Massive earthquake hits Indonesia, Tsunami kills thousands.

[GuyJean]

"We tried to do what we could," McCreery said. "We don't have contacts in our address book for anybody in that part of the world."

With all that fancy shmancy equipment, you'd think they would've heard of Google.

"And I think this will be a lesson to them," he said, referring to the governments of the devastated countries.

What an ass. Did he 'learn his lesson' after 9/11?

They couldn't 'get ahold of anyone'... Yeah, right.

GJ

[Pencilslave]

Guess who is flying to Phuket tomorrow?? ME!!

I rang the hotel but they say they were unaffected by the tidal wave even though they are near Patong Beach. I guess I will find out tomorrow.

I will have my 'puter with me so I will report on the damage.

Be careful G.G,just in case Ma Nature decides to do an encore.

[dimwit]

Bull. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center went way beyond the call of duty to get the message out. The deaths in both India and Sri Lanka caused by their governments hopelessly inept bureaucracy and complete non-planning, which is inexcusable given that the western basin of the Indian Ocean is VERY seismically active, having a warning system is not expensive.

As for not campaigning to institute a tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean, their is a large body of geologists both from India and abroad who have warned the Indian government of the potential for this type of disaster and I can only assume that they have been stonewalled, something the India government is very capable of doing.

McCreery's frustration is that of a scientist unable prevent a disaster THAT COULD BE EXPECTED.

[GuyJean]

Bull. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center went way beyond the call of duty to get the message out.

I'm sure most, if not all the blame should be placed on those governments. But the whiney response of 'not having anybody in their address book from that area' sounded like a pretty feeble excuse to me. Then his comments about 'learning a lesson' made him sound like a total prick, even if he was frustrated; Stupid fucking backwards governments! Not preparing for something that happens once every 700 years!.. What stupid people. They had it coming, man.

GJ

[yakinoumiso]

"We tried to do what we could," McCreery said. "We don't have contacts in our address book for anybody in that part of the world."

With all that fancy shmancy equipment, you'd think they would've heard of Google.

[/quote]

And say what to whom? It's not like you can google the direct line to the prime minister or even the regional disaster preparedness office (if one even exists). At best it's cold calling a government agency. Try doing that some time and see how responsive they are to whatever you tell 'em.

"And I think this will be a lesson to them," he said, referring to the governments of the devastated countries.

What an ass. Did he 'learn his lesson' after 9/11?

Yeah, probably. Prick.

They couldn't 'get ahold of anyone'... Yeah, right.

Your frustration at the situation is understandable, but I think you're mistaken to take it out on McGreevy. True, his quotes aren't as well said as they could be, but I'd have to agree with Dimwit in that they are more related to a sense of frustration and resignation that his agency wasn't in a better position to do more.

[AssKissinger]

Gomi, if you can, upload some FG exclusive pics! I'm watching Phuket on TV right now, it looks crazy.

[dimwit]

[quote="GuyJean"] I'm sure most, if not all the blame should be placed on those governments. But the whiney response of 'not having anybody in their address book from that area' sounded like a pretty feeble excuse to me. Then his comments about 'learning a lesson' made him sound like a total prick, even if he was frustrated]

Twenty or so years ago when I studied geology at Uni. this problem was know and identified. His 'learned a lesson' comment is harsh especially as the thick-heads who in bureaucracy who have ignored all this are not the ones who have suffered.

As for not being able to get in touch anyone, that sounds about right. Remember they only have about three hour or so to get warning out, and if there is no central emerency response authority people aren't going to find out. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center is not a mail order company, they can't make thousands of calls to warn local administrations in all the regions that might be affected.

[GuyJean]

And say what to whom? It's not like you can google the direct line to the prime minister or even the regional disaster preparedness office (if one even exists). At best it's cold calling a government agency. Try doing that some time and see how responsive they are to whatever you tell 'em.

You're right, but I find it hard to believe he has NOT ONE contact of either fellow scientist, university, or government agency in the entire area of the Indian Ocean.

I don't know the timeline, or true sequence of events so it's total speculation. But if some international media picked up the earthquake story and it was being broadcast just after the event, within two hours, his team, (it seems like he would have a team), could get the phone number of a major resort, call up, tell them to turn on the TV, contact a local agency, and run to the hills!.. Probably wouldn't work. But if he's a recluse scientist with no contacts, he might try the next best thing..

"And I think this will be a lesson to them," he said, referring to the governments of the devastated countries.

What an ass. Did he 'learn his lesson' after 9/11?

Yeah, probably. Prick.

Nice one.. Proves my point that people don't like 'getting a lesson' from someone coming off condescending, arrogant, and callous.

Your frustration at the situation is understandable, but I think you're mistaken to take it out on McGreevy. True, his quotes aren't as well said as they could be, but I'd have to agree with Dimwit in that they are more related to a sense of frustration and resignation that his agency wasn't in a better position to do more.

You're probably right. It's probably just frustration. Not him trying to save his own ass..

I don't know the guy personally, but he came off like a dick.. And I love scientists!

GJ

[Caustic Saint]

Gomi, if you can, upload some FG exclusive pics! I'm watching Phuket on TV right now, it looks crazy

She got a new digicam for Xmas, so I expect she'll be giving it a workout during her trip.

[dimwit]

Gomi, if you can, upload some FG exclusive pics! I'm watching Phuket on TV right now, it looks crazy

She got a new digicam for Xmas, so I expect she'll be giving it a workout during her trip.

This sounds like it has all the makings of a P.J. O'Roarke-type holiday.

BTW, has anyone seen live footage of the first tsunami wave coming in? I can't find any links to it.

[GuyJean]

BTW, has anyone seen live footage of the first tsunami wave coming in? I can't find any links to it.

Not sure about anything online, but CNN International's been replaying some wave scenes. I think it's the second wave though. Nothing of the initial one.. I've heard reports that is was like a big swell, not a wave.

GJ

[GuyJean]

Survivor's Tale:
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/26/asia.quake.moro/index.html

As the Boxing Day tidal wave 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.

GJ

[Mulboyne]

McCreery has just been interviewed on CNN. He sounded more understanding of the reasons for the lack of an Indian Ocean warning system, saying that a substantial infrastructure is required but it can be hundreds of years between significant events. Countries around the Indian Ocean have devoted their limited resources to more regular natural disasters.

[Mels]

Survivor Tells of Sri Lanka Tidal Waves
'The Water Kept Rising'
By GEMUNU AMARASINGHE, AP

AMBLANGODA, Sri Lanka (Dec. 26) - The twisted limbs of the frail girl in a blue dress were caught in a garden fence by the sea. She may have already been dead, but no one stopped to check - there was too much tragedy going on all around, as the water kept coming.


"I struggled through the water, joining the crowds running for higher ground, some of them carrying their dead and injured."
-GEMUNU AMARASINGHE

When the tidal waves hit southern Sri Lanka, I had gone to the seaside to drop off my parents at a Buddhist ceremony. Sunday was the "Poya," or a full-moon day. We Buddhists believe that Buddha was born, attained enlightenment and died on a full-moon day, so such days are a time for his followers to spend in reflection.

It was after I dropped my parents off at the shrine in Amblangoda and I was driving back to the capital, Colombo, that I got a message on my cellular phone that some parts of coastal Sri Lanka had been hit by unnaturally big waves.

I didn't need the message to tell me. People were running everywhere, and the first waves hit the road.

The first waves were not huge, not too destructive. They brought fish to the shore, and people rushed to collect them. Smiling young boys ran with fish dangling in their hands.

But then another set of waves crashed ashore, much more powerful.

I parked my SUV and climbed on its roof, thinking I was safe there. I started taking pictures - my cameras are always with me in the car in case I stumble across a news picture. But the water kept rising. And rising. In a few minutes my SUV was submerged and I suddenly slipped into the water.

I struggled through the water, joining the crowds running for higher ground, some of them carrying their dead and injured. Whitecapped flood waters raced over the streets and between houses.

I counted 24 bodies in a stretch of just under four miles. Bodies of children were entangled in wire mesh used to barricade seaside homes. Bodies were carried up to the road, covered with sarongs and laid out for relatives to find. Rows and rows of women and men stood on the road, asking if anyone has seen their loved ones.

I was still in a daze, and the enormity of the tragedy still hadn't dawned on me until I came upon the girl in the blue dress, caught in a fence.

It was only when the flood waters began to recede, that it was possible to check and make sure. The girl, who appeared about 4 to 6 years old, was dead.


12/26/04 17:48 EST

[Mels]

Here are some pics that look scary........




(I goofed on uploading the pictures it looks like. they are in the public domain....oh well, next time)

Feel so hopeless. In Japan, there would be places I could go to so that I could give money...such as the post offices. I suppose I need to call the international programs here...dont have any experience, thinking Red Cross. Unisef...any ideas?
Thanks

[dimwit]

From Mainichi

700 Japanese missing abroad after tsunami disaster

Foreign Ministry officials are desperately trying to confirm the whereabouts of some 700 Japanese people who were in areas hit by tsunami on Sunday after a major earthquake struck off Sumatra in Indonesia

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20041227p2a00m0dm010000c.html

So it looks like the Japanese Government is going to have its' hands full in both I.D.ing bodies and trying to contact missing people who who have been cut off from communications.

[fatslug]

R>I>P>

[kamome]

A Thai language daily reported that Jet Li (the martial arts movie star) was vacationing in Thailand and may be missing due to the tidal waves. I can't find anything in the English press. Can anyone find updates?

EDIT: The Thai king's grandson, Bhumi Jensen, was killed by the waves. Quick link to a blurb in The Nation

[GuyJean]

Aftershock of 6.2! (Sumatra)

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/ussmci.htm

GJ

[fatslug]

A Thai language daily reported that Jet Li (the martial arts movie star) was vacationing in Thailand and may be missing due to the tidal waves. I can't find anything in the English press. Can anyone find updates?

EDIT: The Thai king's grandson, Bhumi Jensen, was killed by the waves. Quick link to a blurb in The Nation

hope the guy aint lost. hes a fucken champ !

[yakinoumiso]

This was sent out by the US Embassy...

----------------------------------------------------------
THAILAND
----------------------------------------------------------
December 26, 2004

This Public Announcement is being issued to urge American citizens to avoid travel to the southwestern area of Thailand encompassing Phuket, Phi Phi Island, Krabi, and the small islands in the vicinity due to the aftermath of lethal tsunamis. US citizens in those areas are also urged to depart as soon as safe transportation is available. This Public Announcement expires on January 25, 2005.

A series of tsunami waves caused by a severe earthquake struck southwestern coastal areas of Thailand on December 26 and caused great loss of life and destruction to buildings and infrastructure in the popular resort areas of Phuket, Phi Phi Island, Krabi, and other smaller islands in that vicinity. There have been severe disruptions to normal services in these areas, including hotels and telephone services. As a result, the Department of State urges that American citizens avoid all non-emergency travel to those areas.

Americans living or traveling in Thailand are encouraged to register with the US. Embassy in Bangkok through the State Department's travel registration website at https://travelregistration.state.gov American citizens may also obtain up-to-date information on security conditions by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada, and 317-472-2328 from overseas.

Further Department of State travel information, including the complete text of the Consular Information Sheet for Thailand is available at the Department of State's web site: http://travel.state.gov.

Similar warnings were given for the other affected regions.

Though, maybe someone can tell me what GomiGirl was thinking when she decided not to cancel her vacation.

[Mulboyne]

Though, maybe someone can tell me what GomiGirl was thinking when she decided not to cancel her vacation.

She was flying into Bangkok first so she won't go near Phuket if it is still in crisis.
This disaster just gets worse and worse.
Pictures from Phuket from UK Daily Telegraph

[Mulboyne]

Mels' Pictures

[AlbertSiegel]

I would like to send some money to help.. Where can I send money where it will do the most good? I still have bad thoughts of the American Red Cross after September 11.

[GuyJean]

I would like to send some money to help.. Where can I send money where it will do the most good? I still have bad thoughts of the American Red Cross after September 11.

The United Nations group UNICEF said Monday it was sending a team of experts to assess damage and how to mobilize relief to the region. - http://www.unicef.org/index.html

Mercy Corps, an international coalition of humanitarian agencies based in Portland, Oregon, also said it was accepting financial aid for tsunami victims. - http://www.mercycorps.org/home/

Donations to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are being accepted at its Web site. - http://www.ifrc.org/index.asp

Doctors Without Borders said it is getting ready to bring help to the region. Its Web site also has a place to provide donations. - http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

CARE said it also is assessing the situation and is "mounting an emergency response." - http://www.careusa.org/

AmeriCares reports that it is sending relief shipments to Sri Lanka and other areas hit by the tsunamis - http://www.americares.org/

from: http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/27/quake.aidsites/index.html

Can't personally vouch for the above agencies, but I've heard good things about Doctors Without Borders, and any agency based in Portland, Oregon's gotta be good..

GJ

[Samurai_Jerk]

totally side note rant:

this situation is showing another example of why I'm ready to move away from the u.s. when I'm abroad in europe or asia, when something like this happens, it's all over the news and you get full reports. but here in america? let me tell you, there's barely a peep about this major disaster on the normal networks. sure there will be a brief bit on the evening news, and world news reports, but shit, this is major stuff and you flip around the dial and everythingin the u.s. television world is business as usual. even msnbc, fox, and local cnn are barely saying anything. the only place I'm finding my info is on the internet, and via cnn international (a channel buried in the high 100s on cable tv).

in fact, as I honestly analyze the news here today, I can tell you that normal holiday travel delays in the u.s. are a bigger, or in some cases 'equal' importance story on most networks. wtf???

I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. It's been top news on every station I've watched the past couple of days. It's tops in local news too. There are many reasons why local and national news are so popular in the US. This is a big country and a lot of shit happens here. When you have the highest murder rate (by far) in the developed world and average more natural disasters a year than any other country it tends to be important to people.

Besides Japanese news coverage is even worse than American. I remember when a goddam egg hatching was top news for like 4 nights in a row. Fucking ridiculous.

[Steve Bildermann]

Chisato's cousin was visiting Sir Lanka. He called yesterday. He's ok but she started crying during the conversation.

Whatever the news is telling you...multiply it by 10.

He said the ocean front is just full of floating bodies. Coastal towns have just been wiped out *completely* - everybody in them dead. Men, Women, children, dogs, cats everything dead. Forget 20 or 30 thousand it's more like 100 thousand+

[FG Lurker]

I heard from my friends in Thailand and they're ok. This is what he wrote:

I was standing on the beach about 30 meters from the shoreline at a dive shop when I heard raised voices and looked around. The deck chairs that were lining the beach were floating toward me. It was a bit confusing at first as nobody had any idea what was going on. There was no loud noise or wind, just all of a sudden the sea had risen a good 10 meters.

Then the wave sucked out away from the shore a few hundred meters, exposing the coral reef that I had dived on a few days earlier. That's when people really realised something was terribly wrong. All of a sudden all the dive instructors and staff of the nearby restaraunt ran down the beach to see if anyone was pulled out, only to find themselves faced with a surging ocean at least 15 meters high. At this point I was standing on a small cement wall at the top of the beach and watched as they scrambled up the beach and up the steep hillside on the edge of the bay.

When the second wave came in it simply tore apart the wooden buildings that sat at the top of the beach, the water came up to my knees and very neally took me off the wall. When the second wave sucked out, everyone who could bolted for the slopes on the sides of the bay.

The third and probably largest wave came surging forward and simply ripped apart the cement buildings like they were made of balsa wood. I saw a friend of mine scramble onto a roof about 5 meters from me as the water reached its peak - only to hear a loud crack and see the roof lurch badly. I couldn't believe my eyes when the entire roof - with my friend on top, floated to the side and was sucked out into the bay and out of sight.

It just seemed so impossible, 10 minutes earlier we had been sitting down on the beach drinking a coffee, and now the entire beach had been ripped apart and my friend and all the buildings were simply gone.

The waves continued for a good hour after, gradually getting smaller only to reveal the complete devastation left behind. There was complete confusion as people were running around trying to find each other - or simply sitting in the wreckage with vacant looks on their faces. Later I found out that my friend had been rescued by boat with a mild concussion and lacerations from all the wreckage in the water and is at this moment in Phuket hospital. We havent been able to contact him there, and no boats are operating at the moment, but we trust he is OK.

Now we are just waiting to hear news - any news. We don't know when the boats will be running again or what to expect when we reach the mainland.

Everything near the beach is completely destroyed. The sand is gone and the water has gouged out huge amounts of land - creating a 2 meter crater ringing the beach. Massive blocks of cement have been torn away and tossed about, and everything that was near the beach is now twisted and mangled. On the mainland it is supposedly worse.

It's just amazing how quickly and silently it all happened.

[jim katta]

to samurai jerk,
I was talking about the 'day' it happened, which was saturday the 25th christmas day. sure everyone is covering it as of sunday/monday, but the day of the event, I was hearing more about whining shoppers and stranded airline customers than the asia disaster.

[jim katta]

Just flicked on the TV to watch NBC's nightly world news. They started out by saying that rather than give their own report, they would be handing the broadcast over to British iTV. I rest my case.

All that said, I think the media coverage is the least thing to think about here. We should all mourn the deaths of those people (upwards of 25,000) in such a sudden manner right before the beginning of the new year. Seriously, I feel very sorry for the tragedy. The people are what's really important.