A moment please for those lost....

[Sandra Wu-San]

One day after the horrific earthquake/tsunami waves in southern Asia and parts of Africa, the toll is over 23,700 and expected to climb due to disease and people unaccounted for. May the souls of the lost rest in peace.

[CaptainMarvel]

A very tragic event.

My prayers go out to those lost and their families.


Nature is incredible, if this was nothing else, it was a reminder...

[VetLogan]

I can't imagine a tidal wave traveling at 500 MPH.

A tragic event.

[2 Gun Kid]

Its really hard to believe all of this has happened. Over 20,000 dead from Tidal Waves. Even when watching the news and reading the paper u just cant believe it. Its like out of "The Day After Tommarow" or something.

But it did happen. Thousands are dead. And it all happened in about 20minutes. Thats 1000 people died a minute. (Not literally.) Its really hard still to believe.

I hope they find peace in there new lives.

[eboladude]

Now that Christmas is done, and Legacy is still a couple of months away, consider sending a donation (http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList2/Help_the_ICRC?OpenDocument) to the International Red Cross/Red Crescent - a lot of people have had their lives ripped away by an incredibly violent act of nature. It's the closest thing to an act of heroism that a lot of comic book/heroclix fans can do in the face of this crisis.

[hail_eris]

Okay, I'm just cutting and pasting this from the other thread in the hopes that more people see it here. I've got a friend who's stuck in Bangkok, a co-worker who got out of Phuket a couple hours before this thing hit, and some pilots at Diego Garcia that the Air Force is being really coy about, so I've got a bit of personal interest in seeing things restored to some level of normalcy.

For those who would like to act in this world as opposed to the next, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent has launched an appeal for 7.5 million Swiss francs (about US$6.7 million). They are already on the ground in Sri Lanka, but their emergency fund is going to be drained pretty quickly by the logistical challenges posed by such widespread devastation. Make a donation by clicking here (http://www.ifrc.org/helpnow/donate/donate_response.asp). Oxfam (http://www.oxfam.org), Save the Children (http://www.savethechildren.net/alliance/get_involved/main.html), and UNICEF (http://www.unicef.org/support/index.html) are also on the scene. Ironically, relief efforts may be made easier simply because the major NGOs already have such a widespread presence in the area. I'm sure the prayers are appreciated, but there are a million displaced people who need clean water, shelter, and medication to deal with the typhus and cholera outbreaks that are sure to come.

[NEVERMORE]

CNN reported a little bit ago that most relief organization would like MONEY domination for right now. So they can purchase what is ready needed at this point base by area.

[supergoblin]

The world cow sends a message of love and support, the world cow would send money but the world cows broke. The world cow hope they find the crown prince of sri lanka alive.

[SITHSPAWN]

Wow! Now I feel like a real jerk. I haven't watched anything or been on the computer much since Christmas Eve morn. I had no idea?

[eboladude]

Ooh, Diego Garcia would've been squarely in the way of the waves, and as an archipelago, it can't be much more than 1-2 meters above the surface.

[CaptainMarvel]

You know it's kind of funny. (Well not in a HAHA way)


Didn't we just make a movie that somewhat mocked Mother Nature??? Wasn't that movie supposed to be unrealistic in its special effects???


Kind of makes you think doesn't it. Still can't believe.

I can't imagine what it was like to be standing on the beach and watch the Bay go almost completely dry, only to see a wave traveling 500mph and standing taller than the horizon coming in your direction. I feel bad for those in its path.

And as said before it almost doesn't seem real...:disappoin

[bootkneelee]

Sometimes Life imitates art.... Kinda like Jackie Chan was set to do a movie where he over hears terrorist planning on taking down the Twin Towers.... :noid:

[weezer_10]

I'm a member of the Australian Red Cross and financially help out when I can, but when I can't even spare a few dollars, a prayer is all I have to offer.

I don't want to turn this in to a religious debate, but please, do not underestimate the power of prayer.

There are things out there bigger than money that can save lives.

But having said that, if you have the opportunity, give generously, in coin or in spirit.

Peace.

[EmperorNorton]

I just sent off my donation to the German branch of the Red Cross. I may not be able to give much, but I hope that even a little can make a difference for a person or two.
Everybody reading this should consider how good their life is, especially with Christmas just a few days back. Maybe you can bring yourself to donate only 10% of what you got for Christmas to those in need.

[hail_eris]

Originally posted by eboladude
Ooh, Diego Garcia would've been squarely in the way of the waves, and as an archipelago, it can't be much more than 1-2 meters above the surface.
Well, word that I'm getting is that Diego Garcia managed to get through the whole thing almost untouched. Now that's the official story from the Pentagon. I haven't heard anything from folks actually stationed there. They were adequately warned that the wave was on the way (making them just about the only people that were). But, considering that most of the rec facilities are only about ten meters from the high tide line, I can't imagine the officer's club will be hosting any New Year's parties this year...

[Darth Sabre]

Just read that the Death toll has reached 44,000.

I'm not much for religion or prayers, but those people are certainly in my thoughts. I hope to contribute something, even if only just a bit.

I saw a heartbreaking picture in yesterdsays paper, of a woman crying next to her 6 or 7 children who were all dead. Really hits home, as a father. :cry:

[venarnage]

The sad thing is, that the majority of the death toll is children....I heard somewhere that its like almost 75% children.....:disappoin

[hail_eris]

Originally posted by Darth Sabre
Just read that the Death toll has reached 44,000.
It'll approach 70,000 before the week is out. And that's when the real nightmare will start - malaria, cholera, diarrhea, waterborne parasites, typhus. It's going to be a Petri dish of the greatest hits of tropical disease.

[JacinB]

I heard a radio report this morning, and I'm not sure how accurate it was, that there was an island in the area that was estimated to have 76,000 people on it. We haven't gotten there by boat apparently, yet, but the planes that have been flying over looking for survivors haven't seen a single person.

Don't know what the name of the island was, and I haven't heard any more about it since then (with all of the other news about the U.N. already insulting the U.S. as being 'stingy' and not helping enough and all ...), so I don't know if it was debunked or accurate. But, if it's true ...

[hail_eris]

Agence France-Presse is giving an official total of over 55,000 currently. I expect the African numbers to jump in the coming days. There are only 100 deaths reported in Somalia, but with no functional government to speak of, that's surely little more than a guess. And I'm surprised that Bangladesh got off comparatively light. Bangladesh is one of those countries where you see a headline like "11,000 Die in Bus Accident" and no one really bats an eyelash. I guess, after a while, you sort of build up a tolerance to this kind of thing.

[Inbetweener]

Jan Egeland...a Norwegian who called us out about Rwanda and Ugandan tragedies too. No matter, the US donation will exceed a billion easily.

That aside, this is among the most horrific things I've ever seen (meaning the graphic coverage and the sheer power). It is so rare to see this kind of power...especially in that region. The disease will be absolutely rampant...donations are imperative.

[CaptainMarvel]

Ok I'm not quite sure what a "9" on the rictor(SP) scale is.

Are we talking separating California from the US?

I mean the size of this trench in the ocean has to be unimaginably large to displace that much water.

[CaptainMarvel]

Just want to send my thoughts and prayers to the rescue workers as well. What they are doing will surly be over looked.

I can't imagine the feeling that you get when you find a town and start searching only to find 10,000 bodies of those passed...

What they must be going through...

[Inbetweener]

Originally posted by CaptainMarvel
Ok I'm not quite sure what a "9" on the rictor(SP) scale is.

Are we talking separating California from the US?

I mean the size of this trench in the ocean has to be unimaginably large to displace that much water.

Supposedly the fault line that extends northwest off California and out to sea around Washington and Oregon could bring about 9 someday...causing some very serious Tsanumis like this one. At least they've had reason to search supposedly...they prepare for this kind of stuff in the Pacific from Alaska to Fiji.

A 9.0 is rediculously powerful though. It's insane...supposedly the most likely to get that kind of quake is around the east coast of Japan. Earthquakes are pretty common just north of Australia but the Indian Ocean is a huge surprise...the whole California falling into the ocean thing is kind of a reach. That's more about water pressure beneath the transform plate in the San Andreas Fault region.

[JacinB]

Originally posted by CaptainMarvel
Ok I'm not quite sure what a "9" on the rictor(SP) scale is.

Are we talking separating California from the US?
I would imagine, yes. I've heard the 'power' of a 9.0 quake to be similar to the detonation of 1,000,000 nuclear warheads.

[hail_eris]

Originally posted by CaptainMarvel
Ok I'm not quite sure what a "9" on the rictor(SP) scale is.

Are we talking separating California from the US?

I mean the size of this trench in the ocean has to be unimaginably large to displace that much water.
It wobbled the earth on its axis, if that gives you any indication as to how powerful the quake itself was. Entire islands shifted 30 meters from their previous positions. And, according to GPS readings, the northwest corner of Sumatra has been displaced by about 25 meters.

Want a wake-up call? Check here (http://www.benfieldhrc.org/SiteRoot/in_the_news/press_cuttings/Insurance%20Day/why_the_only_certainty.htm). When the dome finally collapses at La Palma in the Canary Islands, the east coast of the United States gets its very own 100 meter-high wave traveling at the speed of sound...

[bootkneelee]

JACIN B - It's more like this....

Comparison of Magnitude and Destructive Power
Let's take a look at the energies associated with earthquakes of various magnitudes, and of a number of earthquakes and other phenomena. For this we'll use a larger unit of energy, the yield of quantities of the explosive TNT:
8.0 1 billion tons San Francisco, CA Quake, 1906
8.5 5 billion tons Anchorage, AK Quake, 1964
9.0 32 billion tons Chilean Quake, 1960


The yield of Little Boy, the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima at the end of WW2, was 15,000 tons (of TNT). One ton of TNT releases 63,100,000 joules of energy.

:rolleyes: :confused: :noid: