It was about 11.30am on Wednesday when the official tsunami alert went out for Fijians to take appropriate action.
Triggered by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake, the sensible option was to make a beeline for the highest point nearby. And that’s what thousands of Fijians did. In hindsight, many questions would have been raised by the events of that day. If a tsunami had been generated by the massive quake, one wonders whether our reaction time was fast enough, and organised?
In the Capital City, the streets soon became clogged with people and traffic heading in the same direction.
At around the same time, some villagers along the coast past Lami were by the Queens highway selling duruka, oblivious to the tsunami alert.
They had no radio, and no internet connection. They had felt the quake and shrugged this off, not comprehending the possible danger.
Interestingly though, they had mobile phones!
For the return of a few dollars, they had unwittingly placed their lives at risk if one had struck.
However, we look at it, a big tsunami could have the power to sweep across a great area of coastal land, destroying homes, sweeping through vehicles and drowning people.
A tsunami generated by a massive quake close to Fiji would need very little time to hit us.
And that is why questions will be asked about how prepared we are for such an event.
We have to accept the fact that tsunamis are also our problem.
We had one in 1953 when eight people were reported to have died, and the sea came right onto Albert Park. It was generated by a quake that shook and damaged buildings in Suva.
Now more than ever, it is critical that we have a national tsunami disaster plan in place as soon as possible.
Mindsets will need to change obviously.
Massive earthquakes should inch out a quick reaction time where people are more responsive and alert.
Understandably, we all should have a major hand in driving this change.
Clearly there needs to be some thought put into addressing communication issues and how the masses are quickly informed about changing scenarios.
Do we have designated tsunami evacuation spots, or buildings available like the Japanese have near the coastlines?
Surely the scenarios that popped up on Wednesday are important for us moving forward.
The fact that the Mineral Resources Department recorded 13 aftershocks of magnitudes of 5.0 on the Richter scale until yesterday after Wednesday’s shaker should remind us of the scenarios that exist around us and how vulnerable we can be.
Permanent secretary for the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources, Malakai Finau, said with seismic events of such nature being recorded, people should not panic though, but be alert.
Let’s be vigilant. Let’s heed advice and let’s do the right thing.
