Thank you for your feedback!
Yup the game is fast. Really fast. :D We tried to target a gameplay session that was at most 5 minutes not to bore the player. I can give you a few tips though.
Tsunamis recharge faster, but have less range (they only hit a city), and you don't have to stop an ongoing research as soon as you find it.
Many cities have several disasters near them: you can choose the best one depending on the ongoing researches, the availability and your missions.
Rotate the world often as a new research could start in any ("idle") city, and don't forget to upgrade! It'll shorten the disaster cooldown time or increase damage.