Tsunami devastates Pacific

[Mount Suribachi]

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.

[Fragony]

Thousands of casualties I heard, pretty damn horrible. I always get the shakes when something like this happens.

[BDC]

Really not a good time to be living in an Indian Ocean coastal village or being a tourist. :(

[Templar Knight]

6,300 now dead

[Ironside]

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 .

[nokhor]

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]

Hes right, 10m seas are nothing to a boat, as long as its not a tiny tiny boat.

[Templar Knight]

Its up to 11,500 now

[Hosakawa Tito]

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

[nokhor]

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]

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.

[Lemur]

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.

[Ronin]

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]

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]

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]

Really sad. Just on a side note, we're mobilizing some aid for the devastated areas. Please donate to the Red Cross.

[Mount Suribachi]

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.

[tootee]

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]

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
Link 2

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.

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.

[7Bear7Scar]

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

[nokhor]

Hope you hear from your brother soon, Lemurmania.

[JAG]

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.

[Shadow]

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

[Lemur]

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]

total dead are 21000+
sad, very sad.

[Fragony]

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]

they are saying it could be over 50,000 dead

[sharrukin]

there are 4 Singaporeans dead two adults and 2 children aged between 3 & 6.

Do you know who they were? Names?
Were they teachers?

[Shadow]

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

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.

One disaster after another.

[Devastatin Dave]

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20...2330-7268r.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.