[voyageur]

The largest earthquake in 40 years, now upgraded to a 9.0, hit off the coast of Sumatra this morning, generating a tsunami that has killed almost 10,000 people in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Maldives and Indonesia. It appears that Madras, India, was very badly hit, as were the Maldives and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. I would imagine Burma also suffered considerable loss of life, although it's very difficult to get news from there.

Unlike the Pacific Ocean, this area has no history of tsunamis, so no warning system was in place, and no precautions were taken following the huge quake. People were caught unawares on beaches, swimming, in homes, hotels, restaurants, boats and the like.

This is terrible news to wake up to today. Story

Map of quake
I hope all NNers are safe.

[Mafia]

terrible news, i hope the the toll doesn't rise anymore.

[vexborg]

Originally posted by Mafia:
terrible news, i hope the the toll doesn't rise anymore.

The death toll has now been reported to more than 11300 and rising

Reuters

[ae77]

unreal. most terrible diaster i've ever heard.

[ambush]

God Is Love�

[Komisar]

11300?! I hope it doesn't go much higher

[FulcrumPilot]

Leaving the inconsequential God out of this, I think this is a Human failure! Much of the deaths could have easily been prevented!

[ambush]

Originally posted by FulcrumPilot:
Leaving the inconsequential God out of this, I think this is a Human failure! Much of the deaths could have easily been prevented!

Well, you see, poor people have less security measures.

[FulcrumPilot]

Originally posted by ambush:
Well, you see, poor people have less security measures.

There was at least 2 hours for the right authorities to fly some choppers or something along the coast and warn the dwellers to get the hell out of the beaches using some kind of PA or something!!

[Lancer409]

damn =( .. then again, on the west coast, two hours will afford us ... well .. a death in gridlocked freeways...

[Cubeoid]

Gettin some pretty nasty conditions here in Melbourne too. Not nice.

[lil'babykitten]

The death toll is at 14,000 and is still expected to rise.

[TheBadgerHunter]

Originally posted by ambush:
God Is Love�

Oh stfu. Who ever said god controlled the weather?



Very very sad event.

[Splinter]

CNN

Asia quake toll tops 20,000

9.0 HOLY HELL!

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by TheBadgerHunter:
Oh stfu. Who ever said god controlled the weather?

"weather"?

Originally posted by FulcrumPilot:
There was at least 2 hours for the right authorities to fly some choppers or something along the coast and warn the dwellers to get the hell out of the beaches using some kind of PA or something!!

Choppers? PA?

You're talking about the huge coasts/tiny islands of India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Maldives. Remember how long it took the United States, a country with ostensibly excellent infrastructure, to get *anything* in the air on 9/11.

There is nobody to blame here.

[Captain Obvious]

Next on Oprah.........

Redecorating Oprah's condo with Asian driftwood I found

[DigitalEl]

Oh stfu.

Classy.

Who ever said god controlled the weather?

BTW, an earthquake (which triggers a tsunami) has nothing to do with "the weather."

And from Reuters:
JAKARTA, Dec 27 (Reuters) - The death toll from a magnitude 9.0 earthquake near Indonesia and the resulting tsunami in the Indian Ocean rose to 21,559 people, government officials and media from affected countries said. These figures are preliminary and in some cases rough estimates by local officials:

Country / Deaths
India / 5,697+
Indonesia / 4,912
Malaysia / 44
Myanmar / 36
Sri Lanka / 10,029
Thailand / 839
Bangladesh / 2
TOTAL / 21,559

+ The figure includes an estimated 3,000 feared killed in India's Andaman and Nicobar islands.

In addition, about 1,300 people were missing in India's Andhra Pradesh, 35 in Malaysia and 10 people were feared dead in the Maldives. The numbers are based on comments by official sources and local media.

[vexborg]

The count is now at 21559 deaths, with some 5200 injured.

It's just so sad...

[Spheric Harlot]

On TV just now:

Apparently, there *could* have been an early warning about TEN HOURS ahead for some regions. Unfortunately, none of the countries in question have emergency alert, let alone evacuation plans. This is the real tragedy, and it is infrastructure-related.

Contrast with Japan, where you have yearly "earthquake preparation" days, which include tsunami emergencies.

The danger isn't over, btw - high probability of aftershocks in the first 72 hours.

[paully dub]

I've said it before, I can't think of a worse, more vulnerable place for this to occur. India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, the Maldives and so on. All have lots of coast line in the vicinity, are heavily dependant on tourism in those areas, and for the most part unprepared and lacking in resources to deal with a tragedy of the magnitude.

It's simply devastating.

[Mastrap]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
On TV just now:

Apparently, there *could* have been an early warning about TEN HOURS ahead for some regions. Unfortunately, none of the countries in question have emergency alert, let alone evacuation plans. This is the real tragedy, and it is infrastructure-related.

They DO have radios and television stations. Unfortunately nobody had an early warning system figured out. A total tragedy.

[voyageur]

Apparently geophysicists in Hawaii noted the quake and were concerned that it had a high probability of generating a tsunami, but had no list of officials to call and warn in the affected countries.

One thing to remember, which may or may not help you in a similar situation: if you're near the shore and see the water receding abnormally far out from shore, RUN FOR THE HIGHEST GROUND as fast as you can. You may only have 5 minutes, but it could save your life.

Talking with my husband, a geophysicist who did his PhD on tsunami generation, I learned that there was a large tsunami generated by an earthquake off Sumatra in 1833 also. He says several scientists have been concerned that this particular fault had the potential for infrequent, but very large earthquakes that could generate devastating waves. It's even possible that a large (8.1) earthquake last week south of Tasmania was a forerunner of sorts to this one.

He's also concerned that there is a significant potential for this kind of event in the Caribbean, and there is also no warning system in place there.

[paully dub]

Originally posted by voyageur:
He's also concerned that there is a significant potential for this kind of event in the Caribbean, and there is also no warning system in place there.

Really, even with all of the hurricanes they get seemingly every year?

edit: I realise it's hardly the same, as meterologists watch the storms develop and track their movements over several days, yet one would think the carribean better equiped.

[addiecool]

Im an in India. Based in New Delhi. This is one of the biggest tragedies after the Gujarat Quake where approx 75000 died. God Bless the families.

[driven]

I have MANY friends in Phuket, Thailand. (It's like a second home to me.) I'm sickened by the photos I see. I'm even more sickened that nobody is answering their phone. (Hopefully it's just a phone problem.)

I'd be on a jet tomorrow if I thought I could do any good when I got there. As things have it I'd probably just be in the way.

[rambo47]

NOAA has a QuickTime animation of the tsunami that's pretty interesting: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/video/t...esia12-2004.qt
I read on Reuters that the wave was 20 ft. tall. I figured from the damage and death toll it would have been much bigger. Damn

[Lancer409]

i hear the toll is now above 20,000 ...

[rozwado1]

Originally posted by DigitalEl:
Bangladesh / 2

You gotta wonder what those 2 people were doing in Bangladesh...

It's sad, but I think this 21,000+ tragedy will only hold the headlines for a few weeks then MSNBC and FOX will focus back to terrorism.

[Thilo Ettelt]

Originally posted by FulcrumPilot:
Leaving the inconsequential God out of this, I think this is a Human failure! Much of the deaths could have easily been prevented!

Riiggghhhttt. You can't even prevent these deaths easily when it comes to the USA and Japan: the only security thing they have is that the traffic lights go red or blink (something like that). That gives you a couple of seconds, maybe up to a minute, until the tsunami wave arrives at the shore.

As for predicting Tsunamis you have to look at the origin: a sea-quake. Even normal earthquakes cannot be predicted properly yet. There are measures, via GPS for example, you can track the slightest movement of tectonic layers, you can even find anomalies that are typical for an earthquake, but unfortunetely they are typical for rain, or wind, or just other weather phenomenons as well. So only a sophisticated look at combinations of occurances might help. There's a long road to go to find the "formula" for that though. As for the animals, there have been lots of earthquakes when animals didn't do a thing before it happened. So this isn't a clear indicator either.


- Thilo

Source: http://www.zeit.de/2004/53/beben_allgemein

EDIT: I have to revise my post. I have just read that it allegedly took hours for the tsunami to reach the shore. Then the deads could have been prevented. Yet one has to wonder, though, how to evacuate millions?

[jbartone]

It's horrible...and it feels so close to home...

The hysteria has spread down here as well. I've heard "The world is ending" and "Are we next?" so many times in the last 24 hours it's not funny.

[driven]

Originally posted by jbartone:
It's horrible...and it feels so close to home...

The hysteria has spread down here as well. I've heard "The world is ending" and "Are we next?" so many times in the last 24 hours it's not funny.

That was the first thing that my dad said. "The world is ending". <groan>

[Mastrap]

If you haven't done already, and can afford it, please donate some cash. The Red Cross is taking online donations, so are other charities helping.

[driven]

Mastrap,

Good call!
Let's fork over some cash folks .....

[Judge_Fire]

IIRC, Bangladesh has invested a lot of effort into emergency measures to cope with floods and even tsunamis.

J

[mrtew]

Originally posted by FulcrumPilot:
There was at least 2 hours for the right authorities to fly some choppers or something along the coast and warn the dwellers to get the hell out of the beaches using some kind of PA or something!!

I don't think they know if a quake caused a wave till it actually gets to land. The wave travels undetected across the bottom of the ocean until it hits the beach. They could guess that one might be coming based on the size of the quake, and it wouldn't hurt to get people out of the way, but it's not like they knew the danger was on the way or anything.

[Axo1ot1]

Tsunami from Space:

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/video/t...esia12-2004.qt

The USGS has a webpage on it now:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqs...kes/usslav.htm

[driven]

Originally posted by mrtew:
I don't think they know if a quake caused a wave till it actually gets to land. The wave travels undetected across the bottom of the ocean until it hits the beach. They could guess that one might be coming based on the size of the quake, and it wouldn't hurt to get people out of the way, but it's not like they knew the danger was on the way or anything.

In Thailand the King's grandson was killed on a Jetski. I think it's safe to say that if the government knew it was coming they would have at least moved HIM.

Phuket has like 1 bridge to get off the island. (Which is about the only place safe ....) Two hours would not be nearly enough time other than to cause a fatal stampede.

Koh Phi Phi is even worse. The only way to those little islands is by a slow, overloaded ferry. Trip time to Phuket is about 40-60 minutes on a good day. If I know a tsunami is coming, I'd MUCH rather take my chances on the island than on some overloaded boat.

[Splinter]

28,500

Estimates stand at over 40k

[itai195]

What a tragedy. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected. 9.0 earthquake, holy cow! I was here during the Loma Prieta quake (7.1) and something 100x more powerful seems unimaginable.

[Splinter]

37,000 reported dead (haaretz)
nearing 40,000 (Foxnews)

[mrtew]

Numbers are 44,000 and rising and the diseases haven't even set in yet. It's going to be a LOT more than double that number in a few weeks. Just from a wave. We are all hanging in a delicate balance on this big rock.

[Randman]

55,000 now and rising.

JAKARTA, Dec 28 (AFP) - The confirmed death toll from the massive earthquake and tidal waves that devastated much of Asia's coastline passed 55,000 Tuesday, with officials warning the figure was likely to rise steeply.
In Indonesia, the government's disaster relief centre said at least 27,174 were killed after the country took the full force of the huge earthquake and tidal waves that swallowed entire coastal villages.
Indonesia's health ministry said at least 27,174 had been killed in the quake as the true scale of the catastrophe becomes clear.
In Sri Lanka more than 17,600 people, including at least 70 foreigners, were killed in Sunday's disaster.
More than 8,500 people were reported killed in India with many more victims expected, officials said.
Among them were about 4,000 in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, close to the epicentre of the quake, where thousands were missing after five villages were swept away, an official said.
More than 1,400 people were killed, among them more than 700 foreign tourists, in southern Thailand, officials said, putting the toll at 1,439.
In Malaysia 65 people, including many elderly and children, were killed, officials said, while at least 90 people were killed in Myanmar.
At least 52 people including two British holidaymakers were killed while another 68 were missing in the tourist paradise of Maldives, officials said.
In Bangladesh a father and child were killed after a tourist boat capsized from large waves, local officials said.
Fatalities also occurred on the east coast of Africa where 100 fishermen were declared dead in Somalia and 10 in Tanzania.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake west of the Indonesian island of Sumatra measured 9.0 on the Richter scale -- making it the largest quake worldwide in four decades.

Death toll
Sri Lanka: 17,640
India: 8,523
Indonesia: 27,174
Thailand: 1,439
Malaysia: 65
Myanmar: 90
Maldives: 55
Bangladesh: 2
Somalia 100
Tanzania 10

Total: 55,098

[storer]

I have a second cousin in Thailand at the moment, so we are praying that she comes back safely.

[vexborg]

Now more than 68.000 has died


Reuters.com

[f1000]

I think voyageur posted a thread not too long ago describing a potential calamity awaiting Atlantic seaboards in the form of a gargantuan piece of rock in the Canary Islands.

http://www.iris.edu/about/ENO/iows/2_2003a.htm

[roam]

This is beyond tragic, so utterly devastating for the people in that region. What's even sadder, is that just as many people could die from disease over the next few weeks too.

I was reading that some some tourist resorts have just been ripped apart, so many people mising there.
Sweden has 1500 citizens unaccounted for; Australia has 7000 citizens holidaying in the area, many missing; Germany has hundreds; so does the UK, and Canada, etc.

Probably one of the most tragic incidents in living memory since World War 2, one which has affected nations around the world.

[voyageur]

Originally posted by f1000:
I think voyageur posted a thread not too long ago describing a potential calamity awaiting Atlantic seaboards in the form of a gargantuan piece of rock in the Canary Islands.

http://www.iris.edu/about/ENO/iows/2_2003a.htm

I think this possibility will get more attention after the Indian Ocean disaster, not because it's any more likely to happen, but because we are now sensitized to the magnitude of such an event in human terms. The first author of this paper is a very bright man; I've met him because he was on my husband's thesis committee. If he feels this event is possible it's worth listening to, although it may never happen in our lifetimes.

[Turias]

And it's up to 80,000...

How much higher is this going to go?

[driven]

Originally posted by Turias:
And it's up to 80,000...

How much higher is this going to go?

Wait until the disease takes hold from those dead bodies.

I've also heard that some of the mass graves they dug were done so haphazardly that the decaying bodies have the potential to polute the groundwater with deadly cooties.

This is bad.

My friend told me that they were pulling bodies out of the basement of a shopping mall/bowling alley that we frequent today. Apparently they could escape the water to get out of the building or to a higher floor. I can't even imagine the horror. (To make matters worse, they have been in there for 4 days .... yuk)

[mrtew]

Originally posted by Turias:
And it's up to 80,000... How much higher is this going to go?

Death toll reaches 100,000
By Andrew Gilligan In Colombo And Valentine Low In London, Evening Standard
29 December 2004
The death toll in the tsunami disaster soared past 100,000 today - and is set to climb higher.