Tsunami Death Toll Climbs to 50,000

[Stephanie]

1 minute ago
Add to My Yahoo! World - AP Asia

By LELY T. DJUHARI, Associated Press Writer

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Mourners in Sri Lanka buried their dead with bare hands Tuesday while displaced and hungry islanders in Indonesia looted stores following explosive tidal waves that the United Nations (news - web sites) said may be history's costliest natural disaster. The death toll rose dramatically to more than 50,000 and officials expected it to rise further.

A dozen nations in a band of destruction from Southeast Asia to Africa tallied corpses at tropical beaches, devastated villages and choked hospital morgues — with 10,000 dead found in a single Indonesian town, according to one government agency.

Indonesia's Health Ministry said in a statement early Wednesday that 27,178 people has been killed on Sumatra island, which was closest to the earthquake's epicenter. But the ministry said this figure did not include data from districts on the island's hard-hit western coast, including the town of Melulaboh.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=1&u=/ap/20041228/ap_on_re_as/quake_tidal_waves


Unfathomable.

[Just Me]

1. Horrifying! What confuses me is that I thought,...

,...we were able to detect seismic activity anywhere around the globe. How did this huge quake go unnoticed?

[aquart]

5. It didn't.

There were valuable hours before the wave struck in many places, but the right people either weren't contacted or didn't believe it.

As for our scientists, it doesn't seem to have occurred to them to tell the wire services or western embassies in those nations that there might be a problem. They didn't mention it to any bloggers so far as we know, either. Yet they were "frantically" trying to get the word out?

And we think WE need intelligence reform?

Those beaches could have been empty. Those towns largely evacuated. There were HOURS.

"Who did you tell?" is going to be a really big question.

[Just Me]

10. I figured a quake that strong HAD to have been detected.

I would like to know who knew and why no evacuation was activated.

Hell,...merely an hour warning would have saved many of those lives lost.

[Nothing Without Hope]

14. Actually, the scientists DID tell them -- but no evacuation system

It's heartbreaking - there was no one to spread the word and no system in place to warn or evacuate the potential victims. Talks are now -- FINALLY -- scheduled to organize such a system among the countries bordering the Indian Ocean.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=5&u=/usatoday/20041228/ts_usatoday/scientistsinusasawtsunamicoming

Scientists in USA saw tsunami coming

Tue Dec 28, 7:11 AM ET

By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY

Minutes after a massive earthquake rocked the Indian Ocean on Sunday, international ocean monitors knew that a tsunami would likely follow. But they didn't know whom to tell.

"We put out a bulletin within 20 minutes, technically as fast as we could do it," says Jeff LaDouce of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. LaDouce says e-mails were dispatched to Indonesian officials, but he doesn't know what happened to the information.

The problem is that Sunday's earthquake struck the unmonitored Indian Ocean. An international system of buoys and monitoring stations - the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center based in Hawaii - spans the Pacific, alerting nations there to any oncoming disasters. But no such system guards the Indian Ocean.
(snip)
LaDouce notes that warnings are of little use without evacuation plans, given how quickly a tsunami can travel. Tsunami waves struck Sumatra minutes after the quake and hit Thailand within an hour.
(snip)

[Lisa]

25. local evacuation plans would be very useful for typhoons, etc.

I'm surprised that nothing of the sort already existed, given that the area has experienced crises before (though nothing on this scale). But then again, a friend who lives in a remote coastal community near Alaska told me that their local tsunami evac plan is all based on volunteers, and they have had to come up with procedures on their own (even getting some help from disaster planners in Hawaii). There just might not have been enough money and trained personnel to come up with emergency measures.

[Nothing Without Hope]

29. Absolutely. But the very short warning time is a challenge

The warning time for typhoons is longer. For a tsunami, it may be just 15 minutes or an hour. That takes very tight planning and practice, but it can be done. It HAS been done, for example in Hawaii.

[Art_from_Ark]

87. Sometimes there is not even 15 minutes warning

For example, the 100-foot tidal wave that hit Okushiri Island, Japan, on July 12, 1993, appeared a mere 7 minutes after the M 7.8 earthquake hit.

http://www.bo-sai.co.jp/sub8.html

[Nothing Without Hope]

90. For that, only solution I can see is a sort of "storm cellar"

as suggested by someone else in this thread (Chico Man, Message #77 titled "What about some sort of tornado shelter type device."

That would be close at hand so that people could run into it and seal it quickly. It would need to be big enough, water tight, oxygenated, and long-lasting. Combined with sirens and drilled civilians who knew what to do instantly, it could work.

[allemand]

17. Apparently, our scientists tried their best

"Scientists at the center in Hawaii tried to alert officials in the region with what few contacts they had, said retired Canadian researcher Tad Murty, who is familiar with the scientists' efforts.

"They tried to raise the alarm every possible way," Murty said. "The problem was with the countries in the Indian Ocean: Nobody really responded, and nothing much was done about it." "

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-sci-warnings28dec28,1,3809480.story?coll=la-headlines-world

I think the blame probably lies with mid-level government bureaucrats in the region who failed to act:

"We knew something would be hitting us" (Dr R S Dattatrayam, director (seismology) at India Meteorological Department).

Tsunami caught the govt napping
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/971639.cms

Knowing the way burocracy works in these countries, this doesn't surprise me at all. My all-time favorite story is Indonesian police failing to defuse a live bomb in their own headquarters because the message got stuck in the chain of command.

On edit

This thread proves my point about mid-level government officials being responsible in Thailand:

Swedish newspaper: Tsunami warning was stopped
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1104420

[Old Mouse]

63. Even with warnings to the countries nothing could happen

Without a practiced evacuation plan in place warnings are unfortunately just noise.

And honestly, the coastal beach life in these areas had no method of broadcasting a sensible warning to the inhabitants.

[Tracer]

7. It wasn't undetected.

It was even detected and recorded right here in Massachusetts at the Weston Observatory. There was a clip on the local news last night showing the printout of the earthquake, and the scientist showed how the pen went shooting right off the paper.

Furthermore, I read that scientists who were monitoring the ocean buoys in the Pacific (the ones that alert for tsunamis) tried desperately to inform people in the way of the wave, but "couldn't reach the proper government officials". (paraphrased from this morning's Boston Globe.

[Catherine Vincent]

2. sigh....

:-(

[spinbaby]

3. Reuters says 59,000

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&e=10&u=/nm/quake_dc

[Stephanie]

4. God

It is going to get worse and worse. That article says the number could double in the aftermath. I can't comprehend it.

[aquart]

8. Lord, last night we were saying Bush had higher numbers.

Looks like God's going for a recount.

Over half have been children so far. A generation is gone.

Early on 12/26, I remember seeing a CNN crawl saying "several" people had died in the tsunami, this after BBCA had told me the number was already in the thousands.

Nobody is ready for a disaster of this magnitude. And I don't believe it will be the last.

Do we believe in global warming NOW?

[Mistress Quickly]

13. from your post:

>>>>Do we believe in global warming NOW? <<<<

Not to dismiss global warming, but does it cause the Teutonic plates to shift?

:shrug:

[MisterP]

19. tectonic plates, not north-Germanic ones

[Mistress Quickly]

28. lol, I realized that

after the fact. Just now got back, and I'll edit.

But hey, the spellcheck said I was right!

on edit: can't edit

[NYC]

60. I'm glad you couldn't edit.

That was hilarious. We all need a laugh now and then.

[Nothing Without Hope]

16. Not due to global warning -- that's a different set of disasters

The area where the quake took place is one of the most active on the planet and has generated great quakes and volcanoes many times before. This is due to the movement of the tectonic plates on the planets surface and is not an effect of global warming.

[TahitiNut]

62. Reuters now says "Tsunami toll hits 68,000"

Reuters, UK - 27 minutes ago
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=645814

[karlrschneider]

6. I hope I'm wrong but I think it'll hit 100K when all the counting is done,

and that will take weeks or even months, unfortunately. :cry:

[aquart]

11. I think so, too.

And I'm not sure if that includes the disease deaths.

The aid agencies and local governments have mobilized but there is no way to be ready for something like this.

[Nothing Without Hope]

18. I agree. I think the evetual total will be far above 100,000

Not only has the WHO said that disease could double the mortality:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=2&u=/ap/20041228/ap_on_re_as/quake_disease

...but the in the confusion and disrupted communications in the hardest hit areas, there will be no way to determine the number of deaths for some time. The numbers keep going up, but they are KNOWN deaths. The so-far unknown ones and the deaths to come from injuries or disease will be more than the currently known toll, I fear.

[damntexdem]

9. I don't understand. Saddam is in jail.

So is the earthquake/tsunami OBL's fault? Or is it Bill Clinton's?

Anyone know any Freepers so we can find out?

[aquart]

15. Global warming putting pressure on deep sea faults

is one explanation I heard.

The Ross Ice Shelf has been ice for 6 million years and it's melting. There are going to be lots of problems because of this.

But George doesn't think he needs to sign Kyoto.

[Nothing Without Hope]

26. No, this one wasn't due to global warming

It's due to the planetary plates banging into each other and plunging under one another, as they have in various variations for as far back as geology can trace the history of the planet.

The area that generated this quake is very active and has generated killer quakes and killer volcanic explosions (like Krakatoa) before and will again. It's part of the Ring of Fire around the Pacific Ocean, though only a small part of the energy of the quake penetrated through the island chains into the Pacific. (Yes, there were waves from this quake in the Pacific, too, but much smaller than the ones in the Indian Ocean. The planet rang like a bell.)

Global warming is associated with another whole string of disasters.

[jmcgowanjm]

43. My theory is that humans are attracted to fault zones

They're always totally gorgeous:
Like this guy says:
Richard Aubrey on December 27, 2004 07:52 PM

Blindsided by Mother Nature.

There is a physical/human issue, and that is that most
people want to live on flat ground near fresh water and
some way of making a living. That includes a substantial part
of the world's littoral, although some of it is cliffs or
other inhospitable land
forms.
People will always be within the reach of
tsunami(s).
Warning is good, but how many people can leg it to high
ground with, say, an hour's start? How long does it take
to evacuate, say, the Florida Keys when a hurricane
threatens?
Either we build some inconceivable structure that will
physically stop the effects of a tsunami, or we forbid people
living within, say, a half mile of the shore (or actually going
there for any reason), or we accept random acts of mass
death.

http://talkleft.com/new_archives/009123.html

(I'm not sure about Diego Garcia)
Chagos Archipelago Earthquake, 1983.

The 1983 earthquake spawned a tsunami (1) in the region.
In the lagoon, on Diego Garcia, there was a 1.5-meter rise
in wave height and there was some significant wave
damage near the south-eastern tip of the island.

http://www.asc-india.org/gq/chagos.htm

[Nothing Without Hope]

55. Yes, it's a major challenge.

What do you do when so many people live in low-lying areas near the seashore? For hurricanes, there is usually at least a day of warning to take higher ground. But for tsunamis, there may only be a half hour or an hour. There would have to be practiced, practical plans for evacuation to higher ground and education so that as soon as the special siren sounds, people would know exactly what to do and where to go. For many of these areas, that is going to be a MAJOR challenge, but for some of them it is more doable. One other possibility is to head out to sea, where the waves don't break. Another major challenge.

[Chico Man]

77. What about some sort of tornado shelter type device

Water tight, oxygenated, and full of the necessities?

[Nothing Without Hope]

88. Sounds possible, but requires insightful engineering as at Gaviotas

Making sure it is water tight, big enough for everyone to be held safely, cheap and long-lasting would necessitate some very insightful and creative engineering. I would like to see what the free-thinking engineers at Gaviotas would make of this project.

If you haven't read it yet, I urge you to find a copy of "Gaviotas" to see what I am talking about. It is inspiring and it is real, going over 20 years now. I understand that a hot water heating solar panel of their design was installed in the White House during Carter's admin, but it was removed during Regan's.

[Old Mouse]

64. if memory serves

the original UN warning on climate change (pre Kyoto) that spoke of increasing disasters included a predicted rise in earthquakes. No link, I'm afraid.

Additionally, recent extremely deep underground quakes and the discovery magma forms closer to the crust than preciously thought shows a need to revise the plate theories. But no one seems to want to talk about that...

For all we really know, climate change could well be a factor.

[Clarkie1]

27. Unlikely

Earthquakes of this magnitude are not unusual, in a geologic time frame.

[Carni]

50. More like bunker busting "small nukes" taking their toll

I think it's more likely that whatever shit the US has blown off in Afghanistan and Iraq (like the small tactical nukes for bunker busting that were rumored) has created a shift in assorted fault lines, plates, etc. Yes, this is tinfoil but what the hell...

[Amaya]

12. It's horrifying

I've got a good friend who works with DWB (Doctors Without Borders)

She's on her way there as I type.

List of agencies helping quake/tsunami victims
Action Against Hunger
247 West 37th Street, Suite 1201
New York, NY 10018
212-967-7800
http://www.aah-usa.org
American Jewish World Service
45 West 36th Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10018
800-889-7146
http://www.ajws.org
ADRA International
9-11 Fund
12501 Old Columbus Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
800-424-2372
http://www.adra.org
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC Crisis Fund)
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA
215-241-7000
http://www.afsc.org
Catholic Relief Services
PO Box 17090
Baltimore, MD 21203-7090
800-736-3467
http://www.catholicrelief.org
Direct Relief International
27 South La Patera Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93117
805-964-4767
http://www.directrelief.org
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres
PO Box 2247
New York, NY 10116-2247
888-392-0392
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org
International Medical Corps
1919 Santa Monica Boulevard Suite 300
Santa Monica CA 90404
800-481-4462
http://www.imcworldwide.org
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
PO Box 372
CH-1211 Geneva 19
Switzerland
41-22-730-4222
http://www.ifrc.org /
International Orthodox Christian Charities
Middle East Crisis Response
PO Box 630225
Baltimore, MD 21263-0225
877-803-4622
http://www.iocc.org
Lutheran World Relief
PO Box 17061
Baltimore MD 21298-9832
800-597-5972
http://www.lwr.org
MAP International
2200 Glynco Parkway
PO Box 215000
Brunswick, GA 3121-5000
800-225-8550
http://www.map.org
Mercy Corps
PO Box 2669
Portland, OR 97208
800-852-2100
http://www.mercycorps.org
Northwest Medical Teams
PO Box 10
Portland, OR 97207-0010
503-624-1000
http://www.nwmedicalteams.org
Operation USA
8320 Melrose Avenue, Ste. 200
Los Angles, CA 90069
800-678-7255
http://www.opusa.org
Oxfam America
https://secure.ga3.org/02/oxfamamerica?extra1=asian_qua...
Relief International
11965 Venice Blvd.¥405
Los Angeles, CA 90066
800-572-3332
http://www.ri.org
Save the Children
Asia Earthquake/Tidal Wave Relief Fund
54 Wilton Road
Westport, CT 06880
800-728-3843
www.savethechildren.org
US Fund for UNICEF
333 East 38th Street
New York, NY 10016
800-FOR-KIDS
http://www.unicefusa.or
World Concern
19303 Fremont Ave. N
Seattle, WA 98133
800-755-5022
http://www.worldconcern.org
World Relief
7 E. Baltimore St.
Baltimore, MD 21202
443-451-1900
http://www.wr.org
World Vision
PO Box 70288
Tacoma, Washington 98481-0288
888-56-CHILD
http://www.worldvision.org

[crispini]

21. Just made a contribution to Medecins.

I used to live in Southeast Asia, thankfully everyone I know lives well inland. I've been thinking about going back for a visit for years. I think that now is the time to start planning my trip, maybe for next year. The tourist industry there will be terribly hard-hit for decades to come -- it's a vital part of their economies -- and it would be a good way to help.

I also plan to bug the crap out of my elected officials for the US to send more money. $45 mil is still far, far too little, and nothing compared to what we spend in other places. This is just such a horrible tragedy.

[pacifictiger]

51. glad to see the US donation is up to $45mil

I had heard that it was only $15mil
Still, that contribution is only a pittance - only 15c for every person in the US.
Australia's intitial sum was $10mil - 50c for every Aussie.

[kostya]

22. This is a great list, but is there an organization that gives data on

how your donation is divvy'd up between admin costs and the actual people contributions are supposed to help? I asked this before in another thread and got no reply, so I suppose I'll have to make a separate topic? - K

[FourStarDemocrat]

31. For info on charities try

http://www.charitywatch.org There's alot of info on each major charity's use of funds.

[kostya]

32. Thank you, thank you! Just what I was looking for. - K

[Skittles]

45. I donated 100 bucks to DWB today

feel so freaking helpless

[Amaya]

57. Thank you,Skittles!

That's a charity close to my heart. I put in my papers a while back to volunteer for this organization.

Thank you again!

[Skittles]

86. AWWWWWWW

I fear I may be a coward because I get so queasy and distraught just watching a few minutes of the coverage - I feel that one way I can relieve my guilt is with this sentiment: if I cannot help those people directly, I can certainly open up my wallet to those people who CAN and DO help those people. Yes INDEED.

[Just Me]

52. I did a quick and easy contribution to IRC online.

I'd rather give money than "stuff".

I'd rather advocate an effective distributor (the UN) rather than have havoc contributions which fail to serve the victims.

I appeal to Americans to contribute money NOT wasteful STUFF.

[anakie]

20. 60000 people unaccounted for in Aceh alone

according to skynews australia report.

[aneerkoinos]

39. Closest to the epicentre

They felt the devastating power of the quake, then the tsunami almost immediately, and the province has been in civil war for months. That is the place worst effected, and most difficult to help because of the difficult political situation.

[Danmel]

23. I just made a donation to Save the Children

The woman who took my call told me that they had lost at least 10 of their relief workers in Aceh, Indonesia. I don't need to hit the post holiday sales. Compared to this disaster, what could I possibly need? All I wanted anyway was a new President and I didn't get that. I don't want anything but for normal people to be in charge again, and for these poor people to get the help they need.

[The Stranger]

24. Not enough people to pick up the dead because hundreds of thousands

are busy making more dead in Iraq. Strange days indeed.

[allemand]

30. U.S. sea service ships en route to help tsunami victims

By Christopher P. Cavas
Defense News staff writer

A carrier strike group and an amphibious expeditionary group are among the U.S. forces headed to Indian Ocean regions devastated by earthquakes and tidal waves, U.S. officials said. The aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln left Hong Kong on Dec. 28, and headed for the region along with the cruiser Shiloh, destroyers Benfold and Shoup and replenishment ship Rainier.

<...>

The Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group also has been redirected to the disaster area. The group, carrying about 2,500 Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, was about to begin a port call at Guam when it received orders to take part in humanitarian relief efforts. With the assault ship Bonhomme Richard are the cruiser Bunker Hill, destroyer Milius, frigate Thach, attack submarine Pasadena, amphibious ships Duluth and Rushmore and the Coast Guard cutter Munro. The amphibious ships carry helicopters and landing craft.

<...>

Earlier, six U.S. Navy P-3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft from Patrol Squadrons 4 and 8 left bases in Japan to conduct search and recovery operations from the air base at Utapao, Thailand. <...> None of the U.S. forces operating in the Arabian Gulf or Horn of Africa regions are being repositioned to help with the disaster, U.S. officials said. But two Japanese destroyers and a supply ship returning from coalition duty in the Arabian Sea were ordered on Dec. 28 to head for Thailand to provide assistance.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-574803.php

Finally. But they will need "at least two days to reach the nearest disaster-struck regions along the west coast of Thailand and northwestern Sumatra, and it will take longer for the expeditionary strike group ships to arrive".

[BrightKnight]

58. 2 days to decide to answer the SOS & 2+ days to get there

I am thrilled that the government is finally taking appropriate action. I don't understand why they took 2 days to begin to respond to the emergency. I understand that re-assigning a carrier group for a non-combat mission is not done instantly but 2 days is absurd. Both the humanitarian and public relations missions were seriously compromised by this unnecessary delay.

If DU members can understand the situation the DoD and Bush administration should be able to connect the dots too.

There should be an investigation into the cause of this delay. When was the meeting held? Who attended the meeting? Who gave the order?

[LynnTheDem]

33. Too bad the 100,000 death toll in Iraq doesn't get this kind of coverage.

100,000 Iraqi deaths (and counting) caused by the USA just aren't as important as the tragedy of 50,000 (and counting) caused by God.

I sure wish the Iraqi deaths (let alone our own troops' deaths!) could get this amount of coverage in the USA.

[allemand]

34. Hundreds of Americans Missing in Asia

BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON - Hundreds of Americans remain missing two days after devastating tsunamis struck Asia, but the State Department says a large number have been located and are safe. Responding to the disaster, the U.S. Agency for International Development added $20 million to the already promised $15 million.

The State Department said Tuesday that 12 Americans had died, seven in Sri Lanka and five in Thailand.

Bush administration officials sought to allay concerns about the missing, saying it might simply be a matter of not getting in touch with U.S. authorities in Asia.

Still, the State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters, "I would not presume to tell you that the casualty figure we have today is final. We just don't know."

More:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041229/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_quake_7

[lovuian]

35. Oh Yahoo they are reporting 52,000 now

I don't think ANYBODY KNOWS how bad the numbers are!!!

[SoCalDem]

36. Never heard of this girl, but apparently she died with her boyfriend

Petra Nemcova ( a model)

[Karenina]

38. From what I've read, she survived

hanging onto a tree for 8 hours. Bf unaccounted for.

[ally_sc]

37. those poor people...

i heard they were burying their dead with their hands...hard to believe their officials did or could not warn them in time.

[Megahurtz]

40. Horribly terrible,

I feel so sorry for those people.:cry:

[lovuian]

41. Olberman just said the Death toll is 62000

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=2&u=/ap/20041228/ap_on_re_as/quake_celebrities

Helmet Kohl was rescued by helicoptor what everybody is wondering how did he get out by helicopter and others didn't

it helps if you have pull!!!

[BrightKnight]

44. It's about time. Were they waiting for a written invitation?

The Brits already have ships and aircraft involved. When did they decide that it might be a good idea to do something? Were they waiting for a written invitation?

It is sad that the UN had to shame the administration into action. What is going to happen when Powell is gone? Why wasn't someone in the Democratic leadership screaming bloody murder?

[Mistress Quickly]

47. My unserstanding is

they already sent planes etc there:

"...the nine P3 reconnaissance aircraft and 12 C-130 transport planes loaded with relief goods."

source:
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,54...

[shayes51]

42. And Bush can't even stop his vacation long enough

to give a statement of comfort. How shameful!

[Skittles]

46. that bastard embarrasses America every single f***ing day

what an asshole

[MaximumConformist]

48. Yea but...

The tsunami was REALLY bad. But...it was not threat to America so we shouldn't meddle in the affairs of South Asia.

[Skittles]

49. I..................................ER.....................................

I REALLY F***ING HOPE YOU ARE BEING SARCASTIC

[Just Me]

53. I know your master,...do you?

Somehow,...I doubt it.

[pacifictiger]

54. yeah,

and besides, they're only those ignorant, brown people that live somewhere over there in poverty anyway, and besides, they don't believe in Jaysuss either (sarcasm of course)

[crispini]

61. Ho, tombstoned already?

Don't let the door hitcha in the a** on the way out, dude.

[Oversea Visitor]

56. Still very chaotic in Indonesia

Indonesia Acheh south-western coast is home to an estimated 1 million people
This area suffer almost complete obliteration
All 17 villages on the coast are no longer there]

No clue no clue to how many people died in Indonesia

Dont want even to guess the magnitude lastest info say over 100,000 missing and unaccounted for and reports are still trickling in from there......many areas still has not reported in..... like they are still cut off.

In Malaysia we have only 65 dead 12 missing
Please send help to Indonesia, they are our neighbours and they are such a poor poor country.

[6th Borough]

68. First topic mentions casualties on W. coast of Sumatra not counted yet...

...But the ministry said this figure did not include data from districts on the island's hard-hit western coast...

This is just the beginning, folks...consider that they haven't yet surveyed the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. In other words, no official numbers are in for the side of the island that actually faced the epicenter of the earthquake.

As for Shri Lanka, some of the hardest hit areas are governed by the TTLE (the political organization of the ethnic Tamil separatist group), not Shri Lanka's central government...many of the dead and missing from those regions haven't been put into any official tally.

Another concern that has been bouncing around in my brain is the (possible) situation in Myanmar (Burma's "new name).

Myanmar appears likely to have taken a massive hit, yet the # of dead stands officially at only 142 (not too long ago it was zero). Lest you forget (or didn't know), Myanmar is controlled by a totalitarian military oligarchy that for the most part does not allow access to any foreign press; effectively controlling all information disseminated both to and from its citizens and the rest of the world.

I have a bad feeling about the Myanmar situation; what the real numbers may be. Considering tourism is their main industry, the facts should become a little less foggy over time...unless the Myanmar authorities perform a complete scrub job.

If they do need help, they very well might turn it down or not request it anyway...Myanmar doesn't have a "donor" state to turn to; a relationship similar to the one between North Korea and China.

I'm not even to get into disease, incomplete census's, the many islands located between Sumatra and the African coast...

This is going to get a lot worse.

[opiate69]

59. Here's an eyewitness account...

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/4381609p-4152212c.html

EMILY DRURY, TACOMA
Last updated: December 28th, 2004 02:35 AM


Editor’s note: Two Tacoma sisters vacationing with their family in Thailand ran for their lives when the killer waves hit Southeast Asia on Sunday. Stadium High School graduates Emily and Alice Drury had just arrived in Phuket a day or so earlier with their parents, Steve and Vicky. Emily, 25, sent an e-mail Monday to family and friends describing the ordeal. Here is her message, which has been edited for space: The day after Christmas at 10:30 a.m., Alice and I were waiting in the hotel lobby when we noticed people running. Very soon it became apparent that they were running from a tidal wave.
Alice and I ran for our lives. We tried hanging on to each other, but the current was too strong.

I jumped into the back of a pickup truck that was being washed away. The truck got caught around a tree, and I jumped out or was going to be pulled under with the truck.

The last I saw of Alice, she was struggling in the rising water, and I was screaming for her.

I went under some bamboo and knew that I was drowning. But I scrambled up and was able to grab onto a tree.

I struggled to keep my feet on the rising debris around the tree until the water calmed down.

To my left, I saw two feet sticking up from the debris. I think those feet will haunt me for a long time. A young girl behind me was missing her bikini bottoms that had been torn off in the current. I pulled mine off from under my skirt and gave them to her.

I made it out to the main road with a woman from Finland. The woman and I found a badly injured man, and some kind Thai people in a pickup took us to a hospital.

I knew that my family thought I was dead.

At the hospital it was complete chaos – bloody floors, people with open wounds, children crying for parents, people crying in pain. I laid down and prayed.



After about two hours, my father walked in, lost glasses and blind as a bat. He held me and cried. He had left Alice and Mom behind and come looking for me.

Dad and I spent the day helping people. We spent the night on the hospital lawn. We met a boy from Utah who lost his entire family. There were also young children who were there without parents.

Mom joined us the next day. She knew I was alive because she met the girl I had given my swim suit bottoms to at another hospital.

Please keep us in your prayers. Phuket airport is open, so I think we will fly out of there.

[Dcitizen]

65. Trough Tsunami and pole shift

I'm not an expert, but I must aware that

this quake located almost at the equator, and it was the very
big down shift sea bottom that caused the trough of tsunami
wave and the sea water retreated like low low tide first. 
Sciencetific America's white paper of March 1994 explained
about pole shift when a large sinking of mantle slabs would
trigger the earth's axis of rotation to shift so the equator
would move closer to the dense slabs. 
 
And so, maybe human run out of luck next time if the down
shift quake would not happen at the equator and maybe this
tsunami 
with over 60,000 casualties in the twinkling of an eye was big
enough for US to think of a new plan for ourselves and next
generations of the human kind asap [period w/o *]

[BrightKnight]

67. Don't worry, the earth is flat.

Platygæanism: http://www.flat-earth.org/platygaea/faq.html

[ObamaFan2500]

66. They need to stop the tsumani

It just keeps killing people. .I wnet to bed last night, it had only killed 25000 people.. now today they are saying 68200. people should go inside to get away from it in indonesia and in sri lanka. It is just a matter of time before it has killed over 100,000 people

[allemand]

69. Indonesia quake toll estimated up to 40,000: VP

JAKARTA (AFP): The death toll from Asia's catastrophic tsunami and earthquake is estimated to be as high as 40,000 in Indonesia's Aceh province, Vice President Jusuf Kalla told reporters on Wednesday.

"The estimate to this day, those who died in Aceh, number more or less 30 to 40,000," Kalla said.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20041229155640&irec=5

No doubt, Indonesia is the worst hit country. And it doesn't help that Aceh was a war zone where foreign journalists and help workers had no access at all until very recently.

[allemand]

71. Sumatra: West coast stays deadly quiet

West coast stays deadly quiet

The Jakarta Post, Medan/Jakarta

<...>

Meanwhile, Antara state news agency said that there was no sign of life for 240 kilometers along the western part of Aceh.

Video footage taken by a surviving Army soldier shortly after the tsunami hit Meulaboh and aired by SCTV, showed a wall of water and mud sweeping through the busy seaport.

<...>

West Aceh Regent Syahmuddin BP said the natural disaster killed at least a quarter of the town's 40,000 residents and destroyed 80 percent its infrastructure. <...> "If relief does not arrive within three to four days, there will be a mass famine and many more will die. The situation in Meulaboh and its surroundings is one of an emergency. Meulaboh is under an SOS code," Rilo said.

<...>

"We have also prepared more humanitarian aid to help victims in Simeulue Island, which has been swamped by the tidal waves that killed at least 7,000 people," Bernard said. According to the latest data from the General Elections Commission (KPU), the island's population stands at 76,000.

More:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20041229.@02&irec=1

On edit

Simeulue Island is the island closest to the 9.0 earthquake as can be seen on this map:

[allemand]

75. Ancestors' wisdom saves many on island of Simeulue

In Simeulue yesterday about 30,000 of the 70,000 population were camping out in the hills and mountains kilometres from the coast. "They fear another tsunami will come," said Darmili, the mayor. "They will not come down for some time. Who could blame them?"

"Our ancestors have saying - if there is an earthquake run for your life," Darmili, the mayor of the island said yesterday.

Mr Darmili said villagers on the island were used to earthquakes and tsunamis. A big earthquake last struck in 2002. "Thousands of our people were killed by a tsunami in 1907 and we have many earthquakes here," he said.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/60km-from-epicentre-a-city-lies-in-ruins/2004/12/29/1103996615409.html?oneclick=true

[allemand]

74. AP: Indonesian Island Coastline Destroyed

By FADLAN ARMAN SYAM

MEULABOH, Indonesia - Three quarters of the western coastline on Indonesia's Sumatra island is destroyed, and some towns were totally wiped out by this week's earthquake and tsunamis, a military official who visited the region said Wednesday.

"The damage is truly devastating," said Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarna, the military of commander of the island's Aceh province, who toured the coast by helicopter Wednesday. "Seventy-five percent of the west coast is destroyed and some places its 100 percent. These people are isolated and we will try and get them help."

The area around the town of Meulaboh _ a fishing village of 40,000 residents _ bore the brunt of Sunday's 9.0 magnitude earthquake, which sent massive tidal waves thundering across the Indian Ocean that killed more than 60,000 people in a dozen countries.

An Associated Press Television News crew flew over town after town on the coast Wednesday, and saw villages covered in mud and sea water. Most homes had their roofs ripped off or were flatted by the forces of Sunday's disaster. There were few signs of life, except for a handful of villagers scavenging for food on the beach.

http://www.the-leader.com/articles/2004/12/29/ap/headlines/d879ali80.txt

Michael Elmquist, chief of the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Jakarta, said that there could be as much as 80,000 killed in Indonesia alone.

See also:

In Indonesia, 'Devastation and Death Beyond Belief'
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/28/international/asia/28cnd-indo.html?oref=login&pagewanted=all&position=

[Walt Starr]

70. MSNBC Now saying close to 70,000

On their front page.

[lebkuchen]

82. Did any news media warn of potential tsunamis after the 9.0 earthquake?

Or are the media, CNNI, for example, only good for reading off cue cards?

[allemand]

72. Tsunamis Kill People In Sri Lanka, But Not Animals

POSTED: 7:41 am EST December 29, 2004

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.

More:
http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/4031889/detail.html

Interesting, but not really that surprising:

Animals are not curious. They don't flock to the beaches to look why the sea has suddenly receded. And they start to run once they hear a noise as loud as a jet engine.

[Catchawave]

83. Amazing story, but not surprising to me that this once again

proves man may have the larger brain, but doesn't use it !

[jmcgowanjm]

73. We have no idea how much territory Rebels held

Asia - AFP

But with aid still yet to reach many areas, policeman Supardi
Bin Kasdi, who managed to escape the area and reach
Banda Aceh, told AFP that survivors would have already run
out of food.


"When I left them they only had enough food for one day. I told
my men to try to sustain themselves by eating coconuts, but
they will only last for one day. I saw residents in the area scavenging for dirty rice on the ground."

Some frustrated foreign relief workers trying to gain access
to Aceh said despite the lifting of a conflict-zone ban on
overseas humanitarian groups in the province, they were
still stuck outside in the Sumatran city of Medan.


"We have been waiting for two days in Medan for someone
to pick us up and take us to Aceh," police captain Juma
Ahmad bin Darwish, who heads the United Arab
Emirates' rescue team, told AFP.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041229/wl_asia_afp/asiaquakeindonesia_041229124625
 

[allemand]

76. Indonesia Aceh deaths might hit 80,000 - U.N. official

Wednesday December 29, 7:04 PM

Indonesia Aceh deaths might hit 80,000 - U.N. official

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) - The death toll in Indonesia's Aceh province from a quake and tsunami that struck on Sunday might reach between 50,000 and 80,000, a UN official said.

"I would say we are probably talking about somewhere in the order of 80,000 people, 50 to 80,000 people, that would be my educated guess," Michael Elmquist, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Indonesia, told reporters on Wednesday.

"It's a guess based on the relation between the numbers we have so far and our experience from other earthquake disasters."

Elmquist said the coastal town of Meulaboh alone may have had 40,000 deaths.

More:
http://in.news.yahoo.com/041229/137/2iq6v.html

[allemand]

79. BBC: Indonesian coast 'devastated'

"The western coast of Sumatra has been "devastated" by Sunday's earthquake and sea surges, according to an Indonesian official who flew over it on Wednesday.

<...>

Television crews which flew over the affected area on Wednesday reported seeing villages covered in mud and few signs of life.

<...>

Rescuers are using bulldozers to clear the wreckage and dig mass graves.
The BBC's Rachel Harvey, in Banda Aceh, reported seeing ten truck-loads of bodies delivered to one mass grave in just 20 minutes.

<...>

A major relief effort is desperately needed, but so far the operation on the ground appears patchy at best, our correspondent says."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4131655.stm

[allemand]

78. International Red Cross: Tsunami toll could top 100,000

GENEVA (Reuters) - Deaths in the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster could top 100,000 when figures for India's Bay of Bengal islands are known, a senior international Red Cross official says.

"I would not be at all surprised that we will be on 100,000 (deaths) when we know what has happened on the Andaman and Nicobar islands," Peter Rees of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Wednesday.

He told a news conference Federation estimates were presently at 77,828 dead across the region, including in Tanzania, Somalia, Kenya and the Seychelles thousands of miles from the epicentre of the earthquake off Indonesia last Sunday.

David Nabarro, who heads the World Health Organisation's health crisis team, said up to five million people lacked the basic essentials to survive.

More:
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=646086§ion=news&src=rss/uk/topNews

[allemand]

80. Tsunami leaves up to 5 million needing urgent help -UN

Tsunami leaves up to 5 mln needing urgent help -UN

29 Dec 2004 14:12:25 GMT
Source: Reuters

(Adds more quotes, background)

GENEVA, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Up to five million people have been left without basic essentials by the Indian Ocean tsunami, lacking either water or food or basic sanitation, a senior U.N. official said on Wednesday.

"Perhaps as many as five million people are not able to access what they need for living. Either they cannot get water, or their sanitation is inadequate or they cannot get food," David Nabarro, who heads the World Health Organisation's health crisis team, told Reuters.

<...>

In the Indonesian province of Aceh, where a senior U.N. official in Indonesia has said the death toll could reach 80,000, perhaps as many as 2 million, almost half the population, were in a "mess", Nabarro said.

"These are the vulnerable people and there may be as many as five million in the whole region ... We will not know for sure for several days," he said.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L2919929.htm

[lebkuchen]

81. Rats can swim

Rats will continue to multiplz and thrive in this environment. The death toll will unfortunately climb even higher with the onset of disease the rats bring with them.

[nolabels]

84. Well throw BFEE overboard then, I like to watch good entertainment

:evilgrin:

On edit P.S.: It really is rather terrible, but our heartless rightwing beltway crowd could probably give a damn because most of the victims were not of the Judeo-Christian following. You can just plan on watching them ignore it as much as possible all the while.

[allemand]

85. According to CNN, the tsunami that hit Banda Aceh was 60 feet high !

This is an aerial view of the village of Meulaboh, Indonesia in Aceh province which was destroyed by Sunday's earthquake and tsunami taken on Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2004. Officials have recovered 3,400 bodies in the village so far, but they said they expect to find at least 10,000 died here from Sunday's 9.0 magnitude underwater earthquake and massive tidal waves. (AP Photo/Fadlan Arman Syam)

Video of the tsunami in Banda Aceh (BBC):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ifs_news/hi/nb_rm_fs.stm?nbram=1&news=1&nbwm=1&nol_storyid=4132781

[malaise]

89. Way more than 100,000

people died here. Will be closer to 250,000 when the final numbers are in. They haven't begun to reach some areas.