One thing they were just showing on CNN was satellite pictures of the whirlpool effect that was occurring when the water was being sucked back out after the waves hit. Anybody that got sucked out had zero chance. They may have been floating or bobbing uncontrollably onshore dodging debris when the waves came in but offshore they were being sucked under as the water rushed back out. The force of that whirlpool must have been something else. I hope I never see another one of that size and force.
My church is taking up a collection on sunday that will allow us to donate directly to the relief fund from one of their accounts. I know it's not much when millions are homeless, but they need all they can get.
From a Yahoo news item: Thousands of tourists enjoying their Christmas holidays at Indian Ocean resorts, principally in Thailand, could be among the victims. Some 1,500 Swedes, 1,000 Germans, 600 Italians and nearly 450 Norwegians were missing. Norway's government said the tsunami threatened to become one of the worst disasters for its nation in modern times. Norway. A country 6000 miles away, and untouched by the tsunami itself, suffers it's worst natural disaster as a result.
what boggles my mind to disbelief is they said the whole Earth actually wobbled on it's axis because of the quake!...
Any other parents here see the clips of the dead children? It's like getting sucker-punched. I cannot imagine...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2000/mega_tsunami_transcript.shtml Mega-tsunami: Wave of Destruction BBC2 9:30pm Thursday 12th October 2000 Mega-tsunamiNARRATOR (EMMA FIELDING): 40 million people live and work along the east coast of the United States, yet this entire population unknowingly lives under threat of a sudden catastrophe. ... ...and told me about this incredible wave that had occurred in Lituya Bay that stripped the timber and soil off to a height of 520 metres above sea-level. That’s a half a kilometre high and this is unbelievable, incredible thing, far greater than any wave ever heard of in history. ... NARRATOR: The geological evidence now shows that La Palma may well be the next volcanic island to collapse and when it does so it will create a devastating natural disaster. BILL McGUIRE: The first thing that you’d feel actually would be seismic activity, earthquakes, because the collapse is going to be related to an eruption. SIMON DAY: As the forces within the volcano built up to, to the point where they would begin to overcome the friction forces holding the flank in place the flank would begin to move towards the sea. BILL McGUIRE: And then at some point the rock would fail on a major scale and this huge chunk of rock, maybe 20 kilometres long or more, would start to slide into the sea. SIMON DAY: The waves initially here would be many hundreds of metres high and those waves would all be moving out into the ocean spreading out laterally, but with a lot of the energy heading across the Atlantic towards the coast of the Americas. BILL McGUIRE: Looking down on it, it’ll look unbelievable, it’ll look as if the island is falling apart generating these huge waves which are fanning outwards to reach the eastern coast of the United States. SIMON DAY: The waves will take about 8 hours to travel between here and the coast of America just enough time to get the message out to warn people that this event was happening, but unless evacuation plans were incredibly efficient it would not be enough time to get everybody out of the affected areas. The areas at risk include cities like Miami, parts of Boston, the coastal areas and suburbs of New York. GARY McMURTRY: If you were standing on a beach in what is presently Miami, the very first effects you’d probably see is what we call drawback. The ocean would suddenly just pull away. You’d see a tide, a low tide like you’ve never seen before in your life. It would be actually spellbinding but in the background you’d be seeing this wall and it’d keep coming at you. BILL McGUIRE: This would be the biggest natural catastrophe in history. There’s a problem with all major natural catastrophes. Because we’ve never experienced these things we don’t think that they’re going to happen to us. We just ignore them, but these sorts of events have occurred throughout geological history. They’re not going to stop happening just because we’re around. La Palma is going to collapse into the North Atlantic. It’s not a question of if, it’s just a question of when.
as mentioned earlier on this thread: USA contribution to relief effort = $15 million but Yankees bid for Beltran = $100 million +
...and as mentioned earlier on this thread: USA EARLY contribution = $35 million; supposed to ultimately exceed $1 BILLION. Along these lines: www.musicforrelief.org
India just gave tsuami warning for high waves.... http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/30/tamilnadu.warning.reut/index.html
I hope so. My uncle met him in Columbo, where he was living at the time (Clarke), on the coast. I haven't heard of Columbo being affected, so whether he is there, or in the mountains (he probably has estates in both places), Clarke should be OK... unless he was unlucky, as tens of thousands of people were. This disaster just staggers the mind. The same sort of thing could happen on the coast of the US, as has been noted. You just never know. There was no indication that this horrific event would occur. Words really are inadequate at times, aren't they?
This is just crazy. Tsunami death toll tops 116,000 BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (CNN) -- The death toll from Sunday's tsunamis has jumped sharply to over 116,000 after Indonesia reported nearly 80,000 people were killed in that country alone. U.N. relief workers arrived in Indonesia's Aceh province to find devastation in the region closest to the epicenter of the earthquake that spawned the killer tsunamis. Emergency workers reported that in some parts of Aceh, as many as one in every four citizens was dead. full story
there are several regions in Indonesia, one small island and another area where it is thought over 90% of the population is gone.....
