What has history taught us about earthquakes?
“Many were killed. I lost five family members in the quake. But we have no time to weep. We have to work for the living right now.” Dawuti Aximu, a young Uighur man, told the Associated Press news agency in 2004, after an earthquake shook his village in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. Almost 10,000 homes and 900 classrooms at 30 schools were levelled by the quake. At least 260 people died and more than 4,000 were injured. The quake had a severe effect on the local economy, which is heavily dependent on farming. One man who sells traditional rice and roasted mutton in the town said he had re-opened “because we all have nothing to eat. Everyone has to eat”. “My house is gone. Three relatives are gone. But life goes on.” Very few communities in the world have not been touched by natural disasters. In the Caribbean we’ve seen our share of tragedy. One catastrophic event that will forever be highlighted in our history books – the eruptions of Mt. Pelée in Martinique and St. Vincent’s Souf
