Quake, tsunamis kill more than 22,000

[fairysong]

Not a problem about the link, came from a friend from Singapore, but as I said, the biggest problem is that many seismologists saw the earthquake and had notions of tsunamis hours before anything happened, tsunamis tend to travel 60 mph? if I remember correctly from Middle School. They also aren't noticed by ships in the ocean because the current moves under them and doesn't affect them. I actually am very pissed off that the scientists didn't do anything, it makes me wonder considering I plan to head into phsyics later in life.

You are right to be upset and I wish I could tell you why they didn't do anything but i can't. I think that maybe we should all take this as a lesson and hope that in the future something like this can be avoided.

hugs

fs

 

[Donsehan]

Originally posted by fairysong
You are right to be upset and I wish I could tell you why they didn't do anything but i can't. I think that maybe we should all take this as a lesson and hope that in the future something like this can be avoided.

hugs

fs

well it pisses me off because those people will be my colleauges and it bothers me that they won't take actions when they see a disaster coming. I for one was under the impressiion that many people go into science for the better of mankind or because they really love the subject.

 

[Seattle Zack]

Well, I know someone at UW's seismology department, and she was quite distraught at the frustration she and her colleagues experienced even trying to get through the red tape to warn the governments via the State Department about the impending disaster. Even getting through to a Cabinet Minister in Indonesia, she said, took hours, and then they completely discounted their predictions.

Here's an exerpt from the Seattle P-I, I'm sure there will be more about this in the coming days....

-----------------

Indonesian villages closest to the temblor's epicenter were swamped within minutes, but waves also radiated outward, gathering speed and ferocity until they made landfall.

Waves began pummeling southern Thailand about an hour after the earthquake. After 2 1/2 hours, the torrents had traveled some 1,000 miles and slammed into India and Sri Lanka. Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar and Bangladesh were also hit. Eventually the waves struck Somalia, on the east coast of Africa, 2,800 miles away.

Indonesian officials said they had no way to know the earthquake caused the waves, known as tsunamis, or how dangerous they might be.

"Unfortunately, we have no equipment here that can warn about tsunamis," said Budi Waluyo, an official with Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency. "The instruments are very expensive and we don't have money to buy them."

Kathawudhi Marlairojanasiri, the Thai meteorological department's chief weather forecaster, said the agency sent out warnings on radio and television beginning at 9 a.m. Sunday about a possible undertow along the southwest coast of Thailand, where tens of thousands of foreigners were vacationing.

But the warnings came as the first waves hit. By the time a Web site warning went up three hours later, at least 700 people were dead in Thailand, including a jet-skiing grandson of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Sulamee Prachuab, of the department's Seismological Bureau, said the government could not give an earlier warning because it did not have the necessary satellite-based technology.

Scientists said that without sensors in the region's seas to track the path of tsunamis, there was no way to determine the direction a wave would travel.

"They won't tell you how high the waves will be, but they can tell you when they will hit. Local authorities can warn citizens to get off the coast," said Waverly Person, director of the U.S. Geological Survey's national earthquake information service.

Such a system presumes, however, an organized communication system and widely understood procedures and discipline by hotel operators, fishing villages and local authorities to clear the coastline quickly in case of a coming disaster.

Most of Asia lacks such infrastructure, and casualties were highest in three very impoverished areas - the coasts of eastern Sri Lanka and southeastern India and the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island.

The warning system in the Pacific was started in 1965, the year after tsunamis associated with a magnitude 9.2 quake struck Alaska. It is administered by the U.S-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Member states include all the major Pacific rim nations in North America, Asia and South America, as well as the Pacific islands, Australia and New Zealand.

In Japan, a network of fiber-optic sensors records any seismic activity and passes the information to a powerful computer at the Meteorological Agency, which estimates the height, speed and arrival time of any tsunamis and the coastal areas most at risk. Within two minutes of a quake, the agency can sound the alarm.

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

US seismologists: We had no one to warn


Tsunami Alerts Failed To Reach the Right People in Time


This is no time to play the blame game, although it is a good incentive to evolve and install a warning procedure for the future. That can be left to the scientists and specialists in that field.



Relief must be our main focus:

Knowing what to expect, and to plan for that, is most important in providing assistance, now, and over the weeks, months, and years to come.


As I understand it, the problems come in waves.

First, the Tsunami, which killed tens of thousands of people, outright.

In the next few hours, there are those to whom medical assistance might be given quickly enough to save.

Next, those dying of dehydration from dysentery and like diseases caused by not having a safe water supply.

Next, will come the diseases born by insect (mosquito especially) incubated in the vast supply of fetid standing water.

Then, there will be those contagious diseases which are usually attendantant upon refugee camps where great numbers of people live close together in primitive conditions.

Finally, there will be the rebuilding of the infrastructure to return these people to a life with some degree of normalcy.



PLEASE NOTE : This lists only the physical assistance required. What the psychological toll, and how to redress that, is almost unimaginable.

 

[moonlight elf]

This is no time to play the blame game, although it is a good incentive to evolve and install a warning procedure for the future. That can be left to the scientists and specialists in that field.



Relief must be our main focus:

Knowing what to expect, and to plan for that, is most important in providing assistance, now, and over the weeks, months, and years to come.


As I understand it, the problems come in waves.

First, the Tsunami, which killed tens of thousands of people, outright.

In the next few hours, there are those to whom medical assistance might be given quickly enough to save.

Next, those dying of dehydration from dysentery and like diseases caused by not having a safe water supply.

Next, will come the diseases born by insect (mosquito especially) incubated in the vast supply of fetid standing water.

Then, there will be those contagious diseases which are usually attendantant upon refugee camps where great numbers of people live close together in primitive conditions.

Finally, there will be the rebuilding of the infrastructure to return these people to a life with some degree of normalcy.



PLEASE NOTE : This lists only the physical assistance required. What the psychological toll, and how to redress that, is almost unimaginable. [/B]

I agree with you, that blaming will not solve anything at this point. What we need to do is help and support those in need. Fairysong is out this morning helping Red Cross with their Relief efforts. Anything from collecting donations, food, medical supplies, and clothing will make a difference.

My family is also getting involved. I know that we cannot do much but in the end each little bit helps.

moonlight

 

[fairysong]

US seismologists: We had no one to warn


Tsunami Alerts Failed To Reach the Right People in Time


This is no time to play the blame game, although it is a good incentive to evolve and install a warning procedure for the future. That can be left to the scientists and specialists in that field.



Relief must be our main focus:

Knowing what to expect, and to plan for that, is most important in providing assistance, now, and over the weeks, months, and years to come.


As I understand it, the problems come in waves.

First, the Tsunami, which killed tens of thousands of people, outright.

In the next few hours, there are those to whom medical assistance might be given quickly enough to save.

Next, those dying of dehydration from dysentery and like diseases caused by not having a safe water supply.

Next, will come the diseases born by insect (mosquito especially) incubated in the vast supply of fetid standing water.

Then, there will be those contagious diseases which are usually attendantant upon refugee camps where great numbers of people live close together in primitive conditions.

Finally, there will be the rebuilding of the infrastructure to return these people to a life with some degree of normalcy.



PLEASE NOTE : This lists only the physical assistance required. What the psychological toll, and how to redress that, is almost unimaginable.

You are so right! I agree, we need to focus on the immediate and do what we can for Relief. I spent my Day at the Red Cross helping in any way I could. It was worth the while and I felt good doing something useful.

hugs

fs

 

[Donsehan]

projecthope.org is a site that seems to be allowing people to do stuff to help.

 

[fairysong]

projecthope.org is a site that seems to be allowing people to do stuff to help.

Thank you for the info

fs

 

[moonlight elf]

Here is the latest death tolls from CNN and phose numbers where you can call to get information for tourists and missing persons.

**

CNN has confirmed that the undersea earthquake off Sumatra and the giant waves it triggered killed 80,427 people, and that number is expected to rise.

Deaths by country:

Sri Lanka: 23,015 -- For information about local residents in Sri Lanka, call + 94 11 536 1938; for tourists the number is + 94 11 243 7061.

India: At least 10,000 -- To contact representatives from India, call + 91 11 2309 3054.(Full story)

Indonesia: 45,268 (Full story)

Thailand: 1,830. Thai PM says toll could rise to 3,000 as 4,265 people are still missing. -- Thai emergency hotline + 66 2643 5262 and 2643 5000 (Full story)

Myanmar: 90

Malaysia: 65

Maldives: 46 -- Government hotline + 44 20 7224 2149 (Full story)

Tanzania: 10

Bangladesh: 2

Somalia: Kenyan media reports hundreds dead

Kenya: Kenyan media reports one death

Seychelles: Unconfirmed reports of deaths -- For information on travelers, call + 248 321 676

 

[moonlight elf]

While things are bad, it is not hopeless. Help in underway!!

The latest from CNN

**
(CNN) -- Gargantuan global relief efforts are gaining momentum as countries and aid organizations donate money, supplies and personnel to areas ravaged by earthquake-triggered tsunamis.

Nations around the world have pledged money to help recovery from deadly waves that hit coastal areas of the Indian Ocean.

The United States is offering $35 million, Japan $30 million and the United Kingdom $28 million. Australia and Germany have pledged $27 million, France $20.4 million and Saudi Arabia $10 million.

Spain will approve a $68 million line of credit as emergency aid, the Foreign Ministry announced late Wednesday.

Spain also has sent a plane carrying medical kits and other aid material. Those aboard include representatives of the Spanish government, the Spanish Red Cross and the organizations Doctors of the World and Messenger of Peace.

Many other nations are also reportedly planning to participate in the relief effort.

In addition to its financial contribution, Australia has sent four C-130 Hercules aircraft to Indonesia, loaded with medical supplies, water purification equipment and health teams.

A further 60 tons of humanitarian aid and specific items such as generators, as requested by the Indonesians, are also to be sent via a commercially chartered aircraft.

Pentagon officials said Tuesday the United States is also making plans to send ships, supplies, helicopters and, if needed, hundreds of troops to assist in humanitarian relief.

A decision on assistance will be made after military assessment teams reach the region, authorities said.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has revised its initial appeal for aid. Its first request for financial assistance was for $6.6 million, based on a preliminary assessment of how much it would cost to launch the relief effort. That request has been revised to $44 million, according to spokesperson Sian Bowen.

 

[fairysong]

Nice to know that relief efforts are on the way.
Thanks for the info moonlight

 

[Donsehan]

well there's some good news for those people who were in the water at the time.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1506&e=1&u=/afp/asiaquakeusthailand

 

[Donsehan]

according to 14 minutes ago the death toll is past 125,000 and aftershocks from the earthquake may create another tsunami soon.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=716&e=11&u=/nm/20041231/ts_nm/quake_dc

the internet is also becoming virtual announcement boards for lost and found, some going through forums, others websites, others even phone text messsages and so on.

"In the Nordics, where families and friends awaited word on some 2,700 Finns, Norwegians, Swedes and Danes still missing in Asia, blogs and Internet bulletin boards were clogged with queries and pleas."--Article from a local newspaper.


Forgot to add this, in the news some people think that it might come out to the westcoast, which sux for me if that's true, but I don't know the validity of that.

"People need to know it could happen," said geologist Brian Atwater of the U.S. Geological Survey

link for that article is
http://www.examiner.com/article/index.cfm/i/123004b_westcoast