Leave it to Mother Nature to rattle our collective cages just to keep us all on our complacent little toes. For those of us residingaround the Pacific Rim, the last two weeks have been a stark reminder that we live in an extremely volatile region of the planet.

On September 30^th, a 7.6 earthquake struck 45miles off the coast of Padang, Sumatra. This quake, and associated tsunami, is responsible for nearly 1000 deaths so far. (Many of you will remember that an earthquake measuring 9.1 struck the same area near Padang in 2004, with that quake and subsequent tsunami responsible for over 230,000 deaths worldwide.).Padang is the center of the universe for the ' boat trip' industry in Indonesia,most famously for Captain Martin Daly and the ' Indies Trader' yacht fleet.Early reports were pretty grim, with many charter operators suffering heavy financial losses not to mention the physical and emotional tolls associatedwith such a tragedy.

Laguna Beach pro surferJon Rose was just wrapping up a boat trip in the Mentawais the day the Padang quake struck. Part of Rose's plan for his trip to Indo was to spend some time doing humanitarian work for the Skills for Humanity organization. But he certainly got more than he bargained for once he made it to shore the day after the quake. Rose was one of the first Westerners to witness the devastation first hand, and his photos and personal account are both tragic and life affirming all at the same time. ' As far as I could see, I was the only western person in the area. It was so soon after the quake that international relief didn't show up for a day or two after. The range of tragedy I encountered and the things I was able to accomplish in Padang have been nothing short of life changing,' said Rose in an email to friends and family.Click on this link to view his photos and story: http://web.me.com/jrose22/JR-Padang/Photos.html#grid

Just a day earlier, on September 29^th, a large earthquake rocked the American Samoa, Samoa and Tonga region of the South Pacific. This quake measured 8.0 (tsunami warnings reached as far away as the western coast of North America) with the death toll in Samoa reaching the hundreds. Surfers will be sad to hear that the tsunami all but leveled the world class Salani Surf Resort in Samoa. "Mate,it was the most violent thing I've ever felt in my entire life. I can't really describe to you how violent it was,' Aussie owner/operator Nick Shannon told GrindTV. The resort, however, was completely wiped out by a massive wall of water sent by the quake. Shannon has vowed to re-build.

Then, eight days later, a three-pack of large quakes struck the Fijian Islands region of the South Pacific, near Vanuatu. These three quakes measured 7.8, 7.7 and 7.1 and struck in quick succession the morning of October 8^th.

Over on nearby Tavarua Island, a large crew from Volcom was enjoying a good run of surf until the day of the quake. When tsunami warnings were sounded, all guests --including California pros Alex Gray and Mike Morrissey--and workers were quickly hustled onto the resort's infamous 'pongas' (the same ones that ferry surfers out to surf spots Cloudbreak and Restaurants)heading for deeper waters. While considered major quakes, reports are thatthese three were responsible for a significantly smaller amount of damage compared the more densely populated regions around Indonesia and Samoa. If you would like help, please log on to these websites: www.surfaidinternational.org and www.redcross.org.