It’s hard to imagine the enormity of this catastrophe because it took place on the other side of the word. One of the largest earthquakes in the last century shook the planet, changed the map of the world, affected the rotation of the earth thus shortening the day by a few microseconds, and killed up to 25,000 people.
Twenty-five thousand. It may not be as many people who have died in World Wars, but it is a huge number.