With everyone now an instant (if amateur) expert on floods, lakes and leaks, on rain, rescue and relief, taming typhoon “Ramil” should be a walk in the park. One unavoidable clue that we’re back to normal is that the politicians and candidates are on the scene once again -- visible, audible, even risible.

Also unavoidable, speculation that the most badly flooded towns and cities will see a drop in real-estate prices, just as condo shopping is likely to appreciate in value (as long as parking is not done in the basement!). Oh, the ups and downs of life in a typhoon-prone country!

But just when the professionals are getting a grip on the weather and the amateurs are happily sharing their theories and analyses, just when we think we’re “prepared” for the next onslaught of precipitation and sinking, are we forgetting that another type of destruction has been wreaking havoc in the region, almost in the same timeframe as the last two typhoons?

Tsunami! Earthquake! More awesome. More alarming and terrifying. Occurring in the blink of an eye, with little or no time for a real warning to be of any use to huge numbers of the population. Twenty years ago the earthquake that shook the bay area of San Francisco, California, needed only 15 seconds to kill hundreds, topple buildings and ruin infrastructures. Nineteen years ago the earthquake that rambled through Luzon – felt in Metro Manila and all the way up to Baguio-- and left a thousand and more dead, wiping out landmarks and familiar parts of the scenery and the people’s daily routines, was measured at intensity 7.7.

Today, with everyone so busy acclimatizing themselves and others to global warming, who’s looking after the safety of our structures and infrastructures and their ability to withstand a strong earthquake? Architect and urban planner Jun Palafox, in Chicago attending a global convention of the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats, sends a message most urgent: “Ask government authorities to publish a.s.a.p. locations and alignments of all fault lines, especially in urban areas.”

Let’s be prepared before, not after.