And counting.

Post #188,439

12/28/04 9:22:14 PM

And counting.

I bet it will go past 100K when all the remote, smaller, non-tourist areas get counted.

The other thing I have not heard is any damage to shipping. Surely some ships were surprised by the tsunami.

Alex

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. -- Bertrand Russell

Post #188,441

by broomberg

12/28/04 9:33:35 PM

Shipping not affected

It was under deep water for the most part.

Post #188,442

by ben_tilly

12/28/04 10:07:33 PM

At sea a tsunami is not a big deal

At see a tsunami is a very long, very fast wave. Think 100km long, moving at 700 km/hour. This is long enough that it is governed by the physics of shallow waves even in deep ocean.

So there is a lot of energy, but it is distributed over the entire depth of the ocean and won't really be noticed by ships on the surface.

As the wave approaches land, the energy doesn't diminish, but it compresses. What had been a little wave when that energy is distributed over a column of water 5 km deep is not so little when it is distributed over 100m. As it approaches shore the wave becomes slower and higher (still the same energy, just distributed differently).

When it hits land, the first visible effect is that all of the water disappears (you're seeing the wave attempt to deliver a trough that is 10-30m deep, but there isn't that much water to go away), and then it comes back - fast. Because the land doesn't participate in the fluid motion properly, the water surges up on land and then doesn't drain out when the next one hits. And this continues for as many waves as there are in the wave train. (I think that this one had 2.)

Hopefully you never need to know this, but if you take away anything from this explanation, it should be that if you're standing near the ocean and the water disappears, run!!! If they'd known that, many of the victims of this tidal wave would have survived. Sure it hit a lot of coast. But anywhere that it hit, if you were a few blocks inland when the wave came, you survived.

Cheers,
Ben

I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)

Post #188,496

by tuberculosis

12/29/04 2:57:41 PM

Water disappearing

I learned of this when reading a historical account of the great Alaska quake. The harbor at Kodiak emptied suddenly leaving all the vessels aground. Then it all surged back - not really a wave, more like a tide that just kept rising.

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." --Albert Einstein

"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses." --George W. Bush

Post #188,499

by ben_tilly

12/29/04 3:26:31 PM

Hence the name "tidal wave"

It's a wave that looks like a tide, only faster and (typically) much bigger.

Cheers,
Ben

I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)

Post #188,531

by static

12/29/04 9:05:06 PM

There was an article last night on the news...

... that briefly explored the term "tidal wave" vs. "tsunami" and the impact on the world's collective consciousness now that we suddenly have so much footage of it happening.

They mentioned that "tidal wave" is inaccurate, though it is understandable how it came about ("earthquake wave" would be more accurate). It was then mentioned that English doesn't have a word for such a wave: but the Japanese do. It is interesting to note that *all* the newscasts here in Oz are calling it a "tsunami".

Wade.

Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed

Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please

-- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne.

Post #188,606

by tuberculosis

12/30/04 6:24:29 PM

Yep - as I like to point out

there's a reason tsunami is a Japanese word.

Post #188,513

by daemon

12/29/04 5:27:12 PM

was explaining that to people at work

they saw a few video clips and were surprised they didnt see a 300 ft wall of water. Also a note to run, if the sea is normally clear and you see a muddy churn incoming, run.
regards,
daemon

that way too many Iraqis conceived of free society as little more than a mosh pit with grenades. ANDISHEH NOURAEE
clearwater highschool marching band [link|http://www.chstornadoband.org/|http://www.chstornadoband.org/]

Post #188,477

by drewk

12/29/04 12:15:16 PM

Not to mention ...

As with Chernyoble, there were probably whole towns where most people didn't know anyone from outside the town. There will be no one to report them missing.

===

Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats].
[link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]

Post #188,596

by lincoln

12/30/04 4:48:14 PM

Radio news at 3 PM today

puts the current number at 114K. And they're not done counting.

It's literally an event where the results are incomprehensible.

lincoln
"Windows XP has so many holes in its security that any reasonable user will conclude it was designed by the same German officer who created the prison compound in "Hogan's Heroes." - Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times
[link|mailto:bconnors@ev1.net|contact me]

Post #188,605

by Meerkat

12/30/04 6:09:04 PM

As for the 'corporate' response...

Has anyone other than APple actually acknowledged the event has happened? Yesterday I had a quick look at Apple, Dell, Microsoft and Sony - Apple was the the only one of those with a message on their front page, and links to places where you could donate money.

Two out of three people wonder where the other one is.

Post #188,643

by Ashton

12/30/04 11:31:31 PM

MoveOn.org has sent a note to all members

re personal contrib, lobbying the US Feds.. and not just waiting for Congress to stumble next into some committee-launch - to study the Problem.

'Course they aren't a Corporation - they be much larger, from one angle of view.

They also have some good ideas/minute: one is to use New Years parties for some collections - mentioning Oxfam, UNICEF, CARE, and the Red Cross/Red Crescent - for starters.

Maybe Billy will treble the US contribution.. this time, not in certificates for XP purchase. Maybe.

Post #188,645

by Meerkat

12/31/04 12:03:11 AM

The City of Sydney is doing its bit.

The 9pm firework display will start with a minute's silence, and aid agency charity collection points will be set up at the entrances to the main fireworks-viewing areas (eg Opera House forecourt, Circular Quay and so on).

Only eight hours of the year left...!

Two out of three people wonder where the other one is.

Welcome to IWETHEY!