11.500 killed!

[Slo spurs fan]

In s.e. asia tidal wave killed over 11.500 people!
See on cnn.com/quake

[SLOVENIAN 8]

Yes. Tsunamis Huge wawes

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/26/asia.quake/index.html
http://www.siol.net/photo/gallery_700/tsunami.jpg
http://www.warriorprincess.com/Ep65_Tsunami/tsunami.jpg

[ALVAREZ6]

Wow.
That's terrible, I feel bad for those people.

Imagine, you're sitting at a beach,
and then you see this
http://www.warriorprincess.com/Ep65_Tsunami/tsunami.jpg
...staring you down...

[SLOVENIAN 8]

Some pictures of tsunamis:
http://www.exn.ca/news/images/2001/05/18/20010518-wave.JPG
http://www.dgpad.gov.co/acerca/images/tsuna1.JPG

http://www.geophys.washington.edu/tsunami/general/physics/physics.html

[JohnnyMarzetti]

That is just freaking terrible.

[ducks]

talk about some waves

who could surf those waves?

[Slo spurs fan]

Ducks there are > 11.500 people killed and you think about surfing?
Now this is sick! :depressed

[ALVAREZ6]

Seriously ducks,
surfing doesn't fit in with this.

What does over 10,000 people mean to you?

[ducks]

ok people that waves can cause death

if people could surf those waves they might be alot more people alive

[alamo50]

Make that 14.000....................

:(

[ALVAREZ6]

ok people that waves can cause death

if people could surf those waves they might be alot more people alive
No, most of the deaths weren't because they were actually at the beach.

Wow ducks, just quit.

If people could almost surf that, they wouldn't even dream about it,
just looking at a tsunamis coming at you would paralyze you.

[E20]

:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao
@ Ducks

[MannyIsGod]

Ducks....

:lmao

[alamo50]

Oh my God...........latest total number of people who died: 21,000

:cry

[MannyIsGod]

I do think it's sad that those people died.

I just wanted to point out that just because I laugh at Ducks jokes doesn't mean I don't see the tragedy for what it is. I'm sure Ducks' feelings are the same.

[alamo50]

Tidal wave toll tops 20,000 in southern Asia

Millions homeless as international aid arrives

The Associated Press
Updated: 7:29 a.m. ET Dec. 27, 2004


COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Rescuers piled up bodies along southern Asian coastlines devastated by tidal waves that smashed into nine countries, obliterating seaside towns and killing more than 20,900 people. Hundreds of children were buried in mass graves in India, and morgues and hospitals struggled to cope with the catastrophe.

The death toll mounted sharply Monday, a day after the 9.0-magnitude quake struck deep beneath the Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesia. It was the most powerful quake in four decades.

The waves sped away from the epicenter at over 500 mph before crashing into the region’s shorelines, sweeping people and fishing villages out to sea. Millions were displaced from their homes and thousands were missing.

Fear of disease outbreaks
Officials said the death toll would continue to rise, and the International Red Cross said it was concerned about waterborne diseases.

Sri Lanka said just over 10,000 people were killed along its coastlines, and Tamil rebels said 2,000 people died in its territory, bringing that country’s toll to more than 12,000.

Indonesia reported about 5,000 deaths and India 3,000. Thailand — a Western tourist hotspot — said hundreds were dead and thousands missing. Deaths were also reported in Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh and even in Somalia, 3,000 miles away in Africa.

On the remote Car Nicobar island south of India, Police Chief S.B. Deol told New Delhi Television he had reports that another 3,000 people may have died. If confirmed, that would raise India’s death toll to 6,000 and the overall number to 23,900.

In Bandah Aceh, Indonesia, 150 miles from the quake’s epicenter, dozens of bloated bodies littered the streets as soldiers and desperate relatives searched for survivors Monday. Some 500 bodies collected by emergency workers lay under plastic tents, rotting in the tropical heat.

“We have ordered 15,000 troops into the field to search for survivors,” said military spokesman Edy Sulistiadi. “They are mostly retrieving corpses.”

Widespread destruction
Refugees in nearby Lhokseumawe, many of whom had spent the night sleeping outside on open ground, complained that little or no aid had reached them. The city’s hospital said it was running out of medicine.

The Indian state of Tamil Nadu was also hit hard, with thousands of deaths reported. Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa called the scene “an extraordinary calamity of such colossal proportions that the damage has been unprecedented.”

Nearby beaches resembled open-air mortuaries as fishermen’s bodies washed ashore, and retreating waters left behind others killed inland. In Cuddalore, red-eyed parents held a mass burial for more than 150 children. About half of the nearly 400 who perished in the town were youngsters, leaving townspeople in stunned bereavement.

The tsunamis came without warning. Witnesses said sea waters at first retreated far out into the ocean, only to return at a vicious pace. Some regions reported a crashing wall of water 20 feet high.

“The water went back, back, back, so far away, and everyone wondered what it was — a full moon or what? Then we saw the wave come, and we ran,” said Katri Seppanen, who was in Thailand, on Phuket island’s popular Patong beach.

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Maps/Asia-Pacific/m_IndoQuake_041226.gif

Millions homeless
Sri Lanka and Indonesia had at least a million people each driven from their homes. Warships in Thailand steamed to remote tropical island resorts to search for survivors as air force helicopters in Sri Lanka and India rushed food and medicine to stricken areas.

In Indonesia, villagers near northern Lhokseumawe picked through the debris of their ruined houses amid the smell of decomposing bodies.

One man, Rajali, said his wife and two children were killed and that he couldn’t find dry ground to bury them. Islamic tradition demands that the deceased be buried as soon as possible.

“What shall I do?” said the 55-year-old, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name. “I don’t know where to bury my wife and children.”

Dozens of bodies still clad in swimming trunks lined beaches in Thailand. Among the dead was the Thai-American grandson of King Bhumipol Adulyadej, officials said. Poom Jensen, 21, was reportedly jet skiing when the tidal wave struck.

In Sri Lanka — an island nation some 1,000 miles west of the epicenter — about 25,000 troops were deployed to crack down on sporadic, small-scale looting and to help in rescue efforts. About 200 inmates took advantage of the chaos, escaping from a prison in coastal Matara.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake’s magnitude was 9.0 — the strongest since a 9.2 magnitude temblor in Alaska in 1964 and the fourth-largest in a century. The quake was more than 6 miles deep and was followed by a half-dozen powerful aftershocks. A 620-mile section of a geological plate shifted, triggering the sudden displacement of water.

International aid promised
Countries around the world were touched. Italy reported 11 of citizens had died; Norway 10; Britain four; the United States and Denmark three each; France, Sweden and Belgium two each; and New Zealand one.

Those numbers would likely rise. Sri Lanka said 72 foreign tourists were killed there. In Thailand, 35 of the dead were identified as foreigners.

President Bush expressed his condolences over the “terrible loss of life and suffering.” From the Vatican, Pope John Paul II led appeals for aid for victims, and the 25-nation European Union promised to quickly deliver $4 million.

Aid agencies and governments around the world began pouring relief supplies into the region on Monday. Japan, China and Russia were among the countries sending teams of experts.

Jasmine Whitbread, international director of the aid group Oxfam, warned that without swift action, more people could die. “The flood waters will have contaminated drinking water and food will be scarce,” she said.

In Thailand, Gen. Chaisit Shinawatra, the army chief, said the United States has offered to send troops stationed in Japan’s Okinawa island to assist. Thailand was considering the offer.

Rare, deadly occurrence
Tsunamis as large as Sunday’s happen only a few times a century. A tsunami is a series of traveling ocean waves generated by geological disturbances near the ocean floor. With nothing to stop them, the waves can race across the ocean like the crack of a bullwhip, gaining momentum over thousands of miles.

An international tsunami warning system was started in 1965, after the Alaska quake, designed to advise coastal communities of a potentially killer wave.

Member states include all the major Pacific rim nations in North America, Asia and South America. But because tsunamis are rare in the Indian Ocean, India and Sri Lanka are not part of the system. Scientists said the death toll would have been reduced if they had been.

© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[GoldToe]

I think it is only a matter of time that this happens on the west coast.

[MannyIsGod]

Well, technicaly yes, but it's also only a matter of time before any number of natural disasters happen.

However, earthquakes of this magnitude are relatively rare. a 9.0 is freaking IMPRESSIVE.

[GoldToe]

True but there is noway I'd live in CA.

[Kori Ellis]

The death toll is over 23K. It's so sad. :(

[Blood Dong]

what a bad surfing accident.................Greg Brady?

[SpursWoman]

That's horrendous. :(

[Blood Dong]

yeah Greg Brady was cool

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

It wouldn't surprise me at all if the numbers were up in the six figures when it's all said and done.

The true toll will probably never be known, but they'll be sorting this out for months, if not years.

[Spurgal]

Working @ USAA with these people makes me feel a little uncomfortable and at times I can't stand the fact that they have taken over 75% of our jobs but right now my Heart goes out to them and their love ones.... :(

The death toll Is rising... Talk about living In the last days like It has been predicted In the bible.

[alamo50]

:wow

[Jimcs50]

Over 40,000 dead now. Unbelievable.

[Hook Dem]

I think most people don't realize the magnitude of this situation. AHF is probably right. The death toll could reach six figures before it is finalized. Would we be more aware of this disaster if it had happened on our shores? I think so. This is , without a doubt, of biblical proportions. I remember the Alaskan quake of 1964. It also sent out a tsunami that reached Oregon and California. It was not of the magnitude that this one was but did cause loss of life. I was living in Corpus Christi at the time and the water level rose about 1 foot. When you think about the distance involved, thats amazing. I think it's just a matter of time before something like this happens in our neighborhood. It may be next week or it may be 30 years from now. Kinda makes Iraq, Bin Laden, and the Middle East seem insignificant in comparison. No matter how big we think we are, we are merely a straw upon the water.

[Jimcs50]

We have warnings for our shores. We would never have deaths from this type of disaster because we would evacuate our shores, prior to the wave hitting. These countries did not want to be part of the warning system that would have saved thousands of lives, now perhaps, they will.

[1369]

Story Link (http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2004600994,00.html)

A BRITISH survivor was hit by the killer tsunami while diving 50ft below water.

The force of the monster wave threw Amy Harding and fellow scuba divers halfway up a hillside on the Thai island of Ko Phi Phi.

Amy, 24, raised the alarm with her family in the UK by sending them TEXT messages on her mobile phone.

But for more than a day she was frantic with worry about boyfriend Evya, who had disappeared.

Yesterday she was finally rescued from the hillside — and discovered that Israeli Evya was safe and well.

Diving instructor Amy, from Neston on the Wirral, Cheshire, was taking a group on a regular dive when they were churned up in the massive current and washed up the hillside.

They managed to scramble on to a hotel roof where they waited for help, surrounded by water.

Brother Mike, 27, received her first text, sent at 2.10pm local time on Sunday. The trainee accountant was spending Christmas at home with their parents Frank, 78, and Elisabeth, 62.

The text read: “Island hit by tidal wave. Am OK. Was diving. Caught in major current, part of island destroyed. Not seen Evya. Sat on a hotel roof with ocean either side. Am OK though. x”

Mike said: “I phoned her back straight away. She was very shaken.”

In a second message sent at 5.17pm local time Amy said: “Think we’ll stay up here overnight and get bitten to death instead. So worried about Evya.

"At least I’m safe here. Love you all.”

In a third message, at 10.50pm, Amy said: “I’m so worried, so scared. Here till daylight and then risk going down. I’m so worried about Evya.”

Yesterday Amy was rescued by Thai emergency teams and taken to a hotel.

Mike said: “She was crying and desperately searching for Evya. Then she spotted him helping survivors — she was absolutely ecstatic.”

Mum Elisabeth said: “Amy just told me she was safe, well and very tired. I burst into tears.”

[MannyIsGod]

I think most people don't realize the magnitude of this situation. AHF is probably right. The death toll could reach six figures before it is finalized. Would we be more aware of this disaster if it had happened on our shores? I think so. This is , without a doubt, of biblical proportions. I remember the Alaskan quake of 1964. It also sent out a tsunami that reached Oregon and California. It was not of the magnitude that this one was but did cause loss of life. I was living in Corpus Christi at the time and the water level rose about 1 foot. When you think about the distance involved, thats amazing. I think it's just a matter of time before something like this happens in our neighborhood. It may be next week or it may be 30 years from now. Kinda makes Iraq, Bin Laden, and the Middle East seem insignificant in comparison. No matter how big we think we are, we are merely a straw upon the water.

Hook, I can't agree more with this post. Nice.

Jim, they dont have the infrastructure in their communications to get the warning out fast enough. The warning system we have is nothing more than Tsunami forcasts based on seismic data. In other words, I think it's eitehr NOAA or the USGS that sends out the warning when there is an earthquake big enough to generate the waves. But I don't think we have any specific way of tracking the actual waves, although I could be wrong.

We gave the information to the governments as soon as we had it, but I'm not sure they have the ability to get it out fast enough.

We're not accustumed to this here in the US. We have pretty good civil defense warning with TV, Radio, and otehr communications networks in place, but the third world doesn't have those luxurys. I don't think it's a matter of not wanting to have them however.

[1369]

The warning system we have is nothing more than Tsunami forcasts based on seismic data. In other words, I think it's eitehr NOAA or the USGS that sends out the warning when there is an earthquake big enough to generate the waves. But I don't think we have any specific way of tracking the actual waves, although I could be wrong.

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/)

Looks like they do rely heavily on seismic data and interpretation, although they do have a series of bouys on the ocean to track any earthquake generated waves.

[MannyIsGod]

I was about to post that, I was just reading at that site. You beat me to it.

[MannyIsGod]

THere's some pretty interesting info on those pages, that was a pretty good read.

[1369]

You check out the bulliten where it showed how the earthquake changed tide levels in California and Mexico?

[ChumpDumper]

Pacific Tsunami Warning CenterNotice it doesn't say Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning Center. There are much fewer sensors in that area and there is no system of communication set up between the USGS and the countries around the Indain Ocean; there simply have not been as many tsunami in that area. Not that there was any time to warn those in Indonesia. Also, the USGS initially thought the quake wasn't strong enough to cause that kind of wave. I think the deaths that occurred in Africa are most tragic -- there was so much time to warn them.

[1369]

I'm not too sure if they even had advanced warning it would have helped all that much. The tsunami generated from that earthquake moved at over 500 MPH and hit India in something like under 2 hours.

[Hook Dem]

52,000 Now dead at 3:00P.M. I heard on the news that tsunami warnings were available in France 3 hours before the disaster. Just goes to show how slow the word gets out.

[Hook Dem]

Again, the United States is one of the first to respond and with many more dollars than any others. Is this the kind of help Smeagol was talking about in the political forum? How bout it Smeagol?????

[ChumpDumper]

Yeah, we're spending almost as much on the aid (well the new $20 million was described as "a line of credit") as Bush's supporters will spend on his inauguration.

[Hook Dem]

Yeah, we're spending almost as much on the aid (well the new $20 million was described as "a line of credit") as Bush's supporters will spend on his inauguration.
Maybe you can explain to me why France has donated $146,000 !

[Hook Dem]

We are also sending troops to set up aid stations and assist in cleaning up the dead. Do not say that this is not a show of humanitarism. IT IS! Must you be a Democrat in this time of need?

[ChumpDumper]

Do they have an inauguration too?

[ChumpDumper]

We are also sending troops to set up aid stations and assist in cleaning up the dead. Do not say that this is not a show of humanitarism. Not saying it isn't. Just putting it into perspective.

RIF.

[Hook Dem]

Politics belong in the political forum. This is a Human tragedy!

[MannyIsGod]

Hook,

Idon't think that's actual government spending, but spending of charities or organizations based in the United States.

I THINK.

I always wondered how they figured out aid.

Anyhow, the problem is that only the United States has the capability to help others out, it's not as though French people are somehow less compasionate than Americans. I really am tired of the ethnocentric belief that Americans are somehow the most generous people on earth. This country touts around an ego that's entirely too big.

[MannyIsGod]

Again, the United States is one of the first to respond and with many more dollars than any others. Is this the kind of help Smeagol was talking about in the political forum? How bout it Smeagol?????


Hook, you brought the politics in here.

[ChumpDumper]

If you are going to be a real bitch about the timing, it looks like we were playing catchup with the Japanese and their $30 million. No word if they called most of it a "line of credit" also.

[ChumpDumper]

Actually, I kind of brought politics in too with talk of the inauguration $$$, but I would've done that no matter who was president -- that money for a couple of stupid parties and an unecessary ceremony is obscene.

[Hook Dem]

Okay! So be it! The United States is just doing this to gain world approval. Satisfied now? How could we live in such a horrible place? In other words, if you must have the last word, be my guest! Jeeeeeezzz!

[ChumpDumper]

$35 million in aid ($20 million "credit") for folks in need is a good thing.

$40 million for a party is obscene.

Such is the United States.

[MannyIsGod]

Okay! So be it! The United States is just doing this to gain world approval. Satisfied now? How could we live in such a horrible place? In other words, if you must have the last word, be my guest! Jeeeeeezzz!

That's not the point. The United States does lots of noble things. And there's no reason the country shouldn't take credit for that. But we do more because we HAVE more.

Also, if the aid in question is a line of credit, it's only a loan. Which is still a risk since these damn things never get paid back.

But yeah, I'm sick of conventions and parties that go to the extreme while people could use that money in a much more constructive aid.

Shit, hand out a few more Pell Grants instead.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

I went to the Tsunami Center in Hilo two years ago while in Hawaii.

There's no way to track the "waves" until they hit land - out in open ocean there is nothing to distinguish them from normal churning of the ocean. The prediction of tsunami waves by the Warning Center is all they can go on, and they can forecast a warning for a period of time (which would have been more than enough to give warnings in most of the Indian Ocean region).

The Pacific Tsunami folks forecasted tsunamis after the quake the other day, and their message was relayed worldwide. If you're gonna bemoan something do it at the governments involved who have failed to develop systems to notify their people, or chose not to act on the information that the PTWC gave them.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Sri Lanka Before

http://homepage.mac.com/jlgolson/srilanka-before.jpg


After

http://homepage.mac.com/jlgolson/srilanka-after.jpg

[ChumpDumper]

No, the Pacific Tsunami Center thought the quake was only an 8.0 (10 times less severe as it actually was) so they thought there would only be damage locally in Sumatra. They only knew it was much more powerful when they got damage reports from Sri Lanka.

[NZ Spurs]

60,000 +

:depressed

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Tsunami vids.

the first one is really messed up, but gives you an idea of how fast it rose.

http://jlgolson.blogspot.com/2004/12/tsunami-video.html

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Supermodel Petra Nemcova was also injured in the tsunami (shattered hip), boyfriend missing...

http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20041228/D878NPA80.html?PG=home&SEC=news

[MannyIsGod]

CNN's 360 was 2 hours all about it tonight. Crazy ass shit. I'm amazed.

[alamo50]

70,000.....................

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/15630695?source=Evening%20Standard&ct=5

Over 100K

[Experiment2100]

I was watching the end of ABC news today this is only gonna get worse, with measels and cholera popping up in different areas. Also a freaky thing that they mentioned, very few animal carcasses were found.

[LuvBones]

These kind of events put in perspective what's really important in life. No one knows when they're going to die. This is shocking and tragic. I can't even believe it.

[Blood Dong]

I just wanna say that after watching ABC last night, I am VERY VERY VERY sorry that I made any insensitive remarks about this.

[Hook Dem]

Aftershocks are now being felt along with false tsunami alerts. They, however, could be possible, so they can't afford to ignore them. Sad situation for all involved. We should realize just how fortunate we are. Makes Florida hurricanes look small in comparison. God forbid it should ever happen to us and our loved ones. Death toll now 114,000 and still rising.

[1369]

Series of images from Space Imaging (Linked from Sky News) of the tsunami hitting Sri Lanka...

Calm before the storm

http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1265089.jpg

Tsunami sucking the ocean out to sea

http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1265094.jpg

Water going inland

http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1265090.jpg

Flooding

http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1265092.jpg

More flooding

http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1265095.jpg

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

New estimates out today put the toll at 400K. :(

[MannyIsGod]

wtf? 400k? Jesus!

[SpursWoman]

Omg... :(

[King]

400K? It's being said that the casualties are at 116K+, but not 400K. That might be an estimate of after disease and such, but nowhere near that right now.

[Slomo]

As if things were not bad enough this guy (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/03/man_guilty_tsunami_hoax_emails/) takes it a step further :wtf

[alamo50]

That guy should be send to Indonesia to help out with pooling teeth from the dead people right away.

[ALVAREZ6]

This is so sad, how can a tsunami take so many lives?

this thread's name is 11,500 killed!


Even if you add another zero to the end of that number, you still aren't clost to the number of deaths.

[Yonivore]

New estimates out today put the toll at 400K. :(
I believe that's based on a report that both India and Indonesia may be "underreporting" figures of dead and missing because, frankly, they no fucking idea how many people lived in some of the affected areas BEFORE the tsunami hit.

[Ginobilly]

I have a very good friend from Stockholm who is missing. She is 20 years old and I met her and her family 2 years ago in Cozumel, Mexico. :depressed I have been keeping in touch with her family over the phone but no good news.

My prayers go out to all thousands of tourists still missing and the families, and also to all the natives of the Indonesia Area who have lost loved one's and the missing.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

The 400K was an estimate based on the aftermath of disease and injuries already known about, as well as the fact a lot of those countries have no clue how many people lived in those provinces.

Check out some more before/after pics, crazy...

http://home.earthlink.net/~backup44/newbefore.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~backup44/newafter.jpg