UPDATE: 8.5 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Indonesia (largest earthquake in 40 years)

10.000+ killed are the last numbers that I've heard. What a nightmare!

 

Yeah, um, sorry 'bout that. Er...my bad.

 

don't scare me.

 

So am I the only one who has no problem with nature solving the over-population problem? There's a reason natural disasters always seem to happen in eastern Asia, you fucking humanitarians.

 

i don't agree w/ the location remark, but i, sadly, like to see these kinds of tragedys i know i would feel different if it happened here but it would be jsut as needed

 

it was over a long time ago.

 

This is serious

 

very serious... scientists said earlier that this affected the earth's rotation. that had to be a powerful earthquake to do that.

 

sorry for the double post...



By wire and Web, Britons send word of disaster
Agence France-Presse Monday, December 27, 2004
LONDON In messages to radio and television stations and news agencies back home, tourists from Britain described the tsunami destruction in Asia on Sunday.
.
.
Sri Lanka: BBC reporter Roland Buerk, from the southern resort of Unawatuna, wrote on the BBC Online Web site:
.
"We scrambled out of the room. Quickly the water was up to chest height. We made our way out of the hotel, through the incredible rushing water.
.
"First of all we climbed up into a tree for a couple of minutes, but then that began to fall down because of the water.
.
"We were swept along for a few hundred meters, trying to dodge the motorcycles and the refrigerators and the cars that were coming with us.
.
"Finally, about 300 meters inshore, we managed to get hold of a pillar, which we held on to, and then the waters just gradually began to subside," Buerk said.
.
"This has caused incredible devastation here. There are cars in trees, buildings destroyed," he added.
.
"Most people have gone up on to higher ground, fearful of another tidal wave - rumors are that another one might be coming and people are trying to get up on to the hills."
.
.
Maldives: Nicola Barton, 33, from London, told Britain's domestic Press Association news agency from the Paradise Island Resort:
.
"It is just horrific. There are wooden sunbeds floating round the island, chairs from the restaurants and glass smashed everywhere, bulbs from the lighting - it is like a war zone.
.
"Basically, because we all have beach bungalows, the water came in through the front door. It was halfway up the patio windows. It would have been around waist height as it washed over.
.
"We have all got life jackets in case it happens again."
.
.
Thailand: From Phuket, Mary Picking, a tourist, told BBC radio: "We saw this enormous tidal wave approaching the beach and people started to run. Suddenly it was complete chaos, people running and screaming as the waves hit."
.
Gerrard Donnelly, staying at the Holiday Inn in Phuket, told Sky News television: "Initially, we just heard a bang, a really loud bang, and I thought it was the hotel itself.
.
"Then Emily, my wife, went out on to the balcony and people were just running. We initially thought it was a terrorist attack, then the wave came and we just kept running upstairs to get on as high ground as we could."
.
Alex Dee told Sky News how he and others had scrambled up a mountain for safety.
.
"An absolutely massive wave came," he said. "People were running up into the jungle, into the mountains, running for their lives. All they had was what they had on, and literally it was a matter of getting away from the water.
.
"We just ran and headed for the mountain, climbed the mountain.
.
"We're halfway up the mountain, the six of us, we're four Brits, two Belgians and there's a couple on their honeymoon. We've got some water, got some yogurt and we're just waiting. There's just total chaos below."
.
Alison Winward, 39, from Wigan, northwest England, an editor for the English-language newspaper Phuket Gazette, said the west side of Phuket seemed to have borne the brunt of the disaster.
.
"The tidal wave also flooded a flat area near Phuket city. That's where most of the poor people live," she said.
.
"People I've spoken to said quite a lot of people were on the beach this morning. Some Thai people go to the beach early, especially the girls who like to avoid the sun when it's at its hottest."
.
Mark McBride of Belfast said he and his girlfriend were out on a boat when "we saw it coming toward us, go past and hit the fishing village we had just left."
.
"We then spent six hours at sea waiting because we were not sure if another wave was coming and the captain said he couldn't take us to port because of the danger of the boat being washed ashore."
.
While waiting, the boat picked up four Swedish snorkelers who had been swept on to the beach and then back out to sea. "There was one girl badly injured. She was with a group of 15, of which we picked up four."
.
Perhaps 10,000 tourists from Britain were in the vast southern swath of Asia affected, the Association of British Travel Agents said.
.
Some 3,000 were in the Maldives, with another 2,000 or so in Sri Lanka and in Thailand, as well as "some independent travelers that we don't even know about" scattered around the region, an association spokesman, Keith Betton, said.
.
Charter flights that would have left London and Manchester on Sunday and Monday filled with tourists headed for Sri Lanka and the Maldives will be leaving empty, following the cancellation of package tours.
.
"They'll be like mercy flights," Betton said, adding that space on the empty outgoing planes has been offered to the British government to send personnel.
.



See more of the world that matters - click here for home delivery of the International Herald Tribune.
< < Back to Start of Article LONDON In messages to radio and television stations and news agencies back home, tourists from Britain described the tsunami destruction in Asia on Sunday.
.
.
Sri Lanka: BBC reporter Roland Buerk, from the southern resort of Unawatuna, wrote on the BBC Online Web site:
.
"We scrambled out of the room. Quickly the water was up to chest height. We made our way out of the hotel, through the incredible rushing water.
.
"First of all we climbed up into a tree for a couple of minutes, but then that began to fall down because of the water.
.
"We were swept along for a few hundred meters, trying to dodge the motorcycles and the refrigerators and the cars that were coming with us.
.
"Finally, about 300 meters inshore, we managed to get hold of a pillar, which we held on to, and then the waters just gradually began to subside," Buerk said.
.
"This has caused incredible devastation here. There are cars in trees, buildings destroyed," he added.
.
"Most people have gone up on to higher ground, fearful of another tidal wave - rumors are that another one might be coming and people are trying to get up on to the hills."
.
.
Maldives: Nicola Barton, 33, from London, told Britain's domestic Press Association news agency from the Paradise Island Resort:
.
"It is just horrific. There are wooden sunbeds floating round the island, chairs from the restaurants and glass smashed everywhere, bulbs from the lighting - it is like a war zone.
.
"Basically, because we all have beach bungalows, the water came in through the front door. It was halfway up the patio windows. It would have been around waist height as it washed over.
.
"We have all got life jackets in case it happens again."
.
.
Thailand: From Phuket, Mary Picking, a tourist, told BBC radio: "We saw this enormous tidal wave approaching the beach and people started to run. Suddenly it was complete chaos, people running and screaming as the waves hit."
.
Gerrard Donnelly, staying at the Holiday Inn in Phuket, told Sky News television: "Initially, we just heard a bang, a really loud bang, and I thought it was the hotel itself.
.
"Then Emily, my wife, went out on to the balcony and people were just running. We initially thought it was a terrorist attack, then the wave came and we just kept running upstairs to get on as high ground as we could."
.
Alex Dee told Sky News how he and others had scrambled up a mountain for safety.
.
"An absolutely massive wave came," he said. "People were running up into the jungle, into the mountains, running for their lives. All they had was what they had on, and literally it was a matter of getting away from the water.
.
"We just ran and headed for the mountain, climbed the mountain.
.
"We're halfway up the mountain, the six of us, we're four Brits, two Belgians and there's a couple on their honeymoon. We've got some water, got some yogurt and we're just waiting. There's just total chaos below."
.
Alison Winward, 39, from Wigan, northwest England, an editor for the English-language newspaper Phuket Gazette, said the west side of Phuket seemed to have borne the brunt of the disaster.
.
"The tidal wave also flooded a flat area near Phuket city. That's where most of the poor people live," she said.
.
"People I've spoken to said quite a lot of people were on the beach this morning. Some Thai people go to the beach early, especially the girls who like to avoid the sun when it's at its hottest."
.
Mark McBride of Belfast said he and his girlfriend were out on a boat when "we saw it coming toward us, go past and hit the fishing village we had just left."
.
"We then spent six hours at sea waiting because we were not sure if another wave was coming and the captain said he couldn't take us to port because of the danger of the boat being washed ashore."
.
While waiting, the boat picked up four Swedish snorkelers who had been swept on to the beach and then back out to sea. "There was one girl badly injured. She was with a group of 15, of which we picked up four."
.
Perhaps 10,000 tourists from Britain were in the vast southern swath of Asia affected, the Association of British Travel Agents said.
.
Some 3,000 were in the Maldives, with another 2,000 or so in Sri Lanka and in Thailand, as well as "some independent travelers that we don't even know about" scattered around the region, an association spokesman, Keith Betton, said.
.
Charter flights that would have left London and Manchester on Sunday and Monday filled with tourists headed for Sri Lanka and the Maldives will be leaving empty, following the cancellation of package tours.
.
"They'll be like mercy flights," Betton said, adding that space on the empty outgoing planes has been offered to the British government to send personnel.
.LONDON In messages to radio and television stations and news agencies back home, tourists from Britain described the tsunami destruction in Asia on Sunday.
.
.
Sri Lanka: BBC reporter Roland Buerk, from the southern resort of Unawatuna, wrote on the BBC Online Web site:
.
"We scrambled out of the room. Quickly the water was up to chest height. We made our way out of the hotel, through the incredible rushing water.
.
"First of all we climbed up into a tree for a couple of minutes, but then that began to fall down because of the water.
.
"We were swept along for a few hundred meters, trying to dodge the motorcycles and the refrigerators and the cars that were coming with us.
.
"Finally, about 300 meters inshore, we managed to get hold of a pillar, which we held on to, and then the waters just gradually began to subside," Buerk said.
.
"This has caused incredible devastation here. There are cars in trees, buildings destroyed," he added.
.
"Most people have gone up on to higher ground, fearful of another tidal wave - rumors are that another one might be coming and people are trying to get up on to the hills."
.
.
Maldives: Nicola Barton, 33, from London, told Britain's domestic Press Association news agency from the Paradise Island Resort:
.
"It is just horrific. There are wooden sunbeds floating round the island, chairs from the restaurants and glass smashed everywhere, bulbs from the lighting - it is like a war zone.
.
"Basically, because we all have beach bungalows, the water came in through the front door. It was halfway up the patio windows. It would have been around waist height as it washed over.
.
"We have all got life jackets in case it happens again."
.
.
Thailand: From Phuket, Mary Picking, a tourist, told BBC radio: "We saw this enormous tidal wave approaching the beach and people started to run. Suddenly it was complete chaos, people running and screaming as the waves hit."
.
Gerrard Donnelly, staying at the Holiday Inn in Phuket, told Sky News television: "Initially, we just heard a bang, a really loud bang, and I thought it was the hotel itself.
.
"Then Emily, my wife, went out on to the balcony and people were just running. We initially thought it was a terrorist attack, then the wave came and we just kept running upstairs to get on as high ground as we could."
.
Alex Dee told Sky News how he and others had scrambled up a mountain for safety.
.
"An absolutely massive wave came," he said. "People were running up into the jungle, into the mountains, running for their lives. All they had was what they had on, and literally it was a matter of getting away from the water.
.
"We just ran and headed for the mountain, climbed the mountain.
.
"We're halfway up the mountain, the six of us, we're four Brits, two Belgians and there's a couple on their honeymoon. We've got some water, got some yogurt and we're just waiting. There's just total chaos below."
.
Alison Winward, 39, from Wigan, northwest England, an editor for the English-language newspaper Phuket Gazette, said the west side of Phuket seemed to have borne the brunt of the disaster.
.
"The tidal wave also flooded a flat area near Phuket city. That's where most of the poor people live," she said.
.
"People I've spoken to said quite a lot of people were on the beach this morning. Some Thai people go to the beach early, especially the girls who like to avoid the sun when it's at its hottest."
.
Mark McBride of Belfast said he and his girlfriend were out on a boat when "we saw it coming toward us, go past and hit the fishing village we had just left."
.
"We then spent six hours at sea waiting because we were not sure if another wave was coming and the captain said he couldn't take us to port because of the danger of the boat being washed ashore."
.
While waiting, the boat picked up four Swedish snorkelers who had been swept on to the beach and then back out to sea. "There was one girl badly injured. She was with a group of 15, of which we picked up four."
.
Perhaps 10,000 tourists from Britain were in the vast southern swath of Asia affected, the Association of British Travel Agents said.
.
Some 3,000 were in the Maldives, with another 2,000 or so in Sri Lanka and in Thailand, as well as "some independent travelers that we don't even know about" scattered around the region, an association spokesman, Keith Betton, said.
.
Charter flights that would have left London and Manchester on Sunday and Monday filled with tourists headed for Sri Lanka and the Maldives will be leaving empty, following the cancellation of package tours.
.
"They'll be like mercy flights," Betton said, adding that space on the empty outgoing planes has been offered to the British government to send personnel.
.LONDON In messages to radio and television stations and news agencies back home, tourists from Britain described the tsunami destruction in Asia on Sunday.
.
.
Sri Lanka: BBC reporter Roland Buerk, from the southern resort of Unawatuna, wrote on the BBC Online Web site:
.
"We scrambled out of the room. Quickly the water was up to chest height. We made our way out of the hotel, through the incredible rushing water.
.
"First of all we climbed up into a tree for a couple of minutes, but then that began to fall down because of the water.
.
"We were swept along for a few hundred meters, trying to dodge the motorcycles and the refrigerators and the cars that were coming with us.
.
"Finally, about 300 meters inshore, we managed to get hold of a pillar, which we held on to, and then the waters just gradually began to subside," Buerk said.
.
"This has caused incredible devastation here. There are cars in trees, buildings destroyed," he added.
.
"Most people have gone up on to higher ground, fearful of another tidal wave - rumors are that another one might be coming and people are trying to get up on to the hills."
.
.
Maldives: Nicola Barton, 33, from London, told Britain's domestic Press Association news agency from the Paradise Island Resort:
.
"It is just horrific. There are wooden sunbeds floating round the island, chairs from the restaurants and glass smashed everywhere, bulbs from the lighting - it is like a war zone.
.
"Basically, because we all have beach bungalows, the water came in through the front door. It was halfway up the patio windows. It would have been around waist height as it washed over.
.
"We have all got life jackets in case it happens again."
.
.
Thailand: From Phuket, Mary Picking, a tourist, told BBC radio: "We saw this enormous tidal wave approaching the beach and people started to run. Suddenly it was complete chaos, people running and screaming as the waves hit."
.
Gerrard Donnelly, staying at the Holiday Inn in Phuket, told Sky News television: "Initially, we just heard a bang, a really loud bang, and I thought it was the hotel itself.
.
"Then Emily, my wife, went out on to the balcony and people were just running. We initially thought it was a terrorist attack, then the wave came and we just kept running upstairs to get on as high ground as we could."
.
Alex Dee told Sky News how he and others had scrambled up a mountain for safety.
.
"An absolutely massive wave came," he said. "People were running up into the jungle, into the mountains, running for their lives. All they had was what they had on, and literally it was a matter of getting away from the water.
.
"We just ran and headed for the mountain, climbed the mountain.
.
"We're halfway up the mountain, the six of us, we're four Brits, two Belgians and there's a couple on their honeymoon. We've got some water, got some yogurt and we're just waiting. There's just total chaos below."
.
Alison Winward, 39, from Wigan, northwest England, an editor for the English-language newspaper Phuket Gazette, said the west side of Phuket seemed to have borne the brunt of the disaster.
.
"The tidal wave also flooded a flat area near Phuket city. That's where most of the poor people live," she said.
.
"People I've spoken to said quite a lot of people were on the beach this morning. Some Thai people go to the beach early, especially the girls who like to avoid the sun when it's at its hottest."
.
Mark McBride of Belfast said he and his girlfriend were out on a boat when "we saw it coming toward us, go past and hit the fishing village we had just left."
.
"We then spent six hours at sea waiting because we were not sure if another wave was coming and the captain said he couldn't take us to port because of the danger of the boat being washed ashore."
.
While waiting, the boat picked up four Swedish snorkelers who had been swept on to the beach and then back out to sea. "There was one girl badly injured. She was with a group of 15, of which we picked up four."
.
Perhaps 10,000 tourists from Britain were in the vast southern swath of Asia affected, the Association of British Travel Agents said.
.
Some 3,000 were in the Maldives, with another 2,000 or so in Sri Lanka and in Thailand, as well as "some independent travelers that we don't even know about" scattered around the region, an association spokesman, Keith Betton, said.
.
Charter flights that would have left London and Manchester on Sunday and Monday filled with tourists headed for Sri Lanka and the Maldives will be leaving empty, following the cancellation of package tours.
.
"They'll be like mercy flights," Betton said, adding that space on the empty outgoing planes has been offered to the British government to send personnel.
.

 

Well, no, they don't always happen in Asia--in fact we had several down in Florida a few months back. The thing is, we in the west have managed to devise strategies to lessen the human death-toll when they do occur. I believe that it was, however, sometime in the early 1900s when a severe hurricane killed c. 8000 people in Texas. Or what about the San Francisco earthquake? I'm not sure how many people died in that one, but if a similar one hits California now the death-toll will likely be quite high.

 

Incidently, the USGS is now calling it a magnitude 9.0 quake.

 

I don't care for the mid-west at all, but I don't go as far as to root for the next big tornado to go ripping through Indiana.


Is the world over-populated? sure it is. The bigger problem with the world is the glutonous behavior of nations like the US though. Having said that, I don't hope for economic failure to solve these problems either.

 

population control or no, i still have compassion for the hundreds of thousands of people who are affected by this disaster.

who knows, the next time it might be you.