Tsunami in Asia

Palomar · 2004-12-27 17:22:05

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u … ldren]This just gets worse and worse

*Death toll currently at 22,000! That's doubled from the last report I saw, earlier today (have been offline most of the day). How awful. One lady in the report is missing 11 children.

An entire generation may have been lost. I can't comprehend something like this. My heart really goes out to these people.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s … 2]Millions homeless

--Cindy

Grypd · 2004-12-27 19:19:53

Imagine knowing that the Tsunami was coming and there was nothing you could do to warn your fellow countrymen. This was the case for a lot of geologists as there is no Tsunami warning system like exists for the Pacific.

Tsunami means Harbour wave, rather gentle name for such a horribly destructive force. What a real tradgedy. With up to another 30,000 possibly missing as there are whole parts of countries missing. The international community will have to get moving very quickly if we are to stop the disease which is due to come now as so much water is polluted and dead animals start to rot in the tropical conditions.

Josh Cryer · 2004-12-27 19:39:49

I know, it's freaking tragic, every day around Christmas some natural disaster has happened, earthquake in Iran last year, earthquake in Japan year before.

ERRORIST · 2004-12-27 19:42:11

What scares me also is the possibility of the Earths rotation being disturbed. What the heck are they talking about? The tilt of the Earth? Its rotational velocity speeding up or slowing down? The speed in which it orbits the Sun?

Palomar · 2004-12-27 20:41:13

Imagine knowing that the Tsunami was coming and there was nothing you could do to warn your fellow countrymen. This was the case for a lot of geologists as there is no Tsunami warning system like exists for the Pacific.
Tsunami means Harbour wave, rather gentle name for such a horribly destructive force. What a real tradgedy. With up to another 30,000 possibly missing as there are whole parts of countries missing. The international community will have to get moving very quickly if we are to stop the disease which is due to come now as so much water is polluted and dead animals start to rot in the tropical conditions.

*Yes. And the ocean's beguiling behavior shortly beforehand as mentioned in one of the articles above especially caught my attention:

In Sri Lanka, which suffered the biggest loss of life in the tsunami, crowds had come to the beaches to watch the sea after word spread that it was producing larger-than-normal waves.
Thousands of children joined their elders to see the spectacle. The waves brought in fish. The old and the young collected them. Many waited for more fun.

*It's no wonder people of old -- and even some folks today -- believed in malevolent supernatural forces tricking and beguiling people to destruction and death. :-\ That's not my belief, but it's understandable how this interpretation could be made. Poor folks, drawn out of simple human curiosity. ::shakes head::

Does Arthur C. Clarke still live in Colombo, Sri Lanka? He has made it his home since 1956. He's come to mind in this matter as well.

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2004-12-27 21:09:46

The quake was along the Java trench that is on the ring of fire as it is known also it is on the edge of one of the tectonic plates as well. I was up late last night when I first heard of this event. It is indeed tragic that communications from around the world of the event could be heard here so many hours before but yet it would seem none or little was done over there in so many nations to communicate the impending danger.

Edit:
Ring of fire otherwise known as volcanic active

ERRORIST · 2004-12-27 22:46:32

Could a nuke placed in the right spot on a fault line cause such a disaster? Could this be terrorism?

BWhite · 2004-12-27 23:35:05

Could a nuke placed in the right spot on a fault line cause such a disaster? Could this be terrorism?

My understanding is a firm "NO"

I read somewhere that the island of Sumatra moved. The whole freakin' island. Even thousands of our H-bombs are not THAT powerful.

ERRORIST · 2004-12-28 00:06:38

Yea but, Perhaps, a nuke that was set off in the right location on a fault line where a weakness is could cause this to happen???

Gennaro · 2004-12-28 00:25:41

Yup, it's positively horrible. I've got a few pals down in Thailand right now. They've been to Vietnam previously, checking out Saigon, the old Imperial capital of Hue (also the scene of the Tet offensive in February '68) the remains of the DMZ etc. I got a postcard with a portrait of Ho Chi Minh.

Most have had a few bruises, one broke three ribs, but otherwise they are okay. They plan to stay and carry on their vacation. I don't know, they are like that. Being the last to get out of Phnom Penh before the Khmer Rouge arrive sort of people, and that kind of thing.

Palomar · 2004-12-28 06:50:21

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=15778]NOAA reaction

*An hour ago the death toll was 30,000; now it's 40,000.

There are illustrations and downloadable images of tsunami models, etc., in the link. Probably most folks know this already, I think I've known this previously as well: Tsunamis can travel in excess of 500 mph and can cross the entire Pacific Ocean in less than 24 hours. :-\

Gennaro, unless your friends are helping with rescue and recovery, I think they're nuts for staying in the region. I'd be mightily worried about aftershocks and more tsunami (even if less drastic).

--Cindy

::EDIT:: http://www.space.com/news/tsunami_clark … tml]Arthur C. Clarke's statement about this catastrophy

Gennaro · 2004-12-28 07:30:56

Well, I guess it appears kind of insane. I just don't know any details of why they are doing it.

Sorry, I admit my post was unbecoming considered the situation. And 2,000 of my countrymen are still reported "missing". Have you heard about how many Americans are lost in the area?

Palomar · 2004-12-28 08:35:47

Sorry, I admit my post was unbecoming considered the situation. And 2,000 of my countrymen are still reported "missing". Have you heard about how many Americans are lost in the area?

*Hi Gennaro. Not sure how many Americans may have been killed. 2000 of your own countrymen? Sorry to know it.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u … 3319]Quake rattled Earth's orbit. :-\

Says Earth wobbled on its axis. Also "permanently altered the regional map." May have moved small islands 66 feet, although apparently that's more of a vertical motion shift rather than horizontal.

-also-

The northwestern tip of the Indonesian territory of Sumatra may also have shifted to the southwest by around 36 meters (120 feet), Hudnut said.

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2004-12-28 10:49:20

More news stories still coming in on the death toll.
At Least 3,000 Dead, 30,000 Missing On Two Indian Islands: Officials

Many of the islands in the area are still inhabited by indigenous tribes people with several Sentinelese aborigines and Shompen aborigines tribes that may have there populations wiped up by the tsunami. The last untouched area from mans early cradle to which civilization sprang from.

Palomar · 2004-12-28 12:05:22

*Yes. I just now read that 2/3 of the population of one of those tiny islands have been killed.

http://www.networkforgood.org/topics/in … px]Network For Good (humanitarian agencies)

Wish the rich folks tossing big $$ Bush's way for his inaugural gala would send that money to these relief efforts instead. I would hope to see Mr. Bush acting on his claim to be a compassionate conservative by asking them to donate that money to these humanitarian agencies. But I won't hold my breath.

--Cindy

Grypd · 2004-12-28 18:41:37

The Andaman islands of which there where about 1200 have discovered that many of the Islands are just not there anymore. Many had private hotels and small fishing villages and these make up many of the disapeared of the Andaman islands.

Most Andaman islands are coral outposts which may only rise a few feet above the sea level and being primarily made of sand simply got washed away.

But in every situation there is humour. And in this case a BBC reporter was washed away with his daughter and being able to get inside a floating fridge was able to give a good description of the event and how he and his daughter where doing. And how after all the chaos found themselves floating and surrounded by crocodiles all on a phonecall. They where rescued but it does show a dedication to your job

DonPanic · 2004-12-28 18:58:49

LO

Could a nuke placed in the right spot on a fault line cause such a disaster? Could this be terrorism?
My understanding is a firm "NO"

Oussama Bin Ladin didn't claim for an attack...
Anyways, the power of the sismic shock outpasses by far all the world's nuke power arsenal.

Have you heard about how many Americans are lost in the area?

Not a handfull, too scared to travel abroad, lots of muslims in these parts of the world...

Wish the rich folks tossing big $$ Bush's way for his inaugural gala would send that money to these relief efforts instead. I would hope to see Mr. Bush acting on his claim to be a compassionate conservative by asking them to donate that money to these humanitarian agencies. But I won't hold my breath..

What Bush has spent for war at Irak and is ready to spend again compared with the money to be given to help the tsumani victims is a real obscenity

clark · 2004-12-28 19:15:38

Two days prior to the disaster, my cousin called to have me relay a message to my aunt. She and her husband were planning to go to Thailand and he wanted me to warn them not to go.

Weird coincidence, no?

Two italian friends were in Thailand at the time though on vacation... haven't heard from them yet.

ERRORIST · 2004-12-28 20:08:13

Oussama Bin Ladin didn't claim for an attack...
Anyways, the power of the sismic shock outpasses by far all the world's nuke power arsenal.

A simple nuke would be the primer for such an event if it were placed on a fault line in the right location.

DonPanic · 2004-12-28 20:39:00

A simple nuke would be the primer for such an event if it were placed on a fault line in the right location.

That's just a theory, d'you know where "knots" in San Andrea fault are located ?
Hush, do'nt tell to OBL ???

SpaceNut · 2004-12-28 20:43:17

You have been watching to many superman movies with Lex Lugger and cronies that try to make shore front property out of the California's San adreas fault erupting to make the coast slide out to sea and a new shore line to come about in death valley.

But this is not really the place for this.... enough said.

A number of similar news stories coming from other places of the miracle of survival or at least of the near miss to those telling of the event.

ERRORIST · 2004-12-28 20:43:32

Don'tPanic I won't.

RobS · 2004-12-28 21:18:33

I'm very worried about the Andaman Islands because I was in touch with some local people there by email just a year or so ago. I'll have to email them again (if the message goes through).

Someone commented about Diego Garcia. I bet it was not effected much. It was way far away and it's a single island sticking up in the middle of the ocean, not a group of close isalnds like the Andamans. Out in the middle of the ocean, tsunamis are disturbances that are only a foot or so high. But they are a body wave, not a surface wave; they disturb the entire ocean down to the bottom 15,000 feet down. When they approach a coast, all that energy gets concentrated upward as the water depth decreases. But a small island sticking up from deep ocean tends to bend the tsunami around it, so the wave stays low on the surface. That's what I've heard, anyway.

-- RobS

SpaceNut · 2004-12-29 06:21:09

Taiwan's space programme offers tsunami satellite images to aid relief and I hope others will follow suit it such relief efforts.

Palomar · 2004-12-29 09:35:43

*First of all, the current human death toll is over 72,000. The Red Cross sadly predicts over 100,000 deaths.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s … ife_dc]Sri Lankan animal population

Found the above link at Yahoo!'s "Oddly Enough" section. So far, Sri Lankan wildlife officials have found *no* dead animals. It's said that cats especially can sense impending earthquakes; a friend of mine, who lives in an earthquake-prone area, says folks there go "on the alert" when family and neighborhood cats suddenly "go missing." I believe animals do have special senses which we lack; in fact, I think it's obvious.

Anyway, the article is interesting. I hadn't thought about the animal life there, have been focusing on the human toll.

--Cindy

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