And the earth shook

    

     The aftermath of what was the largest earthquake in Japan's recorded history is starting to become more clear as the death toll continues to rise and the financial losses are tabulated. The earthquake that struck about 80 miles off the east coast of Japan sent a tsunami racing toward the group of islands that offered little resistance to the awe of mother nature. Waves of up to 30 feet tall bombarded the coastal cities of northeast Japan sweeping away buildings, cars, boats and anything else in it's path.

     Estimated at magnitude 8.9, the quake is the fifth largest in recorded history. Tsunami warnings were issued to most countries in the Pacific Rim as the waves rippled outward from the epicenter. The surge reached the California coast Friday morning causing some property damage to boats that were ripped away from their slips. One person in Northern California was carried out to sea by the storm surge as they were trying to photograph the occurrence; they are still missing.
     The devastation was carried live by news stations around the world, allowing viewers to watch in real time the devastating force of nature. Burning buildings were swept away by the tsunami which also caused considerable damage to two of Japan's nuclear power plants which has prompted concern for radiation pollution. The damage caused by the waves compromised the cooling systems of at the plants and now experts fear that it may cause leakages of radioactive material.
     A Japanese news agency estimated the death toll to be 133 as of 1 a.m. Saturday but those numbers are expected to rise. The New York Times later reported that government officials had reported finding 200-300 bodies near the Sendai region of Japan which was one of the closer cities to the quake's epicenter. Officials also speculated that they expect those numbers to rise over 1,000 as they continue to sift through the carnage of the earthquake.

     Despite the loss of life and the economic implications of the clean up and rebuilding of damaged buildings and infrastructure, some experts believe that Japan may have gotten off easy in regards to impact to the long term health of their economy. Because the quake was centered near the northern provinces, which are some of the more populated regions, they are not part of the industrial belt that fuels the nation's economy.

 “If this had been a couple hundred miles to the south, the economic and human toll would have been almost incomprehensible,” said Marcus Noland, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “In that respect, Japan dodged an enormous bullet here.”-The New York Times

      The earthquake and the following tsunami are affecting many people outside the Japanese border. Many business people are stranded either in Japan or abroad as most flights in and out of Japan have been canceled or delayed. President Obama has pledged to help the Japanese through this trying time and has already deployed two Navy warships stocked with human aide supplies to assist the people of the islands. Japan, one of the top 5 world economies is a large supplier of electronics and automobiles to the United States and the rest of the western world. What's bad for Japan is in turn bad for the United States because a crippled Japanese economy would undoubtedly lead to an increase of the price of their exports which would be passed along to American consumers. This reality reinforces the idea that we really are living in a global economy, whether you're paying in yens or dollars.
     However, this decisive move comes at a rather peculiar time for the United States in regards to foreign relations. Albeit the two situations are very different, both Libya and Japanese involve the need for assistance from outside parties as an act of humanity. Japan, as stated before, is a big player in the world market and the United States has a vested interest in their economy because of the ramifications that they could have on the U.S. economy. Libya on the other hand, has been regarded by U.S. officials as expendable for many reasons. The two largest being we have nothing to gain financially and they're not a necessity in the fight against terrorism.
     These are both human rights issues, one brought about by an earthquake and the other by a delusional dictator. President Obama is playing the diplomatic card and erring on the side of caution because of past mistakes by the U.S. intervening in foreign disputes. But this case is different, the people of Libya are clamoring for U.S. aid but they might be waiting for a long time because helping them is not beneficial to the American agenda.