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Over 40,000 dead now. Unbelievable.
Over 40,000 dead now. Unbelievable.
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.
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.
Story Link
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.”
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.
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
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.
I was about to post that, I was just reading at that site. You beat me to it.
THere's some pretty interesting info on those pages, that was a pretty good read.
You check out the bulliten where it showed how the earthquake changed tide levels in California and Mexico?
Notice 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.Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
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.
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.
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?????
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 !
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?
Do they have an inauguration too?
Not saying it isn't. Just putting it into perspective.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.
RIF.
Politics belong in the political forum. This is a Human tragedy!
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.
Hook, you brought the politics in here.
If you are going to be a real 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.
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.
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!
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