Why is this part of the world being so traumatised? the tsunami was sudden and destructive. Yet people did not seem to heed this call to repent. In india the caste system was practised among the homless, water, food etc was not given to the so called lower castes, rape in Sri Lanka, child selling and all this is happening still. Can we compare this to the period of Noah, a time of warning?

The questions are heavy and unfortunately I can't give you the real answer. Hashem did not reveal his reasoning to any of us. What we should remember, as our rabbis teach us; – is that all that happens in this world has to do with the Jewish people and that we have an impact on world events; our good deeds can lessen suffering in India or pain in Indonesia, and G-d forbid our bad deeds – the opposite. (Kuzari 2; 36-44) We should therefore learn from these events. – What exactly? – As I said we don't know, but you are right that this should bring us closer to Hashem, to do Teshuvah, to become better people, to become better servants of Hashem. In the times of Noach – the world was filled with evil (Bereshit 6; 13), I want to believe that we live in better times, things are not perfect yet but we are getting there slowly.