More than 3,000 dead. Entire blocks of Kobe, Japan burned beyond recognition. Hundreds of thousands of residents streaming out of a city collapsing under the demands of so heavy a relief operation.
The earthquake that struck Japan's busy port center at 5:46 a.m. Tuesday caused scenes of unimaginable grief and destruction. And those half a world away, watching the force of nature at its most brutal, can't help but wonder whether there is anything human beings can do to minimize the damage.
The Japanese prided themselves on preparing for the earth to move, building earthquake-resistant buildings and roads, teaching children how to behave when the big one hit. In fact, nothing prepared them for this devastation.
The Kobe quake wasn't nearly as strong as the one that visited San Francisco in 1906. Yet the death toll was almost eight times higher because this region of Japan is so chock-full of people and buildings.
One could speculate how a quake of similar force would affect San Francisco today. And wonder whether it made sense to pack so much development onto such vulnerable ground.
