Ponderous Intellect
Posts: 4,080 
Location: The Netherlands
Location: The Netherlands
December 26th, 2004, 09:07 AM
Terrible, just terrible
Fears are that the death toll will rise even further. According to our (Dutch) news, the death toll has already risen to around 6,000. More to come.
Quote:
source: CNN Asia quake toll tops 3,600
Sunday, December 26, 2004 Posted: 9:21 AM EST (1421 GMT)
A street littered with debris at Patong beach, Phuket.
FACT BOX
SRI LANKA
Confirmed death toll is over 1,700, but Colombo officials believe death toll will rise above 2,000
INDIA
At least 1,000 killed by waves which flooded the southern coast, interior minister says
INDONESIA
More than 500 killed - many of them in Aceh, in northern Sumatra
THAILAND
Thai authorities say nearly 400 were killed - 200 reported on the small island of Phi Phi
MALDIVES
At least three children reported killed in the high waters on an island north of the capital, Male
(CNN) - Massive tsunamis triggered by the largest earthquake to shake the planet in over 40 years have wiped out coastal areas across southeastern Asia, killing more than 3,600 people - most of them in Sri Lanka and India.
The initial quake, measuring 8.9 in magnitude, struck about 100 miles (160 km) off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island around 7 a.m local time Sunday (0000 GMT), according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center. It is the fifth largest earthquake in recorded history, according to the NEIC.
Sri Lankan authorities are reporting over 1,700 people killed, most of them in the eastern district of Batticaloa. Several districts in the country's south have still not reported casualty figures, and authorities fear the death toll could rise. The huge waves also swept away a high security prison in Matara in southern Sri Lanka, allowing 200 prisoners to escape. Eyewitnesses in eastern Sri Lankan port city of Trincomalee reported waves as high as 40 feet (12 meters), hitting inland as far as half a mile (1 km).
Sri Lankan officials imposed a curfew as night fell, and tourists were being evacuated from the eastern coasts to the capital, Colombo, unaffected on the west coast. Steven Evans, the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, told CNN the island nation needed help in rescue efforts.
India has agreed to help assist Sri Lanka, sending two naval ships to the resort town of Galle, in the south, and Trincomalee, according to Colombo officials. Indian aircraft will bring in relief supplies to the country on Monday. India itself is reeling from the aftermath of the quake. Interior Minister Shivraj Patil said at least 1,000 were killed as a result of the massive waves. A resident of Chennai (formerly Madras) in Tamil Nadu district - the hardest hit area - said he witnessed several people being swept away by a tidal wave there.
Along India's southeastern coast, several villages appeared to have been swept away, and hundreds of fishermen who were out at sea when when the massive waves swept across the waters have not returned. Patil told CNN 700 people were killed in Tamil Nadu and 200 in Andhra Pradesh. Poor communications with India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, which were closer to the quake's epicenter, has prevented any reports of damage and casualties. Most of the 14 aftershocks have been centered off these islands.
Thai authorities say nearly 400 are feared dead - most of them, at least 200, on the small island of Phi Phi, between Thailand's coastal area and the resort island of Phuket. The coastal city of Krabi is reporting 48 deaths there - and 200 small boats missing, many feared to have been manned and out to sea when the waves crashed ashore.
On Phuket - one of the region's most popular tourist destination - at least 150 are reported dead. One witness said Phuket's Laguna Beach resort area is "completely gone." Phuket's airport, which closed down when its runways flooded, reopened, and many of the island's roads were passable.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Chinnawat arrived in Phuket and said the situation was "under control." He told CNN he planned to stay the night and direct rescue and relief efforts. NEIC geophysicist Don Blakeman said there was also a report that an entire coastal village in Thailand was destroyed by a tsunami. Over 500 people were killed Indonesia by the quake and the following tidal waves - many of them in Aceh, in northern Sumatra, about 100 miles from the quake's epicenter, according to local reports.
"We still haven't got any reports from the western coast of Aceh, which is closest to the epicenter so officials are bracing themselves for a lot more bad news," said journalist John Aglionby in Jakarta. The earthquake is classified as "great" - the strongest possible classification given by the NEIC. Blakeman said all of the tsunamis were triggered by the initial quake, and not the aftershocks.
Fourteen moderate to strong aftershocks were recorded in the region in the following hours, according to the NEIC. One major aftershock, measuring 7.3 in magnitude, struck about 200 miles (300 km) northwest of Banda Aceh - on Sumatra's northernmost tip - over four hours after the initial quake, according to the NEIC. The rest of the aftershocks measured under 6.5 in magnitude. The NEIC expects the quake to produce hundreds of smaller aftershocks, under 4.6 magnitude, and thousands smaller than that.
"A quake of this size has some pretty serious effects," he said. He explained the quake was the energy released from "a very large rupture in the earth's crust" over 600 miles (1,000 km) long. It was the strongest earthquake to hit since March 1964, when a 9.2 quake struck near Alaska's Prince William Sound.
Sunday, December 26, 2004 Posted: 9:21 AM EST (1421 GMT)
A street littered with debris at Patong beach, Phuket.
FACT BOX
SRI LANKA
Confirmed death toll is over 1,700, but Colombo officials believe death toll will rise above 2,000
INDIA
At least 1,000 killed by waves which flooded the southern coast, interior minister says
INDONESIA
More than 500 killed - many of them in Aceh, in northern Sumatra
THAILAND
Thai authorities say nearly 400 were killed - 200 reported on the small island of Phi Phi
MALDIVES
At least three children reported killed in the high waters on an island north of the capital, Male
(CNN) - Massive tsunamis triggered by the largest earthquake to shake the planet in over 40 years have wiped out coastal areas across southeastern Asia, killing more than 3,600 people - most of them in Sri Lanka and India.
The initial quake, measuring 8.9 in magnitude, struck about 100 miles (160 km) off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island around 7 a.m local time Sunday (0000 GMT), according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center. It is the fifth largest earthquake in recorded history, according to the NEIC.
Sri Lankan authorities are reporting over 1,700 people killed, most of them in the eastern district of Batticaloa. Several districts in the country's south have still not reported casualty figures, and authorities fear the death toll could rise. The huge waves also swept away a high security prison in Matara in southern Sri Lanka, allowing 200 prisoners to escape. Eyewitnesses in eastern Sri Lankan port city of Trincomalee reported waves as high as 40 feet (12 meters), hitting inland as far as half a mile (1 km).
Sri Lankan officials imposed a curfew as night fell, and tourists were being evacuated from the eastern coasts to the capital, Colombo, unaffected on the west coast. Steven Evans, the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, told CNN the island nation needed help in rescue efforts.
India has agreed to help assist Sri Lanka, sending two naval ships to the resort town of Galle, in the south, and Trincomalee, according to Colombo officials. Indian aircraft will bring in relief supplies to the country on Monday. India itself is reeling from the aftermath of the quake. Interior Minister Shivraj Patil said at least 1,000 were killed as a result of the massive waves. A resident of Chennai (formerly Madras) in Tamil Nadu district - the hardest hit area - said he witnessed several people being swept away by a tidal wave there.
Along India's southeastern coast, several villages appeared to have been swept away, and hundreds of fishermen who were out at sea when when the massive waves swept across the waters have not returned. Patil told CNN 700 people were killed in Tamil Nadu and 200 in Andhra Pradesh. Poor communications with India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, which were closer to the quake's epicenter, has prevented any reports of damage and casualties. Most of the 14 aftershocks have been centered off these islands.
Thai authorities say nearly 400 are feared dead - most of them, at least 200, on the small island of Phi Phi, between Thailand's coastal area and the resort island of Phuket. The coastal city of Krabi is reporting 48 deaths there - and 200 small boats missing, many feared to have been manned and out to sea when the waves crashed ashore.
On Phuket - one of the region's most popular tourist destination - at least 150 are reported dead. One witness said Phuket's Laguna Beach resort area is "completely gone." Phuket's airport, which closed down when its runways flooded, reopened, and many of the island's roads were passable.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Chinnawat arrived in Phuket and said the situation was "under control." He told CNN he planned to stay the night and direct rescue and relief efforts. NEIC geophysicist Don Blakeman said there was also a report that an entire coastal village in Thailand was destroyed by a tsunami. Over 500 people were killed Indonesia by the quake and the following tidal waves - many of them in Aceh, in northern Sumatra, about 100 miles from the quake's epicenter, according to local reports.
"We still haven't got any reports from the western coast of Aceh, which is closest to the epicenter so officials are bracing themselves for a lot more bad news," said journalist John Aglionby in Jakarta. The earthquake is classified as "great" - the strongest possible classification given by the NEIC. Blakeman said all of the tsunamis were triggered by the initial quake, and not the aftershocks.
Fourteen moderate to strong aftershocks were recorded in the region in the following hours, according to the NEIC. One major aftershock, measuring 7.3 in magnitude, struck about 200 miles (300 km) northwest of Banda Aceh - on Sumatra's northernmost tip - over four hours after the initial quake, according to the NEIC. The rest of the aftershocks measured under 6.5 in magnitude. The NEIC expects the quake to produce hundreds of smaller aftershocks, under 4.6 magnitude, and thousands smaller than that.
"A quake of this size has some pretty serious effects," he said. He explained the quake was the energy released from "a very large rupture in the earth's crust" over 600 miles (1,000 km) long. It was the strongest earthquake to hit since March 1964, when a 9.2 quake struck near Alaska's Prince William Sound.
Terrible, just terrible
Fears are that the death toll will rise even further. According to our (Dutch) news, the death toll has already risen to around 6,000. More to come.
Member
Posts: 134
Location: BC
Location: BC
December 26th, 2004, 01:44 PM
Did it hit Diego Garcia? http://www.infoplease.com/spot/dg.html It would be nice if Mother Nature removed the US military base there.
CBC is now saying that the death toll is up to 10,000. The tidal wave did the damage.
Did it hit Diego Garcia? http://www.infoplease.com/spot/dg.html It would be nice if Mother Nature removed the US military base there.
CBC is now saying that the death toll is up to 10,000. The tidal wave did the damage.
Super Genius
Posts: 1,320
Location: Winnipeg
Location: Winnipeg
December 26th, 2004, 05:40 PM
It's 11,000 now, according to BBC World Report on CBC NewsWorld. It's still rising to. You can tell that it's really bad because the UN has fired up it's bulletin machine...that rarely happens on Sundays and never on major holidays.
It's 11,000 now, according to BBC World Report on CBC NewsWorld. It's still rising to. You can tell that it's really bad because the UN has fired up it's bulletin machine...that rarely happens on Sundays and never on major holidays.
Bright Spark
Posts: 453
Location: Province perdue du Canada, Louisian
Location: Province perdue du Canada, Louisian
December 26th, 2004, 11:01 PM
ships at anchor! Sorry, but I don't share your enthuasim for
destruction, a lot of humanitarian supplies are held there for
back up relief. Life saving station also for the South Indian Ocean for ships in distress. Keeps the pirates which work out of Indonesian and Thai waters preoccupied.
Andaman Islands had been hit as reported by Ham Radio and there
are some evacuations.
Quoting
Small damage on Diego Garcia, most supplies there are stored on
Did it hit Diego Garcia? http://www.infoplease.com/spot/dg.html It would be nice if Mother Nature removed the US military base there.
CBC is now saying that the death toll is up to 10,000. The tidal wave did the damage.
CBC is now saying that the death toll is up to 10,000. The tidal wave did the damage.
ships at anchor! Sorry, but I don't share your enthuasim for
destruction, a lot of humanitarian supplies are held there for
back up relief. Life saving station also for the South Indian Ocean for ships in distress. Keeps the pirates which work out of Indonesian and Thai waters preoccupied.
Andaman Islands had been hit as reported by Ham Radio and there
are some evacuations.
Ponderous Intellect
Posts: 4,080
Location: The Netherlands
Location: The Netherlands
December 27th, 2004, 07:25 AM
According to several news sources, "hundreds of Western tourists" have been killed, especially in Sri Lanka and Thailand. I don't know how it is in Canada, but a total of 45 Dutch have been injured by the tsunamis (more information have to come yet), and a total of 19 Dutch are missing - probably swept away into the ocean.
A co-worker of my mom was also in Thailand when the earthquake struck, we haven't heard of her since, but we hope she and her family are OK.
Quote:
source: CNN Asia quake death toll tops 21,000
Monday, December 27, 2004 Posted: 7:40 AM EST (1240 GMT)
Rescuers load empty coffins bound for Phuket at Bangkok airport.
DEATH TOLLS
SRI LANKA
Sri Lankan military authorities report more than 10,000 people killed. In the northeast, Tamil Tigers report recovering 800 bodies.
INDIA
At least 6,200 killed by waves which flooded the southern coast, official media report.
INDONESIA
News agencies report more than 4,350 killed, many of them in Aceh in northern Sumatra.
THAILAND
Thai authorities report at least 866 people dead.
MALDIVES
46 people are dead and more than 70 missing, according to Hassan Sobir, the Maldives High Commissioner.
CHENNAI, India (CNN) - The death toll from Sunday's tsunamis climbed to 21,000 by Monday as fears of disease from decaying bodies and contaminated water grew in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The giant waves - triggered by the most powerful earthquake on Earth in 40 years - also left thousands injured, thousands missing and hundreds of thousands homeless.
A Sri Lankan forecaster warned of a "remote possibility of small tidal waves" caused by aftershocks Monday. Some of the tsunamis reached as far as 1,000 miles from the epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude quake, which was located about 100 miles (160 km) off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra Island at a depth of about 6.2 miles (10 km). The quake struck about 7 a.m. Sunday (7 p.m. ET Saturday), according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC). It is the fourth-largest earthquake since such measurements began in 1899, according to the NEIC, tying a 1952 quake in Kamchatka, Russia.
More than 10,000 people have been reported dead in Sri Lanka. Most of them, authorities said, were in the eastern district of Batticaloa. Thousands were missing, an estimated 1 million were displaced and an estimated 250,000 were homeless. In southern Sri Lanka, 200 prisoners escaped when the waves swept away a high-security prison in Matara. Witnesses in the eastern Sri Lankan port city of Trincomalee reported 40 foot (14 meter) waves hitting inland as far as a half mile (1 km).
The Sri Lankan government declared a state of emergency, and, along with the government of the Maldives, has requested international assistance, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported. As the sun rose, 20,000 Sri Lankan soldiers and naval personnel launched relief and rescue efforts. India sent six warships carrying supplies, along with helicopters. Priorities included identifying the hardest-hit areas and airdropping supplies, along with shepherding stranded people to safer areas.
Sri Lankan authorities imposed a curfew overnight, and many residents remained concerned about the possibility of additional tsunamis. The country has been in the throes of a civil war, and land mines uprooted by the waves were hampering relief efforts. Sri Lanka's director of meteorology Abey Singha Bandara told CNN his department's analysis suggested "a remote possibility of small tidal waves, but not of the magnitude experienced on Sunday."
Some tourists, meanwhile, were evacuated from the hard-hit eastern coasts to the capital Colombo, on the west coast and unaffected by the disaster. At first light, many Sri Lankans ventured out to scour the debris for belongings or to search for information on missing family members.
In India, the official government news agency Press Trust of India said at least 6,200 Indians were killed, and more bodies were being recovered. A resident of Chennai (formerly Madras) in Tamil Nadu district - India's hardest-hit area - said he saw several people being swept out to sea. Along India's southeastern coast, several villages appeared to have been swept away. Thousands of fishermen - including 2,000 from the Chennai area alone - who were at sea when the waves thundered ashore have not returned.
Along the coast, brick foundations were all that remained of village homes. In Tamil Nadu, 2,500 people have been confirmed dead, and officials said 3,000 died on the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, where dozens of aftershocks were centered. Communication from the islands to the mainland was cut off.
In Thailand, authorities said at least 866 people are dead, and hundreds are missing. Among the missing were scuba divers who had been exploring the Emerald Cave off Phuket's coast. Phuket's airport - which closed when its runways flooded - reopened, but most roads in the area remained closed as officials tried to assess the damage. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived in Phuket and declared the situation "under control." He told CNN he planned to direct rescue and relief efforts overnight. Witnesses reported guests drowned in their hotel rooms near the coast as 30-foot waves washed ashore. Others reported narrow escapes, including a Spaniard who had been aboard a boat when a wave approached. The captain began screaming and turned the boat directly into a nearby shore, where he beached it. As those aboard jumped from the craft and scrambled up the steep beach, they turned back to see the waves crush their boat, the Spaniard said.
More than 4,350 people are reported dead in Indonesia - many of them in Aceh in northern Sumatra, about 100 miles from the quake's epicenter, officials said. The quake also inflicted heavy damage on the area, which is a hotbed of rebel activity, before two tsunamis slammed the coastline. Access and communications were difficult if not impossible. The death toll remained a mystery on the west coast of Aceh, where communication had been wiped out.
In the Maldives, 46 people are dead and more than 70 missing, according to Hassan Sobir, the Maldives High Commissioner. Among the dead are at least 16 non-nationals, including six Britons, six Americans and four Italians, officials from those countries said. Of the Americans, five were killed in Sri Lanka and one in Thailand, U.S. officials said.
No warning
The tsunamis struck with no warning to those in coastal areas, as no warning system exists for the Indian Ocean, said Eddie Bernard, director of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine and Environmental Labs in Seattle. Staffers at warning centers that cover the Pacific Basin and the U.S. West Coast were aware of the quake and the possibility of tsunamis, said Laura Kong, director of the International Tsunami Information Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.
"They were able to make contact, but they did not have the proper government officials to notify," she said. "They'll be working on this in the future." The earthquake is classified as "great" - the strongest classification given by the National Earthquake Information Center. NEIC geophysicist Don Blakeman said the tsunamis were triggered by the initial massive jolt.
"The damage is just phenomenal," said Jan Egelund, U.N. emergency relief coordinator. "I think we are seeing now one of the worst natural disasters ever." There was disagreement over whether the threat was over. Waverly Person, Blakeman's colleague at NEIC, said the tsunamis are "long over" and residents and visitors should not worry about further tsunamis. Bernard, however, said the aftershocks are strong enough to produce more tsunamis.
One such aftershock, measuring 7.3 in magnitude, struck about 200 miles (300 km) northwest of Banda Aceh - on Sumatra's northernmost tip - more than four hours after the initial quake, according to the NEIC. The center expects the quake to produce hundreds of smaller aftershocks under 4.6 magnitude, and thousands smaller than that. "A quake of this size has some pretty serious effects," Person said. The quake represented the energy released from "a very large rupture in the earth's crust" more than 600 miles (1,000 km) long. The rupture created shock waves that pushed the water at speeds of up to several hundred miles per hour.
It was the strongest earthquake to hit anywhere on Earth since March 1964, when a 9.2 quake struck near Alaska's Prince William Sound. The strongest recorded earthquake registered 9.5 on May 22, 1960, in Chile. Sunday's quake hit a year after a 6.6-magnitude quake in Bam, Iran, killed more than 30,000 people, injured another 30,000 and destroyed 85 percent of the buildings in the southeastern Iran city.
Monday, December 27, 2004 Posted: 7:40 AM EST (1240 GMT)
Rescuers load empty coffins bound for Phuket at Bangkok airport.
DEATH TOLLS
SRI LANKA
Sri Lankan military authorities report more than 10,000 people killed. In the northeast, Tamil Tigers report recovering 800 bodies.
INDIA
At least 6,200 killed by waves which flooded the southern coast, official media report.
INDONESIA
News agencies report more than 4,350 killed, many of them in Aceh in northern Sumatra.
THAILAND
Thai authorities report at least 866 people dead.
MALDIVES
46 people are dead and more than 70 missing, according to Hassan Sobir, the Maldives High Commissioner.
CHENNAI, India (CNN) - The death toll from Sunday's tsunamis climbed to 21,000 by Monday as fears of disease from decaying bodies and contaminated water grew in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The giant waves - triggered by the most powerful earthquake on Earth in 40 years - also left thousands injured, thousands missing and hundreds of thousands homeless.
A Sri Lankan forecaster warned of a "remote possibility of small tidal waves" caused by aftershocks Monday. Some of the tsunamis reached as far as 1,000 miles from the epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude quake, which was located about 100 miles (160 km) off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra Island at a depth of about 6.2 miles (10 km). The quake struck about 7 a.m. Sunday (7 p.m. ET Saturday), according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC). It is the fourth-largest earthquake since such measurements began in 1899, according to the NEIC, tying a 1952 quake in Kamchatka, Russia.
More than 10,000 people have been reported dead in Sri Lanka. Most of them, authorities said, were in the eastern district of Batticaloa. Thousands were missing, an estimated 1 million were displaced and an estimated 250,000 were homeless. In southern Sri Lanka, 200 prisoners escaped when the waves swept away a high-security prison in Matara. Witnesses in the eastern Sri Lankan port city of Trincomalee reported 40 foot (14 meter) waves hitting inland as far as a half mile (1 km).
The Sri Lankan government declared a state of emergency, and, along with the government of the Maldives, has requested international assistance, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported. As the sun rose, 20,000 Sri Lankan soldiers and naval personnel launched relief and rescue efforts. India sent six warships carrying supplies, along with helicopters. Priorities included identifying the hardest-hit areas and airdropping supplies, along with shepherding stranded people to safer areas.
Sri Lankan authorities imposed a curfew overnight, and many residents remained concerned about the possibility of additional tsunamis. The country has been in the throes of a civil war, and land mines uprooted by the waves were hampering relief efforts. Sri Lanka's director of meteorology Abey Singha Bandara told CNN his department's analysis suggested "a remote possibility of small tidal waves, but not of the magnitude experienced on Sunday."
Some tourists, meanwhile, were evacuated from the hard-hit eastern coasts to the capital Colombo, on the west coast and unaffected by the disaster. At first light, many Sri Lankans ventured out to scour the debris for belongings or to search for information on missing family members.
In India, the official government news agency Press Trust of India said at least 6,200 Indians were killed, and more bodies were being recovered. A resident of Chennai (formerly Madras) in Tamil Nadu district - India's hardest-hit area - said he saw several people being swept out to sea. Along India's southeastern coast, several villages appeared to have been swept away. Thousands of fishermen - including 2,000 from the Chennai area alone - who were at sea when the waves thundered ashore have not returned.
Along the coast, brick foundations were all that remained of village homes. In Tamil Nadu, 2,500 people have been confirmed dead, and officials said 3,000 died on the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, where dozens of aftershocks were centered. Communication from the islands to the mainland was cut off.
In Thailand, authorities said at least 866 people are dead, and hundreds are missing. Among the missing were scuba divers who had been exploring the Emerald Cave off Phuket's coast. Phuket's airport - which closed when its runways flooded - reopened, but most roads in the area remained closed as officials tried to assess the damage. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived in Phuket and declared the situation "under control." He told CNN he planned to direct rescue and relief efforts overnight. Witnesses reported guests drowned in their hotel rooms near the coast as 30-foot waves washed ashore. Others reported narrow escapes, including a Spaniard who had been aboard a boat when a wave approached. The captain began screaming and turned the boat directly into a nearby shore, where he beached it. As those aboard jumped from the craft and scrambled up the steep beach, they turned back to see the waves crush their boat, the Spaniard said.
More than 4,350 people are reported dead in Indonesia - many of them in Aceh in northern Sumatra, about 100 miles from the quake's epicenter, officials said. The quake also inflicted heavy damage on the area, which is a hotbed of rebel activity, before two tsunamis slammed the coastline. Access and communications were difficult if not impossible. The death toll remained a mystery on the west coast of Aceh, where communication had been wiped out.
In the Maldives, 46 people are dead and more than 70 missing, according to Hassan Sobir, the Maldives High Commissioner. Among the dead are at least 16 non-nationals, including six Britons, six Americans and four Italians, officials from those countries said. Of the Americans, five were killed in Sri Lanka and one in Thailand, U.S. officials said.
No warning
The tsunamis struck with no warning to those in coastal areas, as no warning system exists for the Indian Ocean, said Eddie Bernard, director of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine and Environmental Labs in Seattle. Staffers at warning centers that cover the Pacific Basin and the U.S. West Coast were aware of the quake and the possibility of tsunamis, said Laura Kong, director of the International Tsunami Information Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.
"They were able to make contact, but they did not have the proper government officials to notify," she said. "They'll be working on this in the future." The earthquake is classified as "great" - the strongest classification given by the National Earthquake Information Center. NEIC geophysicist Don Blakeman said the tsunamis were triggered by the initial massive jolt.
"The damage is just phenomenal," said Jan Egelund, U.N. emergency relief coordinator. "I think we are seeing now one of the worst natural disasters ever." There was disagreement over whether the threat was over. Waverly Person, Blakeman's colleague at NEIC, said the tsunamis are "long over" and residents and visitors should not worry about further tsunamis. Bernard, however, said the aftershocks are strong enough to produce more tsunamis.
One such aftershock, measuring 7.3 in magnitude, struck about 200 miles (300 km) northwest of Banda Aceh - on Sumatra's northernmost tip - more than four hours after the initial quake, according to the NEIC. The center expects the quake to produce hundreds of smaller aftershocks under 4.6 magnitude, and thousands smaller than that. "A quake of this size has some pretty serious effects," Person said. The quake represented the energy released from "a very large rupture in the earth's crust" more than 600 miles (1,000 km) long. The rupture created shock waves that pushed the water at speeds of up to several hundred miles per hour.
It was the strongest earthquake to hit anywhere on Earth since March 1964, when a 9.2 quake struck near Alaska's Prince William Sound. The strongest recorded earthquake registered 9.5 on May 22, 1960, in Chile. Sunday's quake hit a year after a 6.6-magnitude quake in Bam, Iran, killed more than 30,000 people, injured another 30,000 and destroyed 85 percent of the buildings in the southeastern Iran city.
According to several news sources, "hundreds of Western tourists" have been killed, especially in Sri Lanka and Thailand. I don't know how it is in Canada, but a total of 45 Dutch have been injured by the tsunamis (more information have to come yet), and a total of 19 Dutch are missing - probably swept away into the ocean.
A co-worker of my mom was also in Thailand when the earthquake struck, we haven't heard of her since, but we hope she and her family are OK.
Ponderous Intellect
Posts: 4,080
Location: The Netherlands
Location: The Netherlands
December 27th, 2004, 07:52 AM
Pictures of the earthquake and its aftermath. Note: some of them can be shocking.
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/...&c=news_photos
Pictures of the earthquake and its aftermath. Note: some of them can be shocking.
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/...&c=news_photos
Super Genius
Posts: 1,320
Location: Winnipeg
Location: Winnipeg
December 27th, 2004, 04:31 PM
I know, through the internet, a guy from that part of the world. He's fine and his e-mail apparently works...he was on the other side of the country. Anybody who knows Hafizi (I know Ten Packs does) and is wondering...he's okay.
The last I heard there were two Canadians dead, 12 officially missing, and another 16 that they were trying to contact. I'm not sure what the difference between officially missing and being out of contact is...they never explained.
The death toll was 25,000 and rising in that same report. 30 or so Canadians seems the wrong thing to be worried about with numbers like that.
Send your x-mas money to the International Red Cross...they'll be needing it.
I know, through the internet, a guy from that part of the world. He's fine and his e-mail apparently works...he was on the other side of the country. Anybody who knows Hafizi (I know Ten Packs does) and is wondering...he's okay.
The last I heard there were two Canadians dead, 12 officially missing, and another 16 that they were trying to contact. I'm not sure what the difference between officially missing and being out of contact is...they never explained.
The death toll was 25,000 and rising in that same report. 30 or so Canadians seems the wrong thing to be worried about with numbers like that.
Send your x-mas money to the International Red Cross...they'll be needing it.
Ponderous Intellect
Posts: 4,080
Location: The Netherlands
Location: The Netherlands
December 27th, 2004, 04:37 PM
I know, looking at the number of Dutch or Canadians missing or injured seems to be nothing compared to the thousands who have been killed. It's just heart-breaking to see, I have been intensily following the reports about it hour by hour, and the most terrible stories come to light. On the news, I saw a German couple who said that another Western couple near them saw their two kids playing on the beach and suddenly being swept away into the sea, never to be seen again ... Brings tears to my eyes. Fathers in Sri Lanka finding their dead children. Women in Atjeh who have lost their entire family and belongings.
Oh by the way, does anyone know this kid? http://www.phuket-inter-hospital.co.th/boy.htm He was found on the street in Phuket after the tsunami hid, they haven't found his parents yet and do not know which language he speaks, where he's from.
I know, looking at the number of Dutch or Canadians missing or injured seems to be nothing compared to the thousands who have been killed. It's just heart-breaking to see, I have been intensily following the reports about it hour by hour, and the most terrible stories come to light. On the news, I saw a German couple who said that another Western couple near them saw their two kids playing on the beach and suddenly being swept away into the sea, never to be seen again ... Brings tears to my eyes. Fathers in Sri Lanka finding their dead children. Women in Atjeh who have lost their entire family and belongings.
Oh by the way, does anyone know this kid? http://www.phuket-inter-hospital.co.th/boy.htm He was found on the street in Phuket after the tsunami hid, they haven't found his parents yet and do not know which language he speaks, where he's from.
Ponderous Intellect
Posts: 3,847 
Location: Victoria, BC
Location: Victoria, BC
December 27th, 2004, 04:52 PM
Puts my puny little complaints into clear perspective.
Excellent idea, Ricky ... posting the found child's photo. Let's hope everyone does it until he's claimed.
Anyone know the best way to send support for something like this? I often don't trust the organizations since they spend more money on administration than on actual help. Anyone have good info on this?
Puts my puny little complaints into clear perspective.
Excellent idea, Ricky ... posting the found child's photo. Let's hope everyone does it until he's claimed.
Anyone know the best way to send support for something like this? I often don't trust the organizations since they spend more money on administration than on actual help. Anyone have good info on this?
Ponderous Intellect
Posts: 4,080
Location: The Netherlands
Location: The Netherlands
December 27th, 2004, 05:02 PM
I honestly don't know Cosmo. What organisations, NGO's, do you think are good enough in giving good, actual help, without, as you say, the money spend on administration etc.? What you can do, for example, is send money to a hospital in the region, I've seen pictures of a Sri Lanka hospital which contained not only thousands of injured, but also 2,000 dead bodies ... horrible ... But again, I honestly don't know Cosmo, I have to figure that out myself too, they have already started with raising money back here, nationwide, with commercials and so on.
I honestly don't know Cosmo. What organisations, NGO's, do you think are good enough in giving good, actual help, without, as you say, the money spend on administration etc.? What you can do, for example, is send money to a hospital in the region, I've seen pictures of a Sri Lanka hospital which contained not only thousands of injured, but also 2,000 dead bodies ... horrible ... But again, I honestly don't know Cosmo, I have to figure that out myself too, they have already started with raising money back here, nationwide, with commercials and so on.
Don't bother arguing, I KNOW!
Posts: 10,754
Location: pumpkin pie bungalow
Location: pumpkin pie bungalow
December 27th, 2004, 05:09 PM
To donate, Canadians can contact:
Canadian Red Cross, toll-free at 1-800-418-1111
World Vision toll-free at 1-800-268-5528
UNICEF Canada at 1-877-955-3111
Other groups helping provide relief are Oxfam, World Vision and Medicins Sans Frontieres
Anyone who has Canadian relatives in the affected areas should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa at 1-800-387-3124; or in Ottawa at (613) 996-8885.
B.C.'s future?
The impact of the quake is a human story, but it's also a scientific one. Geologists here are interested in the situation because a major earthquake is expected someday in British Columbia.
"What we are trying to understand is how the ground will shake in Vancouver and Victoria during our future earthquake," research scientist John Cassidy of the Geological Survey of Canada told CTV News.
B.C.'s coastal communities are at risk from tsunamis. If a major quake happened like the one in Alaska in 1964, those communities would have about 3˝ hours warning, Bob Bugslag, director of B.C.'s Provincial Emergency Program, told The Canadian Press.
"We are on the Pacific Rim and the entire area is very vulnerable to tsunamis," said Bugslag on Sunday.
Unlike the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Rim countries have a tsunami warning network. Bugslag said it generates about one alert per week.
I am grateful that BC does have the tsunami warning network, you can have up to three hours warning before it hits. My understanding is the Indian ocean does not have such a warning system because they hardly ever have a tsunami. Hopefully such a network will be put into place now.
To donate, Canadians can contact:
Canadian Red Cross, toll-free at 1-800-418-1111
World Vision toll-free at 1-800-268-5528
UNICEF Canada at 1-877-955-3111
Other groups helping provide relief are Oxfam, World Vision and Medicins Sans Frontieres
Anyone who has Canadian relatives in the affected areas should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa at 1-800-387-3124; or in Ottawa at (613) 996-8885.
B.C.'s future?
The impact of the quake is a human story, but it's also a scientific one. Geologists here are interested in the situation because a major earthquake is expected someday in British Columbia.
"What we are trying to understand is how the ground will shake in Vancouver and Victoria during our future earthquake," research scientist John Cassidy of the Geological Survey of Canada told CTV News.
B.C.'s coastal communities are at risk from tsunamis. If a major quake happened like the one in Alaska in 1964, those communities would have about 3˝ hours warning, Bob Bugslag, director of B.C.'s Provincial Emergency Program, told The Canadian Press.
"We are on the Pacific Rim and the entire area is very vulnerable to tsunamis," said Bugslag on Sunday.
Unlike the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Rim countries have a tsunami warning network. Bugslag said it generates about one alert per week.
I am grateful that BC does have the tsunami warning network, you can have up to three hours warning before it hits. My understanding is the Indian ocean does not have such a warning system because they hardly ever have a tsunami. Hopefully such a network will be put into place now.
Super Genius
Posts: 1,320
Location: Winnipeg
Location: Winnipeg
December 27th, 2004, 05:14 PM
The Red Cross is the place that goes in first and biggest, Cosmo. Most of their infrastructure (and related costs) is permanent so the lion's share of money for emergencies gets to where it will do the most good. Aid workers still have to be paid though...nobody works for free.
The Red Cross is the place that goes in first and biggest, Cosmo. Most of their infrastructure (and related costs) is permanent so the lion's share of money for emergencies gets to where it will do the most good. Aid workers still have to be paid though...nobody works for free.
Ponderous Intellect
Posts: 4,080
Location: The Netherlands
Location: The Netherlands
December 27th, 2004, 05:17 PM
That's true peapod, the countries around the Indian Ocean do not have this kinda system, especially because it was very expensive and governments thought that the costs would be too high for such a "low risk" (how wrong were they!) Now they have already offered India to be part of the warning system which has been set up around the Pacific (but also monitors other parts of the world), but we have this beautiful Dutch saying for that: "als het kalf verdronken is, dempt men de put" - literally: "after the calf has drowned, they fill up the well", meaning that this offer is far too late (I mean, how should you tell this to the relatives and friends of the more than 6,000 Indians who have been reported killed by this tsunami so far?). What's the most frustrating is that Americans scientists had already monitored the tsunami coming towards the shores of all these countries and tried desperately to contact local authorities in the region, but failed because they didn't know who to contact, as these countries did not have people who were able to monitor an evacuation of the coastal areas in this region.
That's true peapod, the countries around the Indian Ocean do not have this kinda system, especially because it was very expensive and governments thought that the costs would be too high for such a "low risk" (how wrong were they!) Now they have already offered India to be part of the warning system which has been set up around the Pacific (but also monitors other parts of the world), but we have this beautiful Dutch saying for that: "als het kalf verdronken is, dempt men de put" - literally: "after the calf has drowned, they fill up the well", meaning that this offer is far too late (I mean, how should you tell this to the relatives and friends of the more than 6,000 Indians who have been reported killed by this tsunami so far?). What's the most frustrating is that Americans scientists had already monitored the tsunami coming towards the shores of all these countries and tried desperately to contact local authorities in the region, but failed because they didn't know who to contact, as these countries did not have people who were able to monitor an evacuation of the coastal areas in this region.
Ponderous Intellect
Posts: 3,847
Location: Victoria, BC
Location: Victoria, BC
December 27th, 2004, 05:22 PM
You can donate online to Red Cross at:
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=011440&tid=001
This is with credit card only.
There is a "How you can help" page as well:
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=000178&tid=015
You can donate online to Red Cross at:
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=011440&tid=001
This is with credit card only.
There is a "How you can help" page as well:
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=000178&tid=015
Don't bother arguing, I KNOW!
Posts: 10,754
Location: pumpkin pie bungalow
Location: pumpkin pie bungalow
December 27th, 2004, 05:24 PM
"als het kalf verdronken is, dempt men de put" - literally: "after the calf has drowned, they fill up the well", meaning that this offer is far too late.
How true ricky, it the case with most things. People have to die or get injured before anything changes.
"als het kalf verdronken is, dempt men de put" - literally: "after the calf has drowned, they fill up the well", meaning that this offer is far too late.
How true ricky, it the case with most things. People have to die or get injured before anything changes.
