No one saw it coming, not the financiers, not the politicians, not the religionists and not even the scientists. It was beyond any financial analysis, beyond any political proclamations, beyond any religious prophesies and way beyond any science fiction tales of horror; a horrific destruction of the multitudes! Without precursor or harbinger, it struck in the dead of night. As the Earth turned on its axis, it attacked swiftly at first only on the darkened side of the planet during a moonless night. The roaring thunder-like excruciating day-of-reckoning noise was deafening. The ground shook as if for an eternity and the roar kept pace with it. The vibrations were stomach wrenching and fearsome. Not throughout any of the planet's history was ever such catastrophic devastation known. Past meteorites, storms, floods, quakes, plagues and wars combined would amount only to a fraction of what now had taken place.