To Remember the Tsunami

Off-Topic House of Lords
#1

December 26th 2004
This was the largest earthquake in 40 years, the quake caused a huge wave spreading over the Indian ocean (4,500km wide) for around 7 hours, reaching as far west as Kenya. The wave travelled from the epicentre at around 800km/h (500mph)!!

A few pictures:



The purpose of this topic is really to acknowledge the huge loss that the world has experienced, I didn’t know anybody over there as im sure a lot of people didn’t, but I still find the sheer size of this disaster unbelievable, am I right in saying that this is the largest loss of life from a natural disaster in written history?

Well, let this post be a reminder of all those people that were taken without warning.

#2

It is unbeliveable the number of people who have suffered a great loss due to the tsunami, and to think that the death toll is still increasing is just horendous.

I don’t believe it is the LARGERST lose of life form, the black plague was the worst ever, but it is surely the biggest disaster to hit the modern world.

#3

oh yea i didnt think of that…but we will see, i think this was the largest in one blow, and we are yet to see the final figure…disease will become a huge killer as a result of this.

i was just having another look at that picture just before the wave hit…its horrible…could you imagine :frowning:

#4

Yes, I was living near the earthquake as well. Singapore is surrounded by Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia. All these countries were hit except us. We were lucky.

#5

dez, are you on the east coast? you are very lucky :frowning:

#6

Singapore is a small island surrounded by the sea. My house is about a few kilometres from the south coast of Singapore.

#7

oh ok :stuck_out_tongue: i know where it is now…usefull thing the internet…its one of those places where i always hear about it …just dont actually know where it is :slight_smile:

#8

Wow that is very lucky. It amazes me that though they saw all the sign comings, the government continued to do nothing. It really is horrible what happened… :frowning:

#9

Haha… Singapore is lucky when it comes to these natural disasters… We rarely feel any tremors and there aren’t any serious natural disasters here.

#10

Wanna know a dirty little secret? the U.S. Warned their government it was coming over 2 hours before it actually hit, yet they did nothing… and we are still giving THE MOST money and help, and food, and we were most on the scene and still everybody complains and complains and complains… and yes it was a bad thing

#11

I remember a USA association tried to alert the governments but the message failed to get through or something, there wasn’t a warning system in place.

#12

Yes, we did alert them, and yes it definetely got through, and they could have done a million things, this little thing called evacuation, send a warning message to all the places around, they have these things called phones, and you just think about it, if you heard a tsunami was comin to your area, and somebody called like your governer or whatever and word spread, if you had an hour you could get a decent distance away from shore… Easily 60 miles

#13

Actually Germany, not the US has donated the most money. And also even though we saw signs and possibly tried to warn them, there is just no way to evacuate that many people that fast. The fact that these countries governments did not have a warning system in place also contributed to the fact that there wasn’t much that could have been done under such short notice.

The estimated figure as of right now is 150,000 dead, and over 500,000 injured, which must be one of the largest worldwide tragedies in the modern world, or in years to come.

#14

Ok, i admit i didnt know the amount the U.S. had donated, i was estimating according to the us’s normal charity…

Anyway, the U.S. was the very first on the scene, and we DID warn the government over 2 hours before the tsunami hit, there is nothing ‘if’ about it, it DID happen, yet they didnt even try to do anything, even if not everydoy could be saved, some could have been…

#15

The infastructure on much of these places is no where like other developed countries. Im I right in saying it occured during the night?.. If so no warning on TV or Radio would have much effect, and most of the roads in the hard hit areas are simple dirt trails, no light, no police, etc. Another fact, where would you go on an Island that has a very low elevation? There simply isn’t any “inland” safety.

I do admit that the their government could have done more, but even they couldn’t possibly imagine the scope of the damage.

Another little fact. Although many countries have pledged millions of dollars/pounds/euro’s in aid, little of it has actual been delivered. Countries with large naval presences in the area (Australia & US) have been one of the main logistical carriers in the area, because when water mixes with a dirt road, it creates a muddy road impassable (not even counting the other junk washed up in the way). The US (not sure about Aus.) is spending over 6 million a day more than planned to help just help provide logistical support, with 2 million more in aid coming directly from ships’ stores. Australia is using its close proximity to help fly in supplies to the few remaining airports.

#16

Many organizations are donating food and materials instead of money because some governments are corrupt and just take the money for themselves.

#17

I can tell duke likes the hol forums lol I don’t think it happened in the night, but if so I see what you are saying. Half of the people affected probably don’t even have a tv or radio, so there wasn’t much that could have been done, they still have to be prepared for something like this to occur none the less.

#18

Germany? U.S? Nope. On Japan News it said the Australians donated over 1 billion, while the U.S hardly did anything and donated only 350 million. Alot of other countries donated well over 600 million, and compared to the U.S, they were very poor. So really the U.S donated the least.

Also, Dedmenwalkn, not being racist or anything, but the U.S rarely ever donate much. If they donated, say, 500 million to let’s say, a tornado. People might think that they donated alot, but that’s like $1 compared to $10,000 the U.S had.

#19

But the U.S.'s national debt is really catching up to us. So we can’t afford to be giving away massive amounts of money. Also, many more people are going to be ill due to dysentery because of the lack of clean drinking water.

#20

This is a terrible tragedy.

There is so much that can be said about this.

Firstly, if the Government had received a warning about the tsunami, they would be in a precarious position. As they are a country which heavily relies on tourism for economic stability, they would be averse to falsely warning their employers (tourists on the beach), and hence initiating a panic.

The other side of the coin is that by not warning anyone, they left thousands of people to die who could have taken some action.

Duke, the tsunami did take place during the day. Even though many of the villages were uncontactable to provide warning, much of the infrastructure on the main cities were well equipped with a working phones throughout the hotels and main industries.

The weigh up was between loss of profits and loss of life. It’s a dreadful thought considering the action taken…

Here is a quote from a yahoo news post dated 26th December:

In Los Angeles, the head of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said U.S. officials who detected the undersea quake tried frantically to get a warning out about the tsunami.

But there was no official alert system in the region, said Charles McCreery, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s center in Honolulu.

“It took an hour and a half for the wave to get from the earthquake to Sri Lanka and an hour for it to get … to the west coast of Thailand and Malaysia,” he said. “You can walk inland for 15 minutes to get to a safe area.”

“We tried to do what we could,” he said. “We don’t have contacts in our address book for anybody in that part of the world.”

The earthquake, of magnitude 8.9 as measured by the U.S. Geological Survey (news - web sites), struck at 7:59 a.m. (1959 EST). It was the world’s biggest since 1964, said Julie Martinez at the USGS (news - web sites).

My dad has volunteered as a doctor. He’s also a major in the Australian Army so they might ask him to go.

The Australian Governement is paying all expenses of any Australian volunteering to go there and help with the relief effort.

A bunch of Aussie churches I know of are funding a group to go over there. They are currently building a house a day for the Thai’s. I know its not much but at least we know that every bit is getting to the people.

I’m thinking of seeing what I can do to help. Is there anything that RSR can do for them? I think this post is a great start.

Another disturbing point on this topic is the number of children going missing from refugee camps due to suspected child traffickers and peodophiles.

What can we do?