,000 residents within a 10-km radius.

However, serious damage to the stricken reactor's container, which shields the external environment from the effects of nuclear fission, was unlikely. Operator Tokyo Electric Power confirmed the explosion at the plant 250-km northeast of Tokyo, and that the roof of the reactor building had collapsed, saying this had happened during an aftershock from the quake.

Contingency Measures
The government was taking contingency measures and collecting iodine, which can be used against radiation sickness. Nearby residents have warned to stay indoors, turn off air-conditioners and not drink tap water. The people going outside were told to avoid exposing their skin and to cover their faces with masks or wet towels.

The radiation detected after the explosion was about twice the level at which companies are required to notify the government. The hourly radiation matched the allowable annual dose. When reactors shut down, cooling systems must kick in to bring down the very high temperatures. These systems are powered by either the external power grid, backup generators or batteries.

The fear is that, when this fails, fuel rods that cannot be cooled are exposed to the outside air and release radioactivity. In a meltdown, or severe nuclear power plant failure, the reactor core is unable to properly cool, leading nuclear fuel assemblies to overheat and melt, potentially releasing radioactive materials into the environment.

Japan -- located on the 'Pacific Ring of Fire,' where several continental plates meet and create a string of volcanoes and seismic hot spots -- records 20 percent of the world's major earthquakes. Japan draws about 30 percent of its power from about 50 nuclear plants.