Earthquake

I couldn't sleep last night because I was gripped with fear when I read this news:

The most powerful earthquake in 40 years struck south Asia this morning, triggering tsunamis that smashed into villages, resorts and tourist isles, killing thousands and leaving hundreds missing. Sri Lanka and India were hit hardest as the tsunamis, some 30 feet high, washed away fishermen, tourists, cars and beach side stalls.

The earthquake that generated the waves hit at 6:58 a.m. local time about 100 miles off the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra. It measured 8.9 on the Richter scale, which made it the largest in the world since 1964 and the fifth largest since 1900, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Officials in Sri Lanka said that 2,200 people were killed and Indian officials said 2,000 died, according to the Reuters news agency. Indonesian officials said that more than 1,800 died, while the death toll reached 257 in Thailand and 28 in Malaysia.

"Nothing like this has ever happened in our country before," Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand said in a televised address.

Millions have been affected by the waves, officials said, with people fleeing their homes for higher ground, fearing aftershocks that could send more waves to strike the islands and beaches. The death toll could rise considerably as information comes in from remote islands and beach resorts, and the fate of those missing, including the hundreds of fishermen at sea, becomes apparent.

In the north Sumatran city of Banda Aceh, which was close to the epicenter of the earthquake, dozens of buildings were toppled. But by far the most damage came as the tidal waves produced by the earthquake slammed into beaches over a thousand miles away.

The worst hit area of Sri Lanka appeared to be the tourist region, where one official said many of the victims were young children and the elderly. The military has sent thousands of soldiers to look for survivors, Reuters reported, including much of the navy. President Chandrika Kumaratunga declared a national emergency and appealed to India for aid.

Indian officials said hundreds of bodies were found washed up on beaches along the southeastern coast. The death toll reached 800 in the southern state of Tamil Nadu alone, one official told to The Associated Press.

Utterly terrifying, 8,000 people dead in their sleep. My folks were in Phuket two weeks ago. I spent a significant portion of the dawn shivering in the duck-and-cover position, waiting for the aftershocks to reach the eastern Pacific edge of the Ring of Fire.

I wonder if the folks at raptureready.com welcome this kind of news.

(Unrelated: did you know that the Bible predicted that Yasser Arafat would be a hindrance to the Second Coming? What foresight!)

(Unrelated: check out the FAQs page at raptureready.com. The opening table is reason itself to read it. Also, find answers to such burning questions as, "How do you plan to maintain this site after the rapture?" and "What is God's favorite color?")