I'm being kinda serious this morning.
From ABC News.
Tidal waves kill thousands across Asia
7:41 AM December 27
At least 11,500 people have been killed and thousands more are missing after the most powerful earthquake for 40 years triggered giant tidal waves that slammed into coastal areas across Asia.
The quake, the fifth largest ever recorded and measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale, struck in the Indian Ocean off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, unleashing tsunamis that hit Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives, Burma and Malaysia.
The huge quake erupted a year to the day after a quake in the Iranian city of Bam killed over 30,000 people.
Walls of water up to 10 metres high were reported in many areas, roaring ashore with bewildering speed, sweeping people off beaches, flattening hotels and homes, uprooting trees and overturning cars.
In Indonesia at least 4,185 people were killed as the country took the full force of a huge earthquake and tidal waves that swallowed entire coastal villages, the health ministry said.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared the earthquake a "national disaster", state media said, adding a relief effort would be coordinated from the Sumatran city of Medan.
Large numbers of children were reported to be among the victims in India and Sri Lanka, along with many foreign tourists who had flocked to idyllic resorts in South-East Asia for the Christmas holidays.
A spokesman for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) says there has not been any word of Australians injured or killed in the disaster.
He says consular officials are on their way from Bangkok to Phuket in Thailand to assess the situation and the Australian High Commission in Colombo is coordinating efforts in Sri Lanka.
South Asian disaster
South Asia was the worst hit region, with nearly 5,700 deaths reported across Sri Lanka and India and thousands missing.
The Sri Lankan Government also declared a state of disaster as at least 3,225 people, including many children and the elderly, were killed on the island.
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who is in London, was expected to cut short her holiday and return home, a spokesman for her office said, adding she was also appealing for international help.
Indian officials said at least 2,447 people were killed and more than 700 feared dead across south India and the Andaman Islands.
There were scenes of mayhem in Tamil Nadu state, where scores of villages were under water, local television footage showed bodies being loaded into ambulances. In Madras, the morgues at government hospitals were overflowing with bodies, witnesses told AFP.
Thai resorts hit
Thai officials said at least 310 people were killed and more than 5,000 injured in the country's south.
The nation's top beach resorts were among the worst-hit as waves swept scores of people out to sea, drowned snorkellers, sank boats and shattered buildings along the coast.
The popular resort of Phuket and the idyllic island of Phi Phi were devastated by the huge waters.
Monster waves crashed down onto beaches and crushed holiday bungalows after the first of a series of waves hit just before 10:00am (local time), according to officials and rescuers.
Phuket's major beach town, Patong, was flooded and all shops, kiosks and hotels along the beach were damaged. Some were washed away by the waters that carried away debris and tourist "tuk-tuk" taxis.
A senior police official said up to 50 people were killed on Phi Phi, 40 kilometres off the western Andaman coast, where huts on the exposed beach were swept away.
British tourists on the tiny island of Ngai said holiday-makers were given no chance when the tsunamis struck.
"Suddenly this huge wave came, rushing down the beach, destroying everything in its wake," Londoner Simon Clark said.
"People that were snorkelling were dragged along the coral and washed up on the beach, and people that were sunbathing got washed into the sea."
In Malaysia, 42 people, including many elderly and children, were drowned and many others were missing after tidal waves hit two resort islands, officials said.
On the Indian Ocean tourist destination of the Maldives, a British tourist and 14 other people died after tidal waves lashed the archipelago.
The unidentified British tourist died of a heart attack as the tidal waves hit his resort, an official said, adding that 50 "water cabanas" built on stilts had been washed away.
Residents contacted said at least 14 people, including two children, had been killed on three central atolls that were the worst affected.
In a statement, the Maldivian Government said there were several casualties but gave no details.
Quake centre
Meanwhile, reports differed on the exact location and size of the quake.
The US Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Centre initially put the tremor at 8.5 but revised it upwards to 8.9 on the Richter scale, while the Strasbourg Observatory in France said the tremor hit 8.1 and was located north of Sumatra.
Jakarta's Meteorology and Geophysics Office put the quake at 6.8 saying it was centred in the Indian Ocean about 149 kilometres south of Meulaboh, a town on the western coast of Aceh.
The tremors were felt as far away as the Thai capital Bangkok, about 1,500 kilometres north of the epicentre, where buildings swayed but no serious damage was reported.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 18,000 islands, lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire noted for its volcanic and seismic activity, and is one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions.
Lying at the collision point of three tectonic plates results in frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions as pressure between the massive segments of the earth's crust is released.
African nations too began clearing Indian Ocean beaches at risk from killer waves.
Authorities in Kenya, Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles and Somalia on Sunday asked people to evacuate areas on their Indian Ocean shores.
-AFP
Source: AFP
I am from Sri Lanka.
Yea its real bad.
Families washed away. People running around and moaning for lost loved ones. There was 1 train that was simple carried away from the coastal tracks to the interior. No one knows what happened to the passegers.
200 Hundred foreign tourists are also supposed to be killed.
We appreciate ur support.
I may have heard incorrectly but I believe on NPR this morning they said they were approximately 22,000 deaths so far.
Good God.
I'm typically not a religious person but I hope and pray for the safety and comfort for all of those people...so many of us take life and living for granted and (as plainly illustrated) all can be taken away in an instant. Makes you think that maybe what some of us hold in such high regard isn't quite that important, doesn't it? Makes me want to kiss my wife and daughter and tell them how much I love them.
Originally posted by padfootAvoided? How, exactly?
current news update - death count at around 25000 and estimating at least 5000 more. millions homeless.
scientist in cambridge university, england sais that it could have been avoided.
:'(
It was, as I understand it, an earthquake under the ocean, causing a tidal wave. I'm not aware we knew how to prevent either phenomenom.
Short of 12m walls along all the affected cosats, what could we do?
Also, the speed of the waves probably means minimal warning could be given.
Originally posted by Redmikei saw a report that said if there were the same warning systems in place as in the Pacific, a couple of hours warning might have been given, perhaps allowing at least some people to flee the coast...but yes, in all likelihood, i doubt very many would have been saved.
Avoided? How, exactly?
It was, as I understand it, an earthquake under the ocean, causing a tidal wave. I'm not aware we knew how to prevent either phenomenom.
Short of 12m walls along all the affected cosats, what could we do?
Also, the speed of the waves probably means minimal warning could be given.
Originally posted by RedmikeFrom where the earthquake was situated, there could have been some warning for Sri Lanka, and maybe even the Maldives.
Avoided? How, exactly?
It was, as I understand it, an earthquake under the ocean, causing a tidal wave. I'm not aware we knew how to prevent either phenomenom.
Short of 12m walls along all the affected cosats, what could we do?
Also, the speed of the waves probably means minimal warning could be given.
It's just occured to me; something really bad happens somewhere every 30 years...listen and read...
2004: This.
1974: Cyclone Tracy (Google it)
1944: WW2
1914: WW1
spooky 30yr pattern
Yes - there could have been two hours warning for the places further away, but as this is not a common occurence (like it is more-so in the pacific) the regional governments had yet to implement an early warning system. Indonesia and other close areas would have still been affected in the same way as they were close to the epicentre of the quakes.
Typical natural disaster though, low frequency high magnitude. If it were known to happen more frequently the area would be less attractive to the tourists who venture there. I think the areas will recover fairly quickly (we are a fairly resilient species) and the tourists will return.
My thoughts are of course with anyone who has been affected by this, it is difficult to imagine what it must be like to experience such an event.
:'(
Originally posted by Alpha10Your ignorance of not realizing how Phuket is pronounced is of course forgiveable however your timing shows ignorance beyond belief
I hate to sya this, but it was just too funny....
A news station was broadcasting from a town called Phuket....
Sorry.....