Tsunamis in the Indian Ocean

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2004-12-27 07:51am

Holy...oh my god, the sheer scale of destruction.

Isn't The Shadow in Bangeldesh? could he be in any sort of problem?

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2004-12-27 07:52am

Ace Pace wrote:Holy...oh my god, the sheer scale of destruction.

Isn't The Shadow in Bangeldesh? could he be in any sort of problem?

He's in Pakistan, so I *think* he may be fine.

I hope so, at any rate.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2004-12-27 07:54am

Stofsk wrote:
Ace Pace wrote:Holy...oh my god, the sheer scale of destruction.

Isn't The Shadow in Bangeldesh? could he be in any sort of problem?
He's in Pakistan, so I *think* he may be fine. I hope so, at any rate.

IIRC he moved over to Bangeldesh, so I have no clue.

Old Plympto · Post by **Old Plympto** » 2004-12-27 07:57am

Any recent posts from the former-Evilcat? Pakistan is well shielded by the Indian subcontinent, but Bangladesh is fair game. I don't recall any heavy casualty numbers from Bangladesh though.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2004-12-27 08:00am

Coyote wrote:Ummm... wow. Now, forgive me my ignorance, and this may sound damn stupid, but wasn't this the area where, just a few days ago, there was a tremendously loud explosion heard in Indonesia that some thougt may have been a meteor breaking thriough the atmosphere?

It may have been caused by the earthquake, actually. The earthquake itself was probably triggered by the Tasmanian quake of a few days ago.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2004-12-27 08:08am

Guys, check the first page.

The Shadow wrote:What could cause something so big ? An asteroid impact maybe ?

Anyway this does not look very good for the Lankans who are already strained by a civil war at home.

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2004-12-27 08:47am

Latest, 24.000+ and counting

India: min. 6.289
Indonesia: min. 4.991
Malaysia: min. 52
Burma: min. 30
Sri Lanka: min. 12.029
Thailand: min. 866
Bangladesh: min. 2
Maldiverna: min. 43
Somalia: min. 100

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2004-12-27 08:53am

Coyote wrote:If there's been some sort of falling-rock type activity in the region, is it possible that....?

Unlikely. A meteor would not be able to trigger seismic activitity in an underwater faultline on this scale unless it was real big - big enough to leave no doubts. Seismologist can also detect the depth of a quake, if the epicenter was above the bottom of the sea they would notice.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-12-27 09:04am

The Beeb says it was a massive continental plate shift. Numbers up to 20,000 now.

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2004-12-27 11:14am

India: min. 6.800.
Indonesia: min. 10.000 only on Sumatra, according to the vicepresident.
Malaysia: min. 52.
Burma: min. 30.
Sri Lanka: min. 12.029.
Thailand: min. 2.000, accoring to the Primeminister.
Bangladesh: min 2.
The Maldivas: min. 100.
Somalia: min. 100, mostly fishers.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2004-12-27 11:24am

When I woke up yesterday and saw that they were estimating 7,000 dead, it was horrifying.

But this is beyond belief. Intellectually you may know that events with catastrophic death tolls are a possibility waiting to happen, but when it becomes reality you have difficulty wrapping your head around it.

Has anyone seen some of the video coming out these areas? It's blood curdling.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-12-27 11:26am

While a meteor impact COULD trigger a fault release like this, the fact is it didn't. This was just an unusually widespread and powerful earthquake which unfortunately failed at all points along the fault simultaneously. Trust me, when a large asteroid hits the earth, I'll know before most of this board.

Incidentally, India DOES have a tsunami warning system, but the wavelength was so broad that it wasn't characteristic of a wave, and it wasn't coming from the usual direction. But man, if it hit Somalia, that means it struck as far south as Madagascar!

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2004-12-27 11:33am

A death toll of this magnitude reaches statistic levels of horror. Yes. It's horrifying when you know 12 people were killed, it becomes horrific when a few hundred die. But when you start getting into the tens of thousands...my god, how do you wrap your mind around that?

Crown · Post by **Crown** » 2004-12-27 11:35am

Stravo wrote:A death toll of this magnitude reaches statistic levels of horror. Yes. It's horrifying when you know 12 people were killed, it becomes horrific when a few hundred die. But when you start getting into the tens of thousands...my god, how do you wrap your mind around that?

There is a quote of Stalin's that I think Pablo used to have in his sig that addressed a similar point, IIRC.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-12-27 11:41am

^One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic.

Crown · Post by **Crown** » 2004-12-27 11:58am

CaptainChewbacca wrote:^One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic.

Dat's the one, or too close to it for my memory to distinguish between.

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2004-12-27 01:14pm

I just heard that in the Indian figure the Andaman & Nicobar islands are not included, they have not been able to contact them yet! Those two islands groups are right on top of the faultline and with 30.000 missing on those islands... Well we might not have seen the worst yet.

Post by **fgalkin** » 2004-12-27 01:24pm

I expect the total casualties to be in the 50,000-80,000 range. More if there are more tsunamis caused by aftershocks, and even more if we include the eventual outbreak of disease.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Post by **Edi** » 2004-12-27 02:24pm

There was a comment on the prime news here that the death toll could go up to 100,000, given how many people in the Andamans, Nicobars and elsewhere are missing. The numbers of the dead are climbing by the hour, and it's looking grimmer and grimmer in its other implications too. Just how many are going to die of contagious diseases like cholera and other such intestinal infections spread by dirty water, I wonder?

Edi

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2004-12-27 02:30pm

It will depend on how many of the missing are hiding in the hills or cut off from communications in general. There are still 2.000 Swedish tourists alone missing in the area, could become the worst Swedish natural disaster in modern times.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-12-27 02:49pm

Faram wrote:
This is the works quake in morden history so far:

Tangshan, China July 28, 1976
242,419 killed

Not to dismiss this one but it is not a disaster in the same scale.

It's also widely suspected that the quarter million dead figure for the Tangshan quake may be an understatement by a factor of two or even three. The damage was so immense it took the Chinese goverment several years just to decide if the city should even be rebuilt, they strongly considered abandoning it. That's sort of decision and the scale of damage it takes to even put it on the table is not something we've have seen often in the last couple of centuries.

Post by **fgalkin** » 2004-12-27 02:56pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:
Faram wrote:
This is the works quake in morden history so far:

Tangshan, China July 28, 1976
242,419 killed

Not to dismiss this one but it is not a disaster in the same scale.
It's also widely suspected that the quarter million dead figure for the Tangshan quake may be an understatement by a factor of two or even three. The damage was so immense it took the Chinese goverment several years just to decide if the city should even be rebuilt, they strongly considered abandoning it. That's sort of decision and the scale of damage it takes to even put it on the table is not something we've have seen often in the last couple of centuries.

I've heard estimates in the 600,000-700,000 range.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Mlenk · Post by **Mlenk** » 2004-12-27 03:13pm

What about the other countries near or in that region like Australia, the Philippines, or Singapore? This disaster never reached any of their shores?

Post by **Edi** » 2004-12-27 03:46pm

Mlenk wrote:What about the other countries near or in that region like Australia, the Philippines, or Singapore? This disaster never reached any of their shores?

Nope, too many landmasses in the way that got hit by the waves. Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand prevented the tsunami from reaching South China Sea and Indonesia shielded Australia and Singapore. One look at a map of the region would tell you that.

Edi

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-12-27 05:33pm

The DoD's initial response:

DefenseLINK wrote:U.S. Responding to Tsunami Catastrophe

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 27, 2004 – The United States will respond to the unprecedented international catastrophe caused by the tsunamis that engulfed nations on the Indian Ocean.

More than 20,000 people are feared dead, according to news reports, and millions are without shelter.

President Bush said in a statement issued by the White House that the United States "stands ready to offer all appropriate assistance to those nations most affected including Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Thailand, and Indonesia, as well as the other countries impacted."

Relief already is flowing to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, an island nation between India and Africa.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said U.S. embassies in Sri Lanka, the Maldives, India and Indonesia have provided a total of $400,000 in immediate assistance. The United States also will provide $4 million toward a $6.6 million Red Cross appeal for assistance from the world community.

Powell said eight Americans are dead in the tsunamis, caused by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia. Tsunamis hit Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and the coast of Africa. Flood waters poured into low-lying coastal areas, drowning thousands and destroying homes and businesses.

The U.S. Pacific Command already has begun to respond. Navy P-3 Orion aircraft are flying missions over the affected areas to help in assessing the damage, especially in remote areas. "The Pacific fleet is examining what else they might be able to do to help in this situation," Powell said during a news conference at the State Department.

Defense Department officials said U.S. Pacific Command will establish a joint task force for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in the region. The command is expected to deploy forces to forward operating bases in the sea region to provide authorized humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

A 21-member U.S. Agency for International Development disaster relief team is heading to the area, and the agency can draw upon assets pre-positioned in the region. Ed Fox, assistant administration of USAID, said food, shelter, water and other supplies are ready to be delivered. The main problem right now is to clear debris scattered by the floods, he said.

Powell said the effects of the disaster will be felt in the region for years, and that a quick infusion of money is needed to stabilize the situation and prevent further deaths from water-borne diseases in the near term.

Edi wrote:Nope, too many landmasses in the way that got hit by the waves. Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand prevented the tsunami from reaching South China Sea and Indonesia shielded Australia and Singapore. One look at a map of the region would tell you that.

Wikipedia has an animated gif by way of NOAA displaying the tsunami's propagation.