The Editor, Sir:

The recent horrendous earthquake in China, which has caused the loss of an estimated 50,000 or more lives, evokes both our great sympathies for the Chinese people as well as a sharp reminder that our own historic capital city of Kingston was destroyed in an earthquake in 1907.

Our natural concern is what emergency preparations currently exist for a repeat of such a catastrophe ... and what can be done going forward to improve our disaster/emergency preparedness.

We should make sure that our emergency preparedness plans are adequate and up to date. Today's Kingston is, of course, many orders of magnitude larger than the Kingston of 1907, making the potential for disaster and loss of life proportionately greater.

We live in an age of mega-distress: Some recent hurricanes, earthquakes and tidal waves appear to be of unprecedented ferocity and destructive force.

The China disaster is a reminder that we must be prepared for any eventuality.

I am, etc.,

A.G.GUMBS

aggumbs@aol.com

Wheaton, Illinois

Via Go-Jamaica