Japan

1. It sucks.

2. Natural disasters are definitely a big, big part of Japan's self-identity. It looks to me like Japan has gotten off comparatively light given that we're talking about one of the biggest earthquakes on record, though I could be objectively wrong about that, and I also think I've heard that that isn't entirely an accident.

3. If there is any justice in the world this will be a Bobby Jindal moment for the Republicans. Jindal famously proposed cutting volcano monitoring in his 2009 response to Obama's not-really-SotU address, and a day later a certain volcano in Alaska spoke up, saying "Are you sure about that?". Congressional Republicans are proposing to slash, among other things, the budget of the people who monitor tsunamis.

Oh wait, there is very little justice in the world. Shame.