Hi-tech is fragile.

Communications among several Asian and Pacific nations were disrupted as the undersea fiber optic cables were snapped by Tuesday's earthquake off Taiwan.

--‘The earthquake recorded a magnitude of 6.7 and its epicenter was pinpointed in the ocean off Taiwan. Almost immediately communications among several Asian and Pacific nations were disrupted -- in some cases knocking out connections entirely, and in other instances slowing traffic to a crawl.’

This causes a lot inconveniences to me, as I visit Chinese websites, use MSN and BT... All of a sudden I felt the distance that I didn’t pay too much attention to. Without hi-tech, it takes me forever to reach out to my family and friends in Shanghai.

Hi-tech is fragile. Natural disasters can easily expose its weaknesses.