Heavy Earthquake in Asia

[shinRaiden 0]

Never rains but it pours. I got to meet Rev. White in Israel when my tour group bumped into his on Mt. Carmel in early 2000. Really nice guy, sad to see him go.

USGS NEIC

Quote[/b] ]

. Preliminary locations of larger aftershocks following today's earthquake show that approximately 1000 km of the plate boundary slipped as a result of the earthquake.

Also from the reports the tsunami was significantly moderated due to the shallow continental shelfs in many of the affected areas. In places like Madras India, they only reported inundation and undertow from rising and lowering sea levels, although it was a 3~4m rise. Islands with sharp slopes are where you see pounding damage from rapidly rising waves. Apparently islands in the Maldives got rather obliterated, as pretty much the entire islands were swamped over.

Also likely hit was Diego Garcia. I suspect though that any damage reports would like be classified due to the vital stategic nature of that base, along with any resources stationed there.

Quote[/b] ] AFP - A grandson of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej is among those missing after tidal waves smashed into this southern resort island, officials said.

"We have no report of his whereabouts yet," said a Phuket rescue center official of Bhumi Jensen, 21, who disappeared at Khao Lak beach resort while jet-skiing.

Bhumi is the son of Princess Ubolratana and her estranged American husband Peter Jensen. He was holidaying with his mother at the time but media reports said she was safe.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra confirmed that Bhumi is still missing but remained optimistic he may only be injured.

He said Bhumi disappeared with two others who are also still missing but his four special branch police bodyguards survived.

Almost 400 people are confirmed dead in southern Thailand and scores are missing after the tidal waves hit on Sunday. Former finance and commerce minister Borom Tantian is among the dead, newspapers reported.

The Nation said Borom was swept away by a 10-metre-high (33 foot) wave as he was getting out of his car outside the Palm Andaman Beach Resort in Phang Nga north of Phuket.

His daughter Kantawan Kulchanyawiwat, an MP for the Democrat party, suffered a broken arm while her youngest son, aged three, was swept away.

Quote[/b] ] AFP - Sri Lanka failed to take warnings of earthquakes seriously and was ill-prepared for the tidal waves which devastated the island's coastline and left over 4,850 dead, a senior relief official said.

Lalith Weeratunga, Sri Lanka's top relief co-ordinator, said officials had also failed to learn from floods in June last year that ravaged the country's south and claimed hundreds of lives.

"We had been very complacent," Weeratunga told AFP. "People had been predicting earth quakes, tidal waves and we even felt a few tremors recently, but obviously we did not take the warnings seriously."

Until Sunday's unprecedented destruction, the worst natural disaster had been last June's river flooding and mudslides which left 255 dead.

"Even after that, we had not learnt a lesson," said Weeratunga, a senior civil servant who is also the prime minister's top aide. "We have to rethink the entire disaster preparedness strategy."

However, he said with the government declaring a "state of disaster" the military was pressed into the rescue operation which had now turned into a recovery effort to look for bodies of victims.

No confirmation of Any Jet Li rumors. From my cursorly scan of Beijing, Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan news I'm not seeing any blips. Of course I can only read Japanese, TakanoFukuda (Singapore) would be a better source for any confirmations.

[pajama 0]

This is really unbeliveablebly sad. Practicly all my relitives resides in Thailand! The mension of Phuket brings back many memories, as a child I often visit their during brakes. Heavy condolencences and a wish of luck to all families.

[sanctuary 19]

That is really horrible , i even read that the tsunami arrived only +/-30mn after the earthquake , without leaving a "possible in time" evacuation procedure to take place.

May the unfortunate victims rest in peace and the survivor rescued.

When i think about all those small but populated island that are very low in altitude (1-3m high only above sea level) in the area, i can't imagine the effect when they were touched by the tsunami.

[brgnorway 0]

Quote[/b] ]When i think about all those small but populated island that are very low in altitude (1-3m high only above sea level) in the area, i can't imagine the effect when they were touched by the tsunami.

........ the Maldives' highest point above sea level is 1,3 meters........

Edit: the official number is now 17200 confirmed dead Aftenposten

Over one hundred norwegians missing.

[brgnorway 0]

Meteorologists have discovered several minor earthquakes in the area close to Sumatra. They warn against new waves and in Sri Lanka the authoroties are evacuating the beaches as a response!

(News from Aftenposten and NRK - the norwegian television broadcaster)

Aftenposten (in Norwegian)

NRK (also in norwegian)

[BOP_101TFS 0]

I heard that Taiwanese news agencies are reporting that Jet Li is also missing? Can anyone confirm or deny?

No news yet ...

In Thailand, thousand of Hongkong people including Li have not been contacted ...

http://news.sohu.com/20041227/n223657430.shtml

[lee_h._oswald 0]

German television is talking about 21500 death.

This is a tragedy, I can't believe this can happen in our "modern" world.

MfG Lee

[Leveler 0]

9 richter? That is massive. I imagine the quake caused much more damage due to the tsunami created and the cities near the sea. As if terrorism in that region wasnt enough...

[ozanzac 0]

This really is a tragedy.......

I had the best day in my life today... then I come home to the news that over 20,000 people in south east Asia perished....

FFS, I live in SE Asia, and I didn't feel a bloody thing!?!....

I feel so friggin guilty.....

[Mr_Tea 0]

What I can`t understand is, that there was no warning. After an earthquake of this magnitude under the sea, it`s known that tidal waves had to be expected. There is no need to know the correct time that the waves arrive, it`s clear that this will happen in hours. But there was absolutely no warning,

everyone was at the beach or on the water.

[Donnervogel 0]

What I can`t understand is, that there was no warning. After an earthquake of this magnitude under the sea, it`s known that tidal waves had to be expected. There is no need to know the correct time that the waves arrive, it`s clear that this will happen in hours. But there was absolutely no warning,

everyone was at the beach or on the water.

Well... appart from indonesia I'm not sure if people did actually notice the quake itself in Thailand or Sri Lanka. I guess that's too far away. Also those countries aren't very rich and there is no Tsunami warning system in place in the region. Also they have floods and landslides almost every year in the Monsun season. I can imagine their ressources are barley enough to reconstruct the dammage caused from those anual events (they happened this year too). I guess they need help for putting warning systems in place. Unfortunatly nobody seems to help as long as no catastrophy happens.

[-=BT=- Matty R 0]

i would say our planet is our worst enemy. so many differnt types of disasters can happen.

[denoir 0]

Over one hundred norwegians missing.

Under the circumstances that's not too bad. 800 Swedes are currently missing. (Although missing does not equal dead).

CNN just upped the number of dead to 21,000+

[Waterman 0]

23,500 is the number they're talking about now... I know two people in India at present in Andrea Predesh, but they're ok.

[TakanoFukada 0]

Ok we have hourly updates here in the middle of SE Asia...  Singapore was spared as she's sheltered by neighbouring islands.

Yes, Jet Li was reported missing in the evening local papers.. and I just caught ChannelNewsAsia's update on TV that the Thai King's grandson was among those dead.

You may get updates of the tragedy slightly faster from http://www.channelnewsasia.com (an agency based in Singapore)

Special coverage here - http://www.channelnewsasia.com/killerwaves/

[Winters 1]

The Associated Press is now reporting the death toll at 24,000 this morning on the news they said the waves were 10' high and some survivors reported the sound to be equivalent of a speeding freight train.

Why do these things always seem to happen around a major holiday?

[Longinius 1]

Two guys at another forum I visit are helping out with tending for the wounded. They posted information for those that wish to donate money to the local Red Cross. I will post it here below.

"Thai Red Cross

Siam Commercial Bank - Red Cross Branch

Acct: 045-248899-3

Swift: SICROTHBK

Have your bank use the note section to note that the donation is for Relief in Phuket.

We've got a few more volunteers on the way. The Thai Ministry of Health is the lead agency, and they are looking for volunteers, especially those who speak Italian, French or German. There is a shortage of medical supplies and storage facilities for bodies. All donations are appreciated."

Truly tragic event.

[TakanoFukada 0]

Humanitarian Assistance To The Victims of the Bay of Bengal Earthquake and Tidal Waves

The Singapore Red Cross Society in response to the call for international assistance by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, is launching a public appeal to help the victims of the Bay of Bengal earthquake and tidal waves.

As an immediate response to the disaster, the Singapore Red Cross will be sending a sum of Singapore dollars, One hundred and fifty thousand (S$150,000) to Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India (through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies). The Singapore Red Cross is also in touch with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the national societies of all affected countries to determine what assistance is required to assist the victims.

The Singapore Red Cross hopes to raise Singapore dollars, One Million (S$1,000,000) for this appeal.

The Singapore Red Cross calls on Singaporeans and other like-minded

organisations to come forward to contribute to this appeal and help the victims affected by the earthquake and tidal waves that swept across the India Ocean and affected Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Maldives, India and Sri Lanka.

The Singapore Red Cross requests donation for the affected countries. The money donated to this emergency appeal will be used to fund purchases and direct delivery of emergency items like medicine and first aid, food parcels and other relief supplies for the displaced and homeless victims.

http://www.redcross.org.sg/press_bayofbengal_appeal.htm

[lee_h._oswald 0]

There are reports about victims in Africa.

Unbelievable, Africa is thousands of kilometers away!

MfG Lee

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

There are reports about victims in Africa.

Unbelievable, Africa is thousands of kilometers away!

MfG Lee

Link

[lee_h._oswald 0]

German television N24

http://www.n24.de/

MfG Lee

[ozanzac 0]

Also those countries aren't very rich and there is no Tsunami warning system in place in the region.

There is regional seismic monitioring, and the technology exists in such a way that an earthquake 150-300 km's away could be detected around 20-30 seconds before the shockwave hits, and the warning before a Tsunami hit would be much more so.

However, these systems are hardly set up to be tsunami early warning systems, despite their potential to be; which is disappointing that it will take a disaster like this in order get something done.

As a part of my GIS studies earlier this year, I've an animation of the tsunami the great 1833 Sumatra Earthquake created, which appears to have an epicentre similar to the recent quake.

Animation (2 meg)

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

German television N24

http://www.n24.de/

MfG Lee

Thanks. I have now found some English news sources too:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4126513.stm

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/12/27/somalia.quake.ap/index.html

Just terrible

[denoir 0]

Survivor's tale: This is surreal [CNN]

Quote[/b] ]

PHUKET, Thailand (CNN) -- What do you do when you see a huge wave-wall coming at you? You run. You run as fast as you can. You think: "This is surreal."

But you keep running ... until the water lifts you off your feet and sweeps you onwards.It makes no difference whether you can swim or not.The force carries you forward, and you become a living, breathing projectile. Grab onto something and you may live. Surf the wave and you have a chance. Hit something solid, and you die.

As the Boxing Day tsunami swept him into the Phuket resort town of Patong, Australian Les Boardman, 56, from the beach suburb of Cronulla in Sydney, reached out and grabbed a post. He hung on for dear life. He also reached out with one hand and grabbed another man, trying to save him, but the force of the water made him let the man go.Just a couple of minutes earlier, on the first full day of a holiday with his wife and anxious to hit the famed Phuket blue water, Boardman had watched the tide off Patong beach recede suddenly.

Out it went, leaving about 200 meters (yards) of exposed sand, like a giant drawing breath. He puzzled as to what this might mean. Only when he saw the boats racing for shore -- boats of all sizes, motors going full bore -- did he realize what was happening. He and his wife, Dianne, turned and ran for their lives.

They got about 20 or 30 meters, heading up the soft sand to the beach road. Then, as Dianne dived under a parked car, the water hit them.The moving wave-wall carried Les about 5 meters upwards, to first-floor level, where he grabbed a post.

Through a fluke of physics, the water also lifted the car from above Dianne and tossed her up, alongside her husband. They were both able to scramble through a first-floor window to relative safety, where they watched as more giant waves continued to roll in for the next 90 minutes.

"I thought I was definitely gone," he said a few hours later, after he and Dianne were lifted by helicopter to Wachira Hospital, on the other side of the island.

"How the hell anyone survived has got me licked. The second wave carried a car right towards me, but I was able to shift to one side and watch it shoot past. The worst part was, you could see the bodies going out in the water."

The Boardmans were staying at the upscale Holiday Inn, which takes out a section of Patong about the size of a city block and is home to hundreds during the peak holiday season. Early-morning swimmers in the hotel's huge pool, which is surrounded by four storys of rooms, were swept out and up as the sea poured in through every passageway and corridor.

The Boardmans were just two of many Australians being assisted with insurance queries and cash loans by Consul Robin Hamilton, who arrived in Phuket from the Thai capital Bangkok late yesterday. At Wachira, he was told there were 13 confirmed dead in that hospital alone.

In the hospital forecourt, staff were keeping a tally of the names of those admitted for treatment, listing them either in capitalized English or in Thai script.By evening, there were 10 huge boards packed with numbers and names, including Dianne Boardman.

As soon as her cracked and bruised ribs are healed, the Sydney couple, like many other fortunate survivors, will be heading for home.

[ozanzac 0]

From: http://www.news.com.au/common....00.html

Quote[/b] ]Wave warning fell on deaf ears

By Peter Alford and Sian Powell

December 28, 2004

A TSUNAMI warning that could have saved thousands of lives was issued but not acted upon more than an hour before giant waves hit Sri Lanka and southern India.

As the death toll rose to at least 23,211 yesterday, experts in Honolulu admitted they had forecast the disaster within 15 minutes of Sunday's earthquake off the coast of Sumatra but did not know who to pass the information to.

The dire news emerged yesterday as soldiers searched for bodies in treetops, families wept over the dead lined up on beaches and rescuers scoured coral isles for missing tourists.

The countries that bore the brunt of the tsunami had no notice of what was coming but the earthquake, the largest for 40 years, had been monitored by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Honolulu.

"We don't have contacts in our address book for anybody in that part of the world," National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration director Charles McCreery said.

As the massive clean-up and humanitarian mission began, experts yesterday also warned that the next wave of the disaster - widespread outbreaks of disease - could be as devastating as the tsunami itself.

The UN rushed disaster teams to the Bay of Bengal, where up to 1 million people are said to have lost their homes. Governments from France to Australia and Russia to the US pledged aid and assistance, dispatched aircraft, doctors and specialists to the worst-hit areas.

In Geneva, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies appealed for 7.5 million Swiss francs ($8.5 million) to help the survivors.

Australia yesterday pledged an initial aid donation of $10 million.

One seismologist likened the power of Sunday's magnitude 9 quake to a million atomic bombs the size of those dropped on Japan in World War II, and said the shaking had been so powerful it even disturbed Earth's rotation.

The earthquake occurred after a rupture on the Indian Ocean seabed caused by the violent grinding of two tectonic plates.