Asian Tsunami

Dylan · Post by **Dylan** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 1:25 pm

Yes, good to hear you're safe, Aaron.

I lived in Indonesia for a while when I was a young child. I feel I still have a connection with it, and certainly at times like these.

Obfleur · Post by **Obfleur** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 1:27 pm

So far four people I've met, are gone.
Don't know if they're alive or dead.
It's scary to think about it. That you don't really know where they are.
If they are perfectly healthy in a hospital. If they are burried under a building. Or lying dead some where.
I'm guessing they'll find more dead bodies, than they find survivors.

Ultimate Weapon · Post by **Ultimate Weapon** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 4:52 pm

Looks like nate's prediction is unfortunately inaccurate as the death toll this morning has reached 77,000 and is expected to hit 100,000.

Indian scientists have been using the location of planets to predict such events like the tsunami. Before the evemt took place the sun, Mercury, Venus, our moon, and Earth were all in alignment. The scientists were glad their prediction method worked, and not glad as well.

The real phenomenon is the offset of the earth's rotation by 3 microseconds that preceded the quake. Variations in the earth's wobble precede major earthquakes, and may be related to their onset. This may also be of a hyperdimensional origin that exists in the cosmos. One system affecting the other, none being immune.

Post by **Computron** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 7:10 pm

Ultimate Weapon wrote:
Indian scientists have been using the location of planets to predict such events like the tsunami. Before the evemt took place the sun, Mercury, Venus, our moon, and Earth were all in alignment. The scientists were glad their prediction method worked, and not glad as well.

What was that causation/correlation axiom again?

Oh right, I remember now, it's "Pseudoscience is ****".

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 11:35 pm

Works great in hindsight.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 11:44 pm

this type of event happens every how often? - I dont think there was much that could be done.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 11:46 pm

Last time was Krakatoa, which was like 120 years ago? Something like that.

Aaron Hong · Post by **Aaron Hong** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 3:01 am

Some more news from the home front. Singapore is sending approximately one hundred troops and stuff like tents, blankets etc. to several locations at once. No men in black knocking my doors yet. The death toll has officially reached 80,000.

And Eline, Jet Li is safe and sound back in Hongkong.

Eline · Post by **Eline** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 7:44 am

Thanks, Aaron. That makes me just a tiny bit less sad. I read some horrible stories yesterday, and I'm glad that people have survived.

But all the poor children who were playing at the beach

Aaron Hong · Post by **Aaron Hong** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:01 am

Eline wrote:Thanks, Aaron. That makes me just a tiny bit less sad. I read some horrible stories yesterday, and I'm glad that people have survived.

But all the poor children who were playing at the beach

Yeah, that's horrible too - but somehow the local papers managed to throw up some articles about kids who miraculously survived.

S. Tulasi used the only weapon a baby has - her lungs. Just 20 days old, Penang's miracle baby is alive because her cries drew her father to where she was - atop a mattress afloat in neck-deep water.

---

How Hannes Bergman survived is a story he can't tell - the 18-month-old has yet to master speech. Now battling pneumonia at a Phyket hospital, he was found all alone in a hotel room.

---

Hannes Bergstroem was found on the roadside near the Thai resort of Khao Lak and taken to hospital. Unable to decipher his babble, staff posted his photo on the Internet. Within hours, his uncle spotted him.

Obfleur · Post by **Obfleur** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:38 am

Aaron Hong wrote:
Hannes Bergstroem was found on the roadside near the Thai resort of Khao Lak and taken to hospital. Unable to decipher his babble, staff posted his photo on the Internet. Within hours, his uncle spotted him.

That was quite an amazing story.
Hannes got separated from both his parents (and the parents got separated as well).

As you said, Hannes was found and was taken to a hospital (by an american couple) and his picture got posted on the internet.
His aunt (who was in sweden) saw the picture and called Hannes uncle, who was on vacation in Thailand.
The uncle got to the hospital and took care of Hannes.
Marko, Hannes father, went through a four hour surgery yesterday, and was after that reunited with his son.

Hannes mother is still missing though.

And I fear that the four people I mentioned earlier are dead.
If they were still alive, they would've been able to contact somebody by now.
It's hard though. Not really knowing if they are dead, or if they are alive. You cant get any "closure".
I don't know if I should be sad - or if I should be hopeful. Bleh
But to be honest it feels hopeless. I'm pretty sure they are dead...

Ultimate Weapon · Post by **Ultimate Weapon** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 5:20 pm

By GEMUNU AMARASINGHE, Associated Press Writer

YALA NATIONAL PARK, Sri Lanka - Wildlife officials in Sri Lanka expressed surprise Wednesday that they found no evidence of large-scale animal deaths from the weekend's massive tsunami — indicating that animals may have sensed the wave coming and fled to higher ground.

An Associated Press photographer who flew over Sri Lanka's Yala National Park in an air force helicopter saw abundant wildlife, including elephants, buffalo, deer, and not a single animal corpse.

Floodwaters from the tsunami swept into the park, uprooting trees and toppling cars onto their roofs — one red car even ended up on top of a huge tree — but the animals apparently were not harmed and may have sought out high ground, said Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, whose Jetwing Eco Holidays ran a hotel in the park.

"This is very interesting. I am finding bodies of humans, but I have yet to see a dead animal," said Wijeyeratne, whose hotel in the park was totally destroyed in Sunday's tidal surge.

"Maybe what we think is true, that animals have a sixth sense," Wijeyeratne said.

Yala, Sri Lanka's largest wildlife reserve, is home to 200 Asian Elephants, crocodile, wild boar, water buffalo and gray langur monkeys. The park also has Asia's highest concentration of leopards. The Yala reserve covers an area of 391 square miles, but only 56 square miles are open to tourists.

The human death toll in Sri Lanka surpassed 21,000. Forty foreigners were among 200 people in Yala who were killed.

Post by **Kaylee** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 6:14 pm

Animals (or even humans living in the wild) are likely to have far sharper senses than us. We, afterall, aren't the only creatures on earth who can detect tremors, or can communicate over large distances.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 7:12 pm

essentially they heard it comming...

god im watching the news and its horrible, 125k ppl dead now and still rising. im glad the ppl of england have raised £25million - if I had the money id send it.

Lucky for me and my friends, a friend of ours called Tony was in Thailand near the area but is safe.

the more I watch the more I cant get over it. I keep looking at my life and thinking how petty it is. I have food, my health, and im worrying about what im gonna wear tommrow night... I feel selfish inside. im powerless to do anything but give a pitfull amount of money because I spent most of it on things I dont really need like phones and computer parts.. i feel guilty.

Post by **Kaylee** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 7:17 pm

Impactor returns 2.0 wrote:essentially they heard it comming...

god im watching the news and its horrible, 125k ppl dead now and still rising. im glad the ppl of england have raised £25million - if I had the money id send it.

Lucky for me and my friends, a friend of ours called Tony was in Thailand near the area but is safe.

the more I watch the more I cant get over it. I keep looking at my life and thinking how petty it is. I have food, my health, and im worrying about what im gonna wear tommrow night... I feel selfish inside. im powerless to do anything but give a pitfull amount of money because I spent most of it on things I dont really need like phones and computer parts.. i feel guilty.

We had a class on a related theme a while back, it really struck home with me.

She said, and I realised I did it, that whenever we see a homeless person, or a famine on TV or some dreadful war somewhere... we tune out. We intentionally don't think about it, because if we thought about it and actually felt the pain of the people there then we would not be able to resist doing something about it. We would want to help.

I've stopped tuning out so much, and have nearly cried a couple of times reading the newspaper reports.

Soon as I get some money (Lloyds are currently chasing me, as I'm locked out of IF for now and can't get money in to cover my overdraft) I'll be donating as much as I can.

I suggest you consider that

It doesn't matter if you can't give millions, or however small the amount you give appears to be. Giving whatever you can afford, doing your best, is what's important.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 11:54 pm

My housemate said she was going to go and light a candle at one of the Bhuddist temples to show solidarity. I said, send a tenner instead.

Capitalism sucks, but it's better than religion.

Obfleur · Post by **Obfleur** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 12:29 am

I still haven't heard from any of the people I know...
Think I'll be gone a couple of days - I feel like crap and can't really handle all of this at the moment.
Have a great new years eve everyone. Cheers!

Post by **Kaylee** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 10:48 am

Metal Vendetta wrote:My housemate said she was going to go and light a candle at one of the Bhuddist temples to show solidarity. I said, send a tenner instead.

Capitalism sucks, but it's better than religion.

She should indeed send money if it can be spared. I'm not an especially good Buddhist but even my meagre understanding of the philosophy says that part of it is learning to accept responsibility for trying to help people when they need it. The ceremony and symbolism of lighting a candle is all well and good but I'd say there are better ways of showing your compassion.

Jetfire · Post by **Jetfire** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 4:35 pm

Computron wrote:
Ultimate Weapon wrote:
Indian scientists have been using the location of planets to predict such events like the tsunami. Before the evemt took place the sun, Mercury, Venus, our moon, and Earth were all in alignment. The scientists were glad their prediction method worked, and not glad as well.
What was that causation/correlation axiom again?

Oh right, I remember now, it's "Pseudoscience is ****".

I believe that the earth is very much affected by the posistion of other planets, their gravitional pull etc etc.

Most waves are due to the moon after all.

Post by **Kaylee** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 5:00 pm

Jetfire wrote:
Computron wrote:
Ultimate Weapon wrote:
Indian scientists have been using the location of planets to predict such events like the tsunami. Before the evemt took place the sun, Mercury, Venus, our moon, and Earth were all in alignment. The scientists were glad their prediction method worked, and not glad as well.
What was that causation/correlation axiom again?

Oh right, I remember now, it's "Pseudoscience is ****".
I believe that the earth is very much affected by the posistion of other planets, their gravitional pull etc etc.

Most waves are due to the moon after all.

Bearing in mind that the electromagnetic/gavitational interference from your washing machine is probably greater than that of Jupiter.

Gravity is the weakest of the forces- the moon is a huge object in exceedingly close proximity and all it does is cause tidal currents.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 5:24 pm

the quote is 'before the event took place' - yes before the event we had lots of planet alignments.

I dont think theres anything odd involved. it was just an earthquake. that was high on the scale and happened at sea.

as some ppl pointed out, if it happened a few more miles along the fault where it was slightly deeper it wouldnt have done anything near as bad - its just a really bad natural disaster.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 11:17 pm

Karl Lynch wrote:
Jetfire wrote:
Computron wrote: What was that causation/correlation axiom again?

Oh right, I remember now, it's "Pseudoscience is ****".
I believe that the earth is very much affected by the posistion of other planets, their gravitional pull etc etc.

Most waves are due to the moon after all.
Bearing in mind that the electromagnetic/gavitational interference from your washing machine is probably greater than that of Jupiter.

Gravity is the weakest of the forces- the moon is a huge object in exceedingly close proximity and all it does is cause tidal currents.

Tch! All it does is cause tidal currents! I ask you!

Tidal effects are nothing to pish-posh about. The reason why the Moon always has (approximately) the same face towards us is due to it having been tidally locked into place by the Earth's gravitational pull. Similarly, the Earth's rotation is slowing down due to the Moon's gravitational pull, most noticeably observed in the large bodies of liquid water we call oceans. The more solid stuff, lithosphere, magma, etc., are less affected due to the inherent mechanical strengths of their rockier natures. Heck, the atmosphere is affected a lot more than the oceans, but is too easily affected by more local phenomena for it to be as noticeable.

Oh, and although locally your washing machine/microwave/tv/digital wristwatch may have a stronger electromagnetic presence than Jupiter or the Sun, you have to remember that given every point on the Earth is at a similar distance to the respective celestial bodies, I don't think household appliances are anywhere near as effective on t'other side of the world.

Gravity is indeed the weakest of the four fundamental forces, but unlike the two nuclear forces, its range is infinite, and unlike electromagnetism, it is always attractive.

The Earth is affected by all the other objects in the universe to lesser or greater degrees, but due to the immense distances involved, the entire planet receives practically the same effect (magnitude, direction, etc.), and so it is not common for it to start ripping apart at the seams.

Post by **Kaylee** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:14 am

Gravity may have some effect at all points in the universe but it varies to the universe square of the distance (I'm lecturing to the professor there) so it's affect may be felt everywhere but is likely to be so small as to be from the perspective of a single point no more of a factor than local sources relative to that point.

i.e. a huge gravitational force a great distance away can have the same, or less, effect as a small gravitational force closeby.

Regarding tide's we're talking about an effect which is reasonably gradual albeit wide-ranging; as compared to a tsunami- which is what's being attributed to the gravitational effect due to alignment of the planets. 'Only' is a relative term

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 10:09 pm

The alignment of the planets may or may not have contributed to the earthquake, however this contribution will have only been of minor consequence to an outcome that was already in progress.

Butterfly's wings in a hurricane and all that.

Post by **Kaylee** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 12:42 am

Rebis wrote:The alignment of the planets may or may not have contributed to the earthquake, however this contribution will have only been of minor consequence to an outcome that was already in progress.

Butterfly's wings in a hurricane and all that.

Quite so, quite so.

Aaron Hong · Post by **Aaron Hong** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:36 am

Some more news...

Jet Li was interviewed on TV recently, where he retells just how close he came to the tsunamis.

"The water went from my feet, to my waist - I took my daughter in one arm - she was swept out of my hands, but fortunately the Four Seasons Hotel staff cuaght her..."

I take back anything I ever said about Singapore being spared. A total of nine Singaporeans have been confirmed dead, leaving about 11 still MIA. And even the rescue crews we sent out were not spared, as a landslide killed 1 Singaporean officer en route to Malaysia (they took the land route.)

On the other hand, I've been looking at the maps again and I think I know how Singapore survived - Sumatra took the hit for us.

Just yesterday the government held a huge mourning session, which was televised, complete with a speech from the Prime Minister, white roses handed out to everyone who came, etc.

I kind of feel bad for going on my weekly toyhunt at the time.

Ultimate Weapon · Post by **Ultimate Weapon** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 6:48 pm

http://www.earthfiles.com/news/news.cfm ... ry=Science

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:19 pm

Ultimate Weapon wrote:
http://www.earthfiles.com/news/news.cfm ... ry=Science

What it didn't say was how long it would take for the crust to settle down again and for the Earth's spin to return to what it otherwise would have been - which would have been approximately a few hours later.

Ultimate Weapon · Post by **Ultimate Weapon** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:20 pm

Rebis wrote:
Ultimate Weapon wrote:
http://www.earthfiles.com/news/news.cfm ... ry=Science
What it didn't say was how long it would take for the crust to settle down again and for the Earth's spin to return to what it otherwise would have been - which would have been approximately a few hours later.

Yeah but that comparison photo was freaky!

Señior's Covenant · Post by **Señior's Covenant** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:25 pm

Heh. All that talk of planet alignments reminds me of May 5th, 2000. So many were convinced with that many planets being aligned opposite us some huge gravitational wave would hit the earth and knock the entire thing on it's side.