View Full Version : Tsunami devastates Pacific
Mount Suribachi
12-26-2004, 14:07
Just seen this.....man this looks bad, really really bad. I fear that the casualty figures so far (3,500 dead) are only the tip of the iceberg. What about all the boats at sea caught in the Tsunami for example. Possible that there may be aftershocks as well? And then there is the disease, starvation etc that invariably follows disasters like this.
This just sucks, flat out sucks.
Thousands of casualties I heard, pretty damn horrible. I always get the shakes when something like this happens.
Really not a good time to be living in an Indian Ocean coastal village or being a tourist. :(
Templar Knight
12-26-2004, 17:22
6,300 now dead :sad:
Ironside
12-26-2004, 18:05
Boats don't get affected by a tsunami, it's a small wave at the sea, but unlike a normal wave it affects that entire block of 3000-4000 meter water. Then the same energy comes to the coast were it's somewhat more shallow :sad: .
this does suck. when i checked last the death toll was estimated at 7000+. my heart goes out for the dead and the survivors. i can't even imagine a 30 ft wave coming my way.
Medieval Assassin
12-26-2004, 19:30
Hes right, 10m seas are nothing to a boat, as long as its not a tiny tiny boat.
Templar Knight
12-26-2004, 20:50
Its up to 11,500 now
Hosakawa Tito
12-26-2004, 23:36
Here's a news blurb that is especially poignant. How many lives may have been saved.....
Warning system studied
Scientists said the catastrophic death toll across the region might have been reduced if India and Sri Lanka had been part of an international warning system designed to advise coastal communities that a potentially killer wave was approaching. The system relies on a network of earthquake seismic sensors and tidal gauges attached to buoys in the oceans.
From this article. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6754820/?GT1=5936
in a way related, but not exactly what hosokawa is talking about,
there is a tendency among people when these surprise acts of mass destruction occur to blame somebody, usually someone in gov't. you can't get retribution from an earthquake or volcanic eruption, but if there is a human being who has jurisdiction for this in some kind of bureaucracy, then its automatically their fault due to negligence. i just find it doubly sad, that we need someone to blame. something isn't good enough.
Hosakawa Tito
12-27-2004, 00:04
Considering this region suffers tsunamis quite regularly I would hope that the UN in conjunction with the governments from this area would be motivated to take action and join this international warning system.
There is already a monitoring system for tsunamis in the Pacific, just none in that region. I guess nobody wanted to foot the bill.
Oh, and a boat near shore is toast. Tsunamis are very small until they encounter the drag near shore -- they can literally be nothing but a centimeter or two in deep water. I don't really understand how that works, and I'd probably need some time in a fluid dynamics course to "get" it.
On a more personal note, my brother is vacationing in Thailand right now. Haven't hear from him yet, which isn't entirely surprising. With, what, 12,000+ people dead and the infrastructure devastated, it might be a while before one guy with a phone card can get word out. But I'll be a happy lemur when I hear his voice.
Wish me luck. This would be a sucky Christmas to lose a bro.
There is already a monitoring system for tsunamis in the Pacific, just none in that region. I guess nobody wanted to foot the bill.
Oh, and a boat near shore is toast. Tsunamis are very small until they encounter the drag near shore -- they can literally be nothing but a centimeter or two in deep water. I don't really understand how that works, and I'd probably need some time in a fluid dynamics course to "get" it.
On a more personal note, my brother is vacationing in Thailand right now. Haven't hear from him yet, which isn't entirely surprising. With, what, 12,000+ people dead and the infrastructure devastated, it might be a while before one guy with a phone card can get word out. But I'll be a happy lemur when I hear his voice.
Wish me luck. This would be a sucky Christmas to lose a bro.
hope you hear from your brother soon man.....my best wishes.
bmolsson
12-27-2004, 03:04
Indonesia is pretty shaken. About 5,000 dead and counting here in Northern Sumatra only. No problem down at the populated areas here on Java though.....
LittleGrizzly
12-27-2004, 04:32
The Sri Lanka president said sri lanka has never been hit but a Tsunami so maybe thats why they werent involved...
hope you hear from your brother lemur
Sad to hear about all those people
Devastatin Dave
12-27-2004, 04:35
Really sad. Just on a side note, we're mobilizing some aid for the devastated areas. Please donate to the Red Cross.
Mount Suribachi
12-27-2004, 09:39
Me and Mrs Suribachi were talking last night about donating some money, but we weren't sure who the best folks to donate too would be. I'll look into the Red Cross.
i read somewhere that tidal waves in the indian ocean is extremely rare.
anyhow just contacted a colleague and his wife who were on holiday in Phuket.. he was at the beach when the waves came, got dragged 100m back and suffer deep cuts to his arm.. fortunately both wife and him are safe now.
life is just so unpredictable..
Ironside
12-27-2004, 11:51
Oh, and a boat near shore is toast. Tsunamis are very small until they encounter the drag near shore -- they can literally be nothing but a centimeter or two in deep water. I don't really understand how that works, and I'd probably need some time in a fluid dynamics course to "get" it.
As I said the wave is often thousands of meters deep and that energy is conserved. It happens when a huge body of water is displaced by landslides, earthquakes etc. The energy created starts to move in form of a wave.
Two got links with info about tsunamis.
Link 1 (http://wcatwc.gov/physics.htm)
Link 2 (http://www.geophys.washington.edu/tsunami/general/physics/physics.html)
The best comparation I came up with was that you have 200 batteries serial-connected to 200 light-bulbs (this is the deep sea), then you remove 199 light-bulbs but keeps the batteries (when it comes towards the coast). Overloaded lightbulb anyone?
One of the worst part is that they were lucky that the tsunami was a "small" one considering the strength of the earthquake. :dizzy2:
And it seems that the cruel joke was occuring this time to, the "missing" water at the coast attracted people towards the coast, and then the tsunami comes...
Adrian, I hope your brother is alright. :bow:
7Bear7Scar
12-27-2004, 14:27
Very few destinations are safe, it seems. I remember watching a documentary on UK television a couple of years ago on a future-event which will make this tsunami appear minor in comparison, the collapse of the volcano Cumbra Vieja is likely to happen in our lifetime, the scientists said.
Florida and the Caribbean, the final destinations in the North Atlantic to be affected by the tsunami, will have to brace themselves for receiving 50 metre high waves - higher than Nelson's column in London, some 8 to 9 hours after the landslide. Towards Europe waves heights will be smaller, but substantial tsunami waves will hit the Atlantic coasts of Britain, Spain Portugal and France.
Link (http://www.benfieldhrc.org/SiteRoot/in_the_news/press_releases/la_palma.htm)
Hope you hear from your brother soon, Lemurmania.
I couldn't believe it when a family member told me of it, it was only when I saw it on the news did I believe it. What a devastating thing to happen to the communities in the coast areas of those countries. Not only are thousands dead but their whole villages and infrastructure have been demolished, how many years will it be before they get them back to what they were. :no:
It’s lucky that Singapore is sheltered by other land masses in the region so we only feel tremors that last about 5 min in some areas. I don’t know what we will do if we were hit by a Tsunami as we have not suffer any natural disasters before.
Phuket have over 300 dead and rising. I heard that the Thai king lost his 21 year old son who was at the beach when it strikes & there are 4 Singaporeans dead two adults and 2 children aged between 3 & 6.
I feel really sad that so many people lost their life. ~:(
Hope that you heard good news about your brother soon, Lemurmania
Still no word from my bro, but I guess that's not surprising. The infrastructure must be pretty beaten up, and I can only-too-easily picture a scenario where someone might get cut off for a few days.
I'm going to give it another 48 hours before I start sweating.
Kaiser of Arabia
12-27-2004, 18:52
total dead are 21000+
sad, very sad.
Still no word from my bro, but I guess that's not surprising. The infrastructure must be pretty beaten up, and I can only-too-easily picture a scenario where someone might get cut off for a few days.
I'm going to give it another 48 hours before I start sweating.
You still must be worried as hell. I hope it turns out well.
Templar Knight
12-27-2004, 23:07
they are saying it could be over 50,000 dead :sad:
sharrukin
12-27-2004, 23:17
there are 4 Singaporeans dead two adults and 2 children aged between 3 & 6.
Do you know who they were? Names?
Were they teachers?
I am not sure if they are teachers but I think one of them is called Beana Suwen.
I have a correction to make it’s the Thai’s King 21 year old grandson that was killed not his son. Sorry about that :embarassed:
Now those countries hurt by the tsunami have another problem on hand – mass epidemic out break due to a lack of clean water and sanitation. :furious3:
One disaster after another.
Devastatin Dave
12-28-2004, 17:39
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20041228-122330-7268r.htm
Gotta love this response. Western Countries and mainly the United States contribute more money and aid than any other country in the world and again we are the bad guys. Unbelievable. Even though it won't be apreciated, I'm still sending some money and cloths. I wonder how much money and aid China, North Korea, or Cuba are sending. I also wonder how much the United Nations will contribute? Of course if one of their aid workers stumps his/her toe, they'll pull out quicker than a UN election official on a Venezualin hooker. Maybe Koffi and his buddies, I'm sure including Jan Egeland, could spare some change from the millions that got in kick backs over the years.
Ser Clegane
12-28-2004, 18:20
"There are several donors who are less generous than before in a growing world economy," he said, adding that politicians in the United States and Europe "believe that they are really burdening the taxpayers too much, and the taxpayers want to give less. It's not true. They want to give more."
To that I can only say that people who would like to give more are free to do so without giving the money to the government first.
I personally use this liberty and have a better feeling donating my money directly to organizations like the Red Cross.
To that I can only say that people who would like to give more are free to do so without giving the money to the government first.
I personally use this liberty and have a better feeling donating my money directly to organizations like the Red Cross.
How true -
Mikeus Caesar
12-28-2004, 19:44
I just heard that 29,000+ are definately dead, and it could rise to 60,000. One hell of a tidal wave. Anyways, that's nothing compared to the volcano in the canary islands. When it breaks in half, bye bye to America's western seaboard.
Templar Knight
12-28-2004, 23:41
its at 60,000 now
Ironside
12-29-2004, 11:12
It seems to become the worst Swedish accident in atleast a decade, 1500 Swedes are still missing, although the number of confirmed dead is still low. :dizzy2: ~:eek:
Lemurmania any news from your bro ?
SwordsMaster
12-29-2004, 15:02
67,000. God, thats a population of an entire city!
King Edward
12-29-2004, 15:14
67,000. God, thats a population of an entire city!
Thats 8,000 more than the population of the island I live on. Very sad.
I have an Aunt who lives in Sri Lanka but we cant get in touch with her, but havent been for a few months.
Templar Knight
12-29-2004, 18:28
just heard that it could top 100,000 when the number from India's Bay of Bengal are known
Kaiser of Arabia
12-29-2004, 21:27
Wow...
Orda Khan
12-29-2004, 21:35
Do I pull this trigger and kill that person?
Do I strap all these explosives about my person and kill these people?
.......................Kind of brings things into perspective doesn't it?
About now we all need to decide how we can help our fellow man. Those poor, poor people
.........Orda
Lemurmania any news from your bro ?
No, there is no word. However, I have every reason to believe that he's okay. I was able to get a call through to the hotel where he was supposed to be staying, and they tried to patch me through to his room. Didn't get through, but this sort of indicates that he's where he's supposed to be, and not wrapped in plastic in a temple somewhere.
I'm now 99.999% sure he's okay. I'll get the last 0.001% if/when he calls.
Knowing him, he's probabaly pitching in to help with the dead and wounded.
It's good to heard that your brother is alive and helping with the victims instead of trying to get back after all there are more than 87,000 dead in Asia's tsunami disaster and the toll still rising so they will need all the help they can get.
The_Emperor
12-30-2004, 12:51
84,000 confirmed dead and still rising... I really do hope the aid gets through to help, they certainly need more to be sent.
Anyway good to know your brother is ok Lemurmania.
Templar Knight
12-30-2004, 13:49
just heard that more tidal waves are on the way, they have issued a warning in India :sad:
Jochi Khan
12-30-2004, 17:59
Todays press report..100,000 dead and still more to be accounted for.
Aid groups teamed up last night so that donations from around the world can go to a ..one stop fund.. and can be directed to where the cash is most needed.
This seems so much easier than trying to decide which organisation to donate cash to.
It is called ..Tsunami Earthquake Appeal and they are asking that donations of cash be sent to them.
In the UK the telephone Number to ring is: 0870 6060 900.
This will connect you to the Disasters Emergency Committee automated number.
Jochi
Hosakawa Tito
12-30-2004, 19:58
Just a friendly reminder to be very cautious when donating money to help these victims. You can bet that there are some scam artists out there who are going to try and profit from this tragedy.
Death toll is currently at 119,000 and many, many more are in dire need of basic necessities and amenities.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041231/ap_on_re_as/tsunami&cid=514&ncid=514
I am praying hard that there won't be a second major quake and appreciate that Org staff have put up an announcement for donations.
Mikeus Caesar
12-31-2004, 12:58
The death toll just keeps shooting up. I got up yesterday, and it was 60,000. By 4 o'clock, it had reached 80,000. By 6 o'clock, it had reached 120,000. And three quarters of those deaths are in indonesia alone. And don't worry, there won't be another quake for a long time. At least not for another 200 years.
*cough*oxfam,UN*cough*
Rubbish, complete rubbish. Both do great work.
Devastatin Dave
12-31-2004, 17:28
Rubbish, complete rubbish. Both do great work.
Are they affiliated with the UN? If so, I wouldn't trust them with any some og money. These people need actual help, not International buerocrats grandstanding in front of cameras then stealing the money that is suppose to go to the needy. JAG, I'm not trying to pick a fight but don't you want the people in the devastated regions to actually get the aid they need instead of the money that was given to aid them line the pockets of theives? 23 billion and counting stolen in the Oil for Food scandal and amazingly you still put trust in such a currupt organization.
Oxfam is a very respected charity in the UK and it does a hell of a lot of good work - http://www.oxfam.org.uk/ I fail to understand why Efrem has a problem with them and Dave they are also nothing to do with the UN.
On the UN, it is the single biggest hope for continuous world peace and prosperity, it needs all our work not sniping from the sidelines.
Templar Knight
12-31-2004, 19:47
http://images.scotsman.com/2004/12/31/3112waveb.jpg
A woman wades back to help as the giant wave smashes onto the beach, sweeping boats before it. It is not known what became of any of those pictured.
Big King Sanctaphrax
12-31-2004, 20:52
Cool it with the discussions about the UN's worth. This thread is here for us to express our condolences for the victims. If you want to talk about the politics of the incident, take it to the backroom.
Big_John
12-31-2004, 22:33
here's one of the best websites with info of all sorts regarding the tsunami aftermath and relief efforts
http://www.tsunamihelp.blogspot.com/
KukriKhan
01-01-2005, 20:13
Story about the first guy notified of the quake, and his misgivings/guilt feelings:
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1258&storyid=2454502
One of the things the guy talks about is not knowing how to dial-up Indonesia. If I personally wanted to reach a broad international audience to warn of impending disaster (this may sound odd) I'd announce it here, at the Org, trusting that we all knew enough people to get the word out.
What would you do?
LittleGrizzly
01-01-2005, 21:15
One of the things the guy talks about is not knowing how to dial-up Indonesia. If I personally wanted to reach a broad international audience to warn of impending disaster (this may sound odd) I'd announce it here, at the Org, trusting that we all knew enough people to get the word out.
What would you do?
spread it over every single forum i now and can find and asking anyone and everyone on my msn to do the same, send e-mails to goverment sites as well.
supposedly a warning would not have helped much anyway with the poor communications in most of the affected countrys..
Templar Knight
01-01-2005, 23:09
Contact BBC world service or some other large media group to get the word out, not sitting around pussy footing wondering how to use a phone. If this man was in a high position he should have known who to phone.
What would you do?
The warning would have to come from someone with authority and with sufficient justification, say for example at which cut off point on the Richter scale is a tremor likely to cause a dangerous tsunami.
There have been false alarms in Thailand before and this time when the threat was real, those involved were too timid to act. Similarly there have been a few false alarms in my region for a second tsunami after this current quake, which caused unnecessary panic and hampered aid efforts.
It is nice to notify through all manner of mass media you can think of but I sincerely feel serious immediate action is a lot more likely to be taken by connecting the geophysicists at a warning center straight to the local authorities in likely affected areas.
hundurinn
01-02-2005, 01:30
130.000 are believed to be dead now. And they are predicting that number could go up to 200.000. 60.000 people are missing in Thailand. Iceland, which probably few know about is one of the richest nations in the world, only gave around 81.512$ :furious3: People are furious and demand additional 5.000.000 - 15.000.000$ millions will be given.
Red Peasant
01-02-2005, 02:22
This is a rather poignant transcript of an interview with a survivor that was aired on the World Service, from the BBC website:
Arjuna Seneviratna, a 40-year-old IT consultant from Sri Lanka, lives in the capital Colombo but was staying in Beruwela on the south-western coast when the tsunami wave struck.
He witnessed the tsunami, and told the news and current affairs programme The World about the harrowing experience.
"When the first wave came in, we were happy that we were seeing something that was really strange, but it was a very mild wave. Then the sea receded back, and we didn't know what that meant.
It was like someone had pulled the plug on the ocean, and crags and outcroppings of rock inside the sea were visible for the first time in years.
We just watched it, and I was taking photographs of it. Then came this massive wall of water. What did I do? I just sat and watched it. I just watched it and watched it as it came in - it took maybe four seconds from the point when I was aware of it to the point when it hit the hotel.
Those four seconds were like a lifetime. Even if someone runs at you with a knife, you can hit him back, or run away or claim insurance or whatever. This time, there was nothing I could do. I could only watch, and it was coming in, and it hit the crags, and I saw those people on the crags just being flung into the air like confetti, just blown out of the water.
Then this thing hit the hotel - I was on the first floor of the building in the restaurant - and it was like a bomb hit it. I saw a part of it just get taken off.
I still kept watching. I don't know why - I think that my mind was so completely numbed by the phenomenon of this, and the power of what was happening. I just stood. I stood my ground, not because I'm Superman, or a superhero, but I didn't know what to think.
Very little was left standing after the wave hit Sri Lankan coastal resorts
And this thing blasted through - I heard windows just bursting, not breaking, but bursting. It's a very special sound. It was like a movie. I just watched the whole thing.
I watched it go - I watched it take so much away. I saw so much life terminating, that I was seriously wondering what was more difficult - whether to live watching death, or just to die.
I really don't know if my life was in danger. There were five hotels that were really hard-hit in Sri Lanka - one of them was the hotel that I was at. I know only one thing: that there is no hotel there now. I do not know how I lived.
I wasn't submerged in water. The problem is not being submerged in water - it's the sheer force of the destruction. I think I was relatively lucky that I was very close to the ocean - that meant that only water hit us.
But if I had been 150m (500 feet) inside the coastline I would have been hit by flying debris, by 250 cars, by brick walls, by reinforcement bars. I would not have drowned, I would have been beaten to death.
The only reason I think I survived was that the walls were relatively strong to withstand the initial impact.
Subsequently, literally, I just walked out in three feet (1m) of water. I had an extremely small cut.
But what is more important is not how you manage to survive a 30-second burst of a wave, it's how you manage to survive what comes afterwards, when you see men looking for their wives, when you see mothers looking for their children and screaming their names, when you see people that you have danced the night before away with, not accounted for.
That is when reality strikes.
The night before, I had been dancing. It was Christmas. We danced into the wee hours of the morning. With everyone, everyone bonded. There were Finns, there were Dutchmen and Dutchwomen, there were Brits, there were Japanese - I actually won a dance competition.
The next morning it was like it was a whole big family of 150 people. And then the next day I am seeing one of those people screaming for their loved ones.
Now, I'm drinking a lot. I do not think it helps because right now, I've got a bottle, and it's not helping me - I'm as lucid as ever, I've been lucid since then, and it really doesn't help. What do you do? What do you do?
It's like 9/11. I was on top of the continental ridge on the Rocky Mountains when 9/11 happened. I saw only one thing. What I saw, was what I heard - silence. You know what that the silence was? The silence was that all the planes had dropped out of the sky - and in America, at any given moment, if you look up into the sky, there are at least 10 planes up there. There's a drone, that nobody really notices, until the drone stops.
My nation is silent right now."
I don't think it lends any dignity to this difficult situation for people to brag about what country gives what, or accuse others of being stingy. People will give what they feel like. Anger and recrimination don't seem to be appropriate responses to an event of this scale. It is numbing. This catastrophe was of a magnitude that defies belief, and it happened and travelled so fast that most of these poor people would not have been able to get away in any event. It reminds us that we do not control this world.
Big_John
01-02-2005, 03:04
I don't think it lends any dignity to this difficult situation for people to brag about what country gives what, or accuse others of being stingy. People will give what they feel like. Anger and recrimination don't seem to be appropriate responses to an event of this scale.to some degree.. but a person has the right to criticize their own government (which they support/are supported by) if they feel it is not acting appropriately. who cares about that abstract dignity when peoples lives are in the balance? if i were suddenly homeless and destitute, dignity would be somewhere below survival on my list.
Red Peasant
01-02-2005, 03:24
to some degree.. but a person has the right to criticize their own government (which they support/are supported by) if they feel it is not acting appropriately. who cares about that abstract dignity when peoples lives are in the balance? if i were suddenly homeless and destitute, dignity would be somewhere below survival on my list.
I think anger is also somewhat below survival for most of these poor people.
Though one can understand the anger and violence of those, for example, on the Andaman and Nicobar islands who are starving and dying of disease, yet they are denied foreign aid by their govt (India) because it refuses to acknowledge the need for help. What price national pride?
Muneyoshi
01-02-2005, 11:43
Now at a confirmed 150,000+ with an estimated total of around 500,000+ not to mention the injured, missing, or displaced. Keep in mind that 150,000+ is that though currently because a number of the counties (Indonesia mainly) arent keeping official counts at this current time because of the devastation, hence the estimed 500k+. Apparently a large number of people went to pick up fish off the seabed when the water receded shortly before it hit, especially children. If you look at the pic Templar provided you can see how far it receded.
Apparently 2 billion dollars in US currency has been given already (Japan has the most with 500 million, then USA with 350 million, the World Bank with 250 million, UK with 150 million, Sweden with 125 million.) Officials say that billions more will be needed, but thats to be expected.
Looks on course to be as bad as the Bhola Cyclone.
Oh and Tito, Fish is right: the area doesnt get tsunamis regularly, its actually quite rare in the Indian. The last large tsunami the area had seen was in 1883 when Krakatoa erupted
PS - Pics of a part of the Banda Aceh shore. Before (http://www.digitalglobe.com/images/tsunami/banda_aceh_northernshore_june23_2004_dg.jpg)
After (http://www.digitalglobe.com/images/tsunami/banda_aceh_northernshore_dec28_2004_dg.jpg)
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