A Thread on the "Seventh" Wave: On this day in 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunamis struck. They killed 227K people in 14 countries; many perished from deprivation later. Enough time has past to answer a basic question: why did they die? It is not always obvious. #tsunami2004 1/ 
I have spent the last year researching and writing a book trying to find the commonalities across centuries of disasters, rather than viewing them as distinct or a surprise. It is obvious disasters are no longer random or rare. Hence the title, The Devil Never Sleeps. 2/
It is too simple to believe those by the water died and those further away survived. Some of that is true. But we study disasters to also challenge conventional wisdom so we might do better, so we actually know why that person died and that one didn't. 3/
On the morning of the 26th, the sea nomads of Thailand, members of the Moken tribe, noticed the waters were too still. There was no wind; dolphins were swimming out to deeper waters; deep sea fish seemed to be appearing close to shore. 4/
They started to evacuate. They knew. The tribe’s chief, Salama, shouted to tribal members and tourists: “This is laboon, an ancient thing that has swallowed whole islands before.” Laboon he had learned from his forefathers, was known as the “seventh wave,” the deadly one. 5/
Laboon. The tribe understood this phenomenon because they had learned from their ancestors the story of a 1907 tsunami that had devastated the area. They called it the Seventh Wave then. And their descendants knew what to watch for. The waters in 2004 were too still. 6/
The lack of knowledge by others, what we call "situational awareness", is why newer villages of immigrants and tourist areas had disproportionate death counts compared to those who understood the waters. 7/
Why did this person die and that person didn't? I don't mean this as defeatist, like stuff happens and well whatever. But life or death isn't just randomness or bad fortune. We spend a lot of time wondering why bad things happen or hoping that they won't in the future and 8/
a lot less time on that moment when it happens, when one person dies and another person doesn't. And if we can understand that moment, then maybe in a world where the devil never sleeps, we might do better for all the times ahead. 9/
I am trying to get over the inherent squeamishness of a book that finds its greatest relevancy when tragedy has struck. I hope I do not cross a line. I figure 2004 was a while ago. But if stories like this are of interest, preorder for 3/29/22. 10/10
publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/juliett…
publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/juliett…
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