[lotrfan55345]

Seismometers worldwide still going crazy, chart painting from reverberations and aftershocks. Wonder how long this will last :
http://aslwww.cr.usgs.gov/Seismic_Data/heli2.shtml

Did you feel the quake, Lowem? I heard tremors could be felt as far away as S'pore?

"All the planet is vibrating" from the quake, said Enzo Boschi, the head of Italy's National Geophysics Institute. Speaking on SKY TG24 TV, Boschi said the quake even disturbed the Earth's rotation.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&c ... &printer=1

[spear]

Our hearts are with you.

[lowem]

Did you feel the quake, Lowem? I heard tremors could be felt as far away as S'pore?

A local forummer who lives in the southern part of the island said she felt it :

"At 9+ this morning, I felt very dizzy and I thought my blood pressure has shot up again cos of visiting relatives staying with us. So I went to take my pill. Then I saw the water in my fish tank splashing everywhere. Then we went out the whole day and just found out that this is the world biggest earthquarke in history.

... my cousin living next door told me that once when the quake happened and we can feel the quake, he saw the opposite building moving...."

[lowem]

Me, I didn't feel it. I was probably sleeping at the time. Worked late the previous night to fix my Java server.

[gg3]

Death toll currently at 65,000. Expected to top six figures due to diseases caused by lack of clean water and propagation of pathogens in sewage, garbage, and unburied corpses.

If anyone has any doubts about the effect of lack of sanitation on a society, just keep watching the death toll due to dysentery, cholera, and mosquito-borne diseases. You will even be able to compare urban vs. rural scenarios if you look closely.

Prediction: deaths due to poor sanitation in the aftermath, will be higher than deaths due to the immediate effects of the quake & tsunami.


Meanwhile, on the sicko hit parade, some Jerry Falwell type said that the proximity of the event to Christmas was a warning to the world about the consequences of failing to accept Jesus. Translation: those heathens deserved it. Which is no different than saying that 9-11 was caused by God's wrath about homosexuals and abortions.

Commentary on last item: I have finally figured out what the religious extremists are up to. Idolatry. Idolatry for the person of Jesus, at the expense of his teachings. What ever happened to "Love thy God with all thy heart, mind, and soul; and love thy neighbor as thyself"...?

On this count, Islam has something to teach us: it does not allow visual depictions of Mohammed, and does not allow idolizing him. Christendom would do well to learn that lesson.

[wzx]

Meanwhile, on the sicko hit parade, some Jerry Falwell type said that the proximity of the event to Christmas was a warning to the world about the consequences of failing to accept Jesus. Translation: those heathens deserved it. Which is no different than saying that 9-11 was caused by God's wrath about homosexuals and abortions.

A Christian aunt & collegue also had the same mentality. Quake after X'mas must be second coming of Jesus and mankinds sin This kind of statements really annoyed me. The dead folks, mostly poor Thais, Indians, Indonesians trying to make a living best as they can, trying to raise a family under poor conditions honestly and they get punished for that ? Please Mr JC stay where you are.

[Specop_007]

That makes me wonder whether we've got our priorities straight.

Can we stop an earthquake? No? Can we stop a terrorist? Yes?

Seems out priorities are straight. No matter how much money we throw at the problem, we're not stopping an earthquake. But, with enough money we CAN stop some crazy facist from strapping a bomb on their chest and blowing something up.
Not saying it makes one more right then the other however.

[KiddieKorral]

Point taken. However, we can spend money on an early warning system that, if it existed before the tsunami, could have saved tens of thousands of lives. The Pacific has an excellent seismic detection system, but the Indian Ocean has almost nothing.

gg3: Have I told you yet how cool you are?

[k_semler]

Tsunami Death Toll Reaches 76,700

ABC News
Tsunami Death Toll Rises to 76,700
Death Toll Rises to 76,700 Tsunami Victims in Asia; Red Cross Says Dead Could Exceed 100,000
The Associated Press

Dec. 29, 2004 - Cargo planes touched down with aid Wednesday, bearing everything from lentils to water purifiers to help survivors facing the threat of epidemic after this week's quake-tsunami catastrophe. The first Indonesian military teams reached the devastated west coast of Sumatra island, finding thousands of bodies and increasing the death toll across 12 nations to more than 76,700.

Wave toll 'could exceed 100,000'

BBC News
The number of dead from Sunday's Indian Ocean sea surges is likely to rise above 100,000, the Red Cross has said.



IMPACT OF THE EARTHQUAKE


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/a ... 132725.stm

[MonteQuest]

That makes me wonder whether we've got our priorities straight.

Can we stop an earthquake? No? Can we stop a terrorist? Yes?

Seems out priorities are straight. No matter how much money we throw at the problem, we're not stopping an earthquake. But, with enough money we CAN stop some crazy facist from strapping a bomb on their chest and blowing something up.
Not saying it makes one more right then the other however.

No one said anything about stopping an earthquake, Homer. dolt! A tsunami warning system would have saved thousands of lives. Where is your sense of compassion for these poor people?

Money will stop terrorism? That has to be the most naive statement you have ever made, Specop.

[clv101]

The devastation and number of deaths needs to be put into perspective.

World population ~ 6.5 billion
World population growth rate ~1.5% per year ~ 250,000 people per day

Total deaths from this natural disaster are likely to be less than a single days existing population growth. This gives some indication to the scale of the problem humankind is going to face when the population stops growing and starts to decline. A decrease in population of 1.5% per year (from say 2010 onwards) would create a daily death rate TWICE that caused by this earthquake.

[cador]

Mother Nature can be a cruel woman:

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=15018500&method=full&siteid=89488&headline=i-survived-tsunami-by-clinging-to-a-fridge---now-the-crocodiles-are-trying-to------eat-me-name_page.html

Not only am I an avid peak-oilist I'm also interested very much in climate change. Could this tsunami (death toll so far: 100,000) and the tropical storms that hit Florida be part of a new trend? This is the perfect superstorm: peak oil, abrupt climate change and humans with nuclear bombs. Itz coming.

First world countries are propping up cash for international relief efforts. They're only able to afford to do this because of an excess of energy. What happens in 5 years from now when peak oil has hit?

My bet is that we will no longer be able to afford to shield ourselves from the laws of nature anymore.

[Guest]

Can we stop a terrorist? Yes?
But, with enough money we CAN stop some crazy facist from strapping a bomb on their chest and blowing something up.

Well then Hon, open up your wallet and start paying for that prevention. It seems you are loose with your lips, but not your wallet. Like most of the flag-wav'n Americans.

[clv101]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/20 ... nami.shtml

This discusses La Palma, one of the Canary Islands and the chance of a very large rock falling into the Atlantic creating a devastating tidal wave heading for the US East Coast.

In 1949 the southern volcano on the island erupted. During the eruption an enormous crack appeared across one side of the volcano, as the western half slipped a few metres towards the Atlantic before stopping in its tracks. Although the volcano presents no danger while it is quiescent, scientists believe the western flank will give way completely during some future eruption on the summit of the volcano. In other words, any time in the next few thousand years a huge section of southern La Palma, weighing 500 thousand million tonnes, will fall into the Atlantic ocean.

What will happen when the volcano on La Palma collapses? Scientists predict that it will generate a wave that will be almost inconceivably destructive, far bigger than anything ever witnessed in modern times. It will surge across the entire Atlantic in a matter of hours, engulfing the whole US east coast, sweeping away everything in its path up to 20km inland. Boston would be hit first, followed by New York, then all the way down the coast to Miami and the Caribbean.

[holmes]

common sense tells me oil and natural gas has a cushioning and adhesive effect. take it away and that space needs to be filled.
plus the drilling, blasting, bombing, dredging, mining, etc.. Im sure it is having an effect. Just by common sense. the Indians couldnt understand why we wanted to take the "bones" out of the earth. Lets just say even with a warning system in place and a 9 hour warning time. the mega cities will be a clogged mess. and a 15 richter would blow away an even more over populated and denuded coast. Got to remember in 20 years the infrastructure stress and bancruptcy will be even greater.

[PenultimateManStanding]

A tsunami warning system would have saved thousands of lives.

Drudge Report has a story about how all the animals in Sri Lanka seemed to have headed for high ground before the wave hit. Talk about a tsunami warning system!

[big_rc]

Commentary on last item: I have finally figured out what the religious extremists are up to. Idolatry. Idolatry for the person of Jesus, at the expense of his teachings. What ever happened to "Love thy God with all thy heart, mind, and soul; and love thy neighbor as thyself"...?

On this count, Islam has something to teach us: it does not allow visual depictions of Mohammed, and does not allow idolizing him. Christendom would do well to learn that lesson.

That is one of the best posts I have ever read on this site. I have never thought of many Christians' Jesus fixation like that but it makes a bunch of sense. Thanks for the lesson in comparative religion.

[smiley]

I do a bit of mountain climbing in my holidays. Once I've climbed an active volcano in Guatemala. The guide took a dog with him. The idea is that when the dog starts running you should follow him. Dogs can actually hear the low pitch vibrations that precede an earthquake or an eruption.

[Terran]

We have a early warning system here in the Pacific because we usually have the money to build it. This is U.S and Japan for instance who are developed industrialized countries.

However in developing poor countries, I don't think the governments have the financial resources nor the technology to build such a warning system.

Anyone see the connection, there are usually more deaths in a disaster in a developing country than a developed industrialized country?

[Terran]

Even bigger tital wave can be generated by cosmic impact. However those cases are rare.