We were lucky !
Nobody could correctly predict the size of a Tsunami that would be generated by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Chili, but there was every chance that our eastern Australian coastline beaches would be hit by some sort of wave early on Sunday morning.
The size of the wave that arrived was just 14 cm.
A few years ago a similarly large earthquake generated a Tsunami that crashed ashore in the Indian ocean - and killed over two hundred thousand people. We are fortunate that Australia is not on the " Ring of Fire " that stretches from New Zealand north, through Papua New Guinea and underneath most of Indonesia.
But our poisition on the world map makes it highly probable that one day a Pacific ocean earthquake will cause a Tsunami that will hit our shores and do a lot of damage.
Yesterday a lot of people completely ignored that Tsunami warning and did their usual thing - swimming or sailing - or just laying on the sand and enjoying themselves.
Had luck deserted us - resulting in damaged homes and a big death toll - it is likely that some people would blame the authorities for not making them leave the beaches and take precautions.
It seems we are never responsible for our own stupidity - and when things go wrong it is always someone else's fault !
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