My heart goes out to those people & their families. What a tragedy!
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,142566,00.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,142566,00.html
Earth quakes & tidal waves kill thousands in SE Asia
- Thread starter Clocker
- Start date
jtr1962
Storage? I am Storage!
The death toll started out at 3000 when I first learned of this. Now it's up to 7100. 
It's humbling that for all our technology and science we still can't always predict things like this.
It's humbling that for all our technology and science we still can't always predict things like this.
Pradeep
Storage? I am Storage!
Of course my mother went to Sri Lanka for the Christmas hols. Can't get thru on the phone, not suprising cause the phone and electrical system is probably down.
One thing that would make the death toll worse in Sri Lanka is that there are a lot of shanty towns and fishing villages that basically consist of wooden huts, right on the beach. And tsunamis are not exactly taught in the school curriculum. Apparently many of those killed saw the sea initially recede before the wave hit, and went down to pick up the fish.
It looks like there was a time period of a few hours from when the quake struck to when the tsunami hit, sadly even if a warning had been issued the communication infrastructure probably wouldn't have got the warning out in time.
I think it's time for a few drinks.
One thing that would make the death toll worse in Sri Lanka is that there are a lot of shanty towns and fishing villages that basically consist of wooden huts, right on the beach. And tsunamis are not exactly taught in the school curriculum. Apparently many of those killed saw the sea initially recede before the wave hit, and went down to pick up the fish.
It looks like there was a time period of a few hours from when the quake struck to when the tsunami hit, sadly even if a warning had been issued the communication infrastructure probably wouldn't have got the warning out in time.
I think it's time for a few drinks.
Pradeep
Storage? I am Storage!
The Bam earthquake in Iran one year ago killed approx 50,000.
I would expect the death toll from the tsunami/earthquake to exceed 100,000. There are still large segments that they have had no reports from.
I would expect the death toll from the tsunami/earthquake to exceed 100,000. There are still large segments that they have had no reports from.
Pradeep
Storage? I am Storage!
Thanks I,
Just got an email from my mum, she's OK :mrgrn:
Just got an email from my mum, she's OK :mrgrn:
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
20K+ dead, up to 1M homeless as of about 7AM CST today.
Pradeep, I'm glad she's OK. I've got a co-worker from southern India. I'll be emailing him to see if he's heard from his family.
Pradeep, I'm glad she's OK. I've got a co-worker from southern India. I'll be emailing him to see if he's heard from his family.
time
Storage? I am Storage!
Pradeep said:
Latest confirmed tally is 55,000 with warnings of sharp increases yet to come. Pradeep's estimate is starting to look remarkably prescient.
Sri Lanka is not a large country. Losing 20,000 people is like the US losing 300,000 - a sobering thought.
AFAIK, this is the second worst natural disaster in the last hundred years. Only the 1976 Tangshan earthquake (240,000 dead) was worse.
There are some decent details regarding this event up on wikipedia. The numbers are mind-boggling.
time, I looked up more info on the quake you mentioned, and they estimate the number dead was closer to 500,000. I don't know how good of source that website is, so I'm keeping that in mind. In either case, that number is very sad to read.
time, I looked up more info on the quake you mentioned, and they estimate the number dead was closer to 500,000. I don't know how good of source that website is, so I'm keeping that in mind. In either case, that number is very sad to read.
Buck
Storage? I am Storage!
Sri Lanka had roughly 19.3 million people.
My dad's cousin made it through the ordeal. He was on vacation at the Khao Lak resort in the south of Thailand near Phuket. He was in his bungalow on the beach when the tsunami hit, he just remembers the impact and then waking up somewhere else. His wife was out for a walk and is still missing. The police are literally forcing people onto planes and sending them home. We sure hope his wife is found, but it doesn't look good.
My dad's cousin made it through the ordeal. He was on vacation at the Khao Lak resort in the south of Thailand near Phuket. He was in his bungalow on the beach when the tsunami hit, he just remembers the impact and then waking up somewhere else. His wife was out for a walk and is still missing. The police are literally forcing people onto planes and sending them home. We sure hope his wife is found, but it doesn't look good.
The JoJo
Wannabe Storage Freak
Quite awful looking at Phuket, Phi Phi and Khao Lak, as it isn't so long ago we were there. Familiar places suddenly look very different...
Horrible thing.
Just got word that our vacation in Sri Lanka is not to be, what a surprise.
Horrible thing.
Just got word that our vacation in Sri Lanka is not to be, what a surprise.
Pradeep
Storage? I am Storage!
Sorry to hear about your cousin's wife Buck, hope you get good news.
Buck
Storage? I am Storage!
Yeah! She's been found alive (but badly injured). She is on a flight home to Germany. Bartender, drinks on the house!
Thanks for your condolences.
Thanks for your condolences.
Pradeep
Storage? I am Storage!
That's great to hear
Some Fris vodka with a Dr Pepper pls.
Some Fris vodka with a Dr Pepper pls.
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
I heard the total is up to 114K this morning. And the disease issue hasn't really been brought up as much of a factor so far. Even with the mass burials this can still get a lot worse. There are entire small islands that are uninhabitable.
My employer, a global firm with offices in the region, is donating $5 to the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Relief Fund for every employee (17K people) we have. They're also setting up an employee donation pool, which will (I assume) qualify for even more company donations as my employer matches employee contributions to charities.
OTOH, once again I am shamed to be a US citizen. The Bush administration's response to this global emergency should be viewed as an embarassment by all Americans. $15 million in aid + a $20 million line of credit is pathetic. You'd think we could spare at least what we spend in one day in Iraq helping the countless people affected by this non-political disaster. <sarcasm>Heck, I was expecting at a minimum a few hundred million in no-bid Halliburton contracts.</sarcasm>
My employer, a global firm with offices in the region, is donating $5 to the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Relief Fund for every employee (17K people) we have. They're also setting up an employee donation pool, which will (I assume) qualify for even more company donations as my employer matches employee contributions to charities.
OTOH, once again I am shamed to be a US citizen. The Bush administration's response to this global emergency should be viewed as an embarassment by all Americans. $15 million in aid + a $20 million line of credit is pathetic. You'd think we could spare at least what we spend in one day in Iraq helping the countless people affected by this non-political disaster. <sarcasm>Heck, I was expecting at a minimum a few hundred million in no-bid Halliburton contracts.</sarcasm>
My work has made a contribution (unknown amount), and they are also matching donations up to $25K per person.
$15 million in aid is pathetic in comparison to what we waste it on other things. Like you said Fushigi, we should be able to send over a little bit more than that and hold off on a day of fighting in Iraq.
$15 million in aid is pathetic in comparison to what we waste it on other things. Like you said Fushigi, we should be able to send over a little bit more than that and hold off on a day of fighting in Iraq.
Last I checked, the contributions from the US are ultimately funded by US Taxpayers and we currently have a deficit. SO, if you're not happy with the amount being sent over there, do as I did and send over $50 yourself. If a measly 1M of the 'rich' in the US sent that amount, that would be a big help.
Either way we will have to pay through higher taxes (for rich and poor) or your own donation so, instead of complaining, do something.
https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation-form.asp
Either way we will have to pay through higher taxes (for rich and poor) or your own donation so, instead of complaining, do something.
https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation-form.asp
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
As I mentioned, my employer is setting up a fund that I can contribute to. That should qualify for their matching gift program so the $100 or more my wife & I will kick in will be doubled by my firm.
Yes, US aid is ultimately from tax revenue, but isn't the aid a far better use of our tax dollars than some of the other BS that goes on in government? Also, $1 billion in aid would be under $4 per person; under $10 per tax payer. Most families, including many poor, probably wouldn't mind spending their per capita share to help their fellow man.
Regarding the deficit: Bush doesn't care about it. He has no problem placing our children in debt to service his whims.
Yes, US aid is ultimately from tax revenue, but isn't the aid a far better use of our tax dollars than some of the other BS that goes on in government? Also, $1 billion in aid would be under $4 per person; under $10 per tax payer. Most families, including many poor, probably wouldn't mind spending their per capita share to help their fellow man.
Regarding the deficit: Bush doesn't care about it. He has no problem placing our children in debt to service his whims.
Pradeep
Storage? I am Storage!
I spoke to my Mum today, and got the whole story. We run two beach resorts, one on the West coast right on the beach, and one in the South which is built on the slope of a hill, high off the water. She and my uncle were at the Southern resort on Boxing Day, and were notified that the water at the beach seemed to be rising. So they called the resort on the West coast, to check if they were having the same thing. My uncle didn't want to risk it so he asked them to move all the guests and staff away from the beach. I guess they had two smaller waves come in, then the water receded way back, and then the big mother came in. By then the staff had already run a couple of bus loads of guests away from the beach area.
One volunteer chef from Germany was swept out to sea the staff were begging him to leave the beach, but he was mesmerised by the ocean. Beach bungalows that we had close to the water were completely washed away (basic brick and mortar construction), the main building that were made of rebar are OK, tho of course the insides aren't pretty. To cap it off there was a lot of looting by local kids, they created panic by saying there was another wave coming, then when people left they took what they wanted.
Some of the guests have flown out, the others are now at the Southern resort, which was unaffected. They are on well water and have food, so they are donating some to the local town, which has over 8000 displaced people.
We were at full capcity with 65 guests in the Western resort, if the tsunami had happened at night I would hate to have seen the results.
One volunteer chef from Germany was swept out to sea the staff were begging him to leave the beach, but he was mesmerised by the ocean. Beach bungalows that we had close to the water were completely washed away (basic brick and mortar construction), the main building that were made of rebar are OK, tho of course the insides aren't pretty. To cap it off there was a lot of looting by local kids, they created panic by saying there was another wave coming, then when people left they took what they wanted.
Some of the guests have flown out, the others are now at the Southern resort, which was unaffected. They are on well water and have food, so they are donating some to the local town, which has over 8000 displaced people.
We were at full capcity with 65 guests in the Western resort, if the tsunami had happened at night I would hate to have seen the results.
Clocker said:
I do plan on donating money. I'd like to find the charity which has the least overhead. I heard by word of mouth that the redcross gives $.02 per $1.00 donated...I'm searching to see if this is true or not before I donate.
Will do. The worse it gets the more I'm willing to give.
With these tolls going up and up. I wonder how many opportunists there are out there who are taking advantage of this situation and all the aid going over there. It's a sad thought but I don't doubt that many of the people who really need the help over there aren't getting it.
C
With these tolls going up and up. I wonder how many opportunists there are out there who are taking advantage of this situation and all the aid going over there. It's a sad thought but I don't doubt that many of the people who really need the help over there aren't getting it.
C
Pradeep
Storage? I am Storage!
Sri Lankan brewery ditches beer for water
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- A Sri Lankan brewery has given up making beer and switched to bottled water to do its part to help survivors of the Indian Ocean tsunami, the relief group Oxfam International said on Thursday.
The Lion Brewery plant in Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, has so far produced 120,000 bottles of water for shipment to the affected areas, with Oxfam's help.
"With so much loss of life, how could you not help?" brewery manager Nausha Raheem said.
"Once we got over the initial shock and realized the gravity of the situation, we decided to do what we could to help. It has been a bit of a logistical effort and has involved all of our staff, but it is desperately needed," she said, according to Oxfam
The switch-over took place on Monday, the day after the Tsunami smashed into the Sri Lankan coastline, killing more than 27,000 people, according to the latest figures.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/30/quake.brewery.reut/index.html
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- A Sri Lankan brewery has given up making beer and switched to bottled water to do its part to help survivors of the Indian Ocean tsunami, the relief group Oxfam International said on Thursday.
The Lion Brewery plant in Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, has so far produced 120,000 bottles of water for shipment to the affected areas, with Oxfam's help.
"With so much loss of life, how could you not help?" brewery manager Nausha Raheem said.
"Once we got over the initial shock and realized the gravity of the situation, we decided to do what we could to help. It has been a bit of a logistical effort and has involved all of our staff, but it is desperately needed," she said, according to Oxfam
The switch-over took place on Monday, the day after the Tsunami smashed into the Sri Lankan coastline, killing more than 27,000 people, according to the latest figures.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/30/quake.brewery.reut/index.html
Buck
Storage? I am Storage!
It's always a shame to stop the brewing process, but for water that isn't a health risk, it is certainly worth any amount of effort for the Sri Lankan Brewery.
Just as note, in times gone by, beverages containing an alcohol content were consumed more often because decent water was in short supply. Avian was not around the corner. Alcohol not only increases the shelf-life of a beverage, but can be the result of a reasonable purification process that makes the drink worthy of consumption.
Pradeep, I'm happy to read that your guests survived the catastrophe through some quick and clever thinking from your parents. Poor German chef, but I'm not surprised. They have this fascination with adventure that draws them like fish to bait. In this case (as many) it proved fatal (ever hear of the occasional German tourist being killed by a crocodile in Australia?).
Just as note, in times gone by, beverages containing an alcohol content were consumed more often because decent water was in short supply. Avian was not around the corner. Alcohol not only increases the shelf-life of a beverage, but can be the result of a reasonable purification process that makes the drink worthy of consumption.
Pradeep, I'm happy to read that your guests survived the catastrophe through some quick and clever thinking from your parents. Poor German chef, but I'm not surprised. They have this fascination with adventure that draws them like fish to bait. In this case (as many) it proved fatal (ever hear of the occasional German tourist being killed by a crocodile in Australia?).
Good to hear that we've boosted the US Aid level to $350M. Not too suprising that it was greatly bumped up but I'm glad there was an effort made to actually asses the need and appropriate level of funds before dishing out my tax dollars..
Tea
Storage? I am Storage!
You've got the figures backwards, Handruin. The Red Cross guarantees less than 10% overhead (i.e., 90% plus effective) but actually works on around 2% overhead. That's the Oz figures, but they should be similar in your neck of the woods. If you give $100, $98 will do good work.
time
Storage? I am Storage!
Clocker said:
That would be horses' asses, Clocker.
Firstly, they're not "dishing out" money just yet. When they do, it will take years and in all probability will never reach the announced amount - such is the value of a modern political promise in any country.
Secondly, Australia has already committed to funding that - per capita - is double that of the US, with the stated expectation of further large increases. Private donations alone from the UK are already around $100m, which represents 40% more per person than the US government's latest offer. This ignores the much higher per capita GDP of the US compared to Australia or the UK.
Of course, the money isn't the big thing right now, but that's what it will take to restore these mostly poverty-stricken areas to even third world living conditions.
Buck
Storage? I am Storage!
Buck said:
Sheesh, Evian! I'm not talking about bottled birds!
Buck
Storage? I am Storage!
mubs
Storage? I am Storage!
That's some amazing stuff...100 miles off the coast and the guy survives on coconuts! Makes the show survivor seem like a vacation. Could you image the mental anguish? Having no idea where land is, and if you'll even be found...
Buck
Storage? I am Storage!
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
I heard on TV that the quake was so powerful that it changed the axis of the Earth slightly, but I haven't been able to find links about this on the Net yet.
There was a show this evening on Discovery channel about mega-tsunamis. I'm sure many among you saw it, but it was the first time I did. The show was made well before December 26th 2004 (there's a warning at the beginning that it was made before September 11th 2001 because they show images of the World Trade Center). They said that a tsunami generated by an earthquake cannot produce waves greater than 30 feet, which seems acurate since the waves of Dec. 26th were about 30 feet high and they were caused by one of the most powerful earthquake of the last century (8.9 on Richter scale). But there has been tsunamis where waves were ten times taller than that. One that occured in Alaska in 1958 had a wave of around 400 feet in height. Since the cause of such a giant wave cannot be an earthquake, scientists had to look for another explanation. And they figured it out...
Landslides. The one that created the mega-tsunami somewhere in Alaska in 1958 was generated by the fall into the sea of 90 thousand tons of rocks from a mountain's side. The pictures taken after the disaster are scary. The zones where the wave hit were baren to the rock. Nothing was left, not a single standing tree, not even grass.
Now to the interesting part...
There happens to be a remote island in the Atlantic ocean (La Palma, part of the Canary islands) where a major landslide appears to be imminent. To make a long story short, when it will happen (maybe during the next eruption of its active volcano), somewhere aroung a trillion tons of shit will go into the ocean. According to a Swiss lab where they have a small tsunami simulator, the La Palma landslide should create a tiny wave of an initial height of about 630 feet and crawling West at the snail-like speed of 700Km/h, therefore reaching the East coast of United States around 8 hours later. It should affect all cities of the East coast from Boston to Miami. But don't worry, according to these guys, the wave will have greatly diminished by the time it hits the East coast ; it should only be 150 feet tall by then.
All this seems to be scary book material except for the fact that, in the light of what happened on December 26th, they were dead-on in their approximation of a major earthquake-generated tsunami. What if they also are regarding the De Palma upcoming landslide.
I won't be moving to New York.
There was a show this evening on Discovery channel about mega-tsunamis. I'm sure many among you saw it, but it was the first time I did. The show was made well before December 26th 2004 (there's a warning at the beginning that it was made before September 11th 2001 because they show images of the World Trade Center). They said that a tsunami generated by an earthquake cannot produce waves greater than 30 feet, which seems acurate since the waves of Dec. 26th were about 30 feet high and they were caused by one of the most powerful earthquake of the last century (8.9 on Richter scale). But there has been tsunamis where waves were ten times taller than that. One that occured in Alaska in 1958 had a wave of around 400 feet in height. Since the cause of such a giant wave cannot be an earthquake, scientists had to look for another explanation. And they figured it out...
Landslides. The one that created the mega-tsunami somewhere in Alaska in 1958 was generated by the fall into the sea of 90 thousand tons of rocks from a mountain's side. The pictures taken after the disaster are scary. The zones where the wave hit were baren to the rock. Nothing was left, not a single standing tree, not even grass.
Now to the interesting part...
There happens to be a remote island in the Atlantic ocean (La Palma, part of the Canary islands) where a major landslide appears to be imminent. To make a long story short, when it will happen (maybe during the next eruption of its active volcano), somewhere aroung a trillion tons of shit will go into the ocean. According to a Swiss lab where they have a small tsunami simulator, the La Palma landslide should create a tiny wave of an initial height of about 630 feet and crawling West at the snail-like speed of 700Km/h, therefore reaching the East coast of United States around 8 hours later. It should affect all cities of the East coast from Boston to Miami. But don't worry, according to these guys, the wave will have greatly diminished by the time it hits the East coast ; it should only be 150 feet tall by then.
All this seems to be scary book material except for the fact that, in the light of what happened on December 26th, they were dead-on in their approximation of a major earthquake-generated tsunami. What if they also are regarding the De Palma upcoming landslide.
I won't be moving to New York.