Thousands of people all along the Pacific Rim were warned that a tsunami may hit their areas. The tsunami was set off by the earthquake in Chile. The warnings set off a panic of people who engaged in buying basic supplies and leaving the beaches for higher ground. All these people were lucky that the expected wave never materialized and the alert was cancelled.
Despite the fact that the waves never really got big, many people defended giving out the warnings. The tsunami that hit Indonesia in 2004 is still on everyone’s mind and its better to be safe than sorry. I’m glad that we live in a modern age that can predict disasters and work to prevent them.