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The Frantic Tsunami Warning That No One Ever Heard
An American Expat in Southeast Asia ^ | 27 December 04 | expatguy

Posted on 12/27/2004 12:02:14 PM PST by expatguy

Today in the aftermath of yesterday's catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, it would appear from the following Reuter's news article published yesterday that someone did in fact have ample time to warn people about the tsunami despite the fact that no official warning system is in place.

"In Los Angeles, the head of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said U.S. officials who detected the undersea quake tried frantically to get a warning out about the tsunami."


This presents us all with the obvious disturbing question:

Who were the US officials who tried frantically to get a warning out about the tsunami and how exactly did they do it?

It seems to me that a simple posting on the internet, perhaps a bulletin might have been a step in the right direction, however, the only warning I have been been able to find was the following which stated only that "there is a possibility of a tsunami near the epicenter". Hardly frantic if you ask me.

I have written to both Dr. Laura S.L. Kong and Mr. Charles McCreery asking the question and have yet to hear back.

UPDATE: Since posting this, the original "Tsunami Information Bulletin" has editted and/or changed and no longer has the warning that "there is a possibility of a tsunami near the epicenter". The original warning was on Tsunamil Information Bulletin 01.





TOPICS: Government; History; Miscellaneous; Reference; Science; Society; Weather
KEYWORDS: sumatraquake; tsunami
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1 posted on 12/27/2004 12:02:14 PM PST by expatguy
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To: expatguy

Glad to see you are ok. You were the first person I thought of when I heard about tsunami.


2 posted on 12/27/2004 12:03:17 PM PST by bonfire
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To: expatguy

They've been talking about this on Fox News today.


3 posted on 12/27/2004 12:03:46 PM PST by bonfire
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To: expatguy

Does this mean it was Bush's fault or Rummy's?


4 posted on 12/27/2004 12:10:19 PM PST by syriacus (Who wanted Margaret Hassan murdered? What did she know about the oil-for-food scandal?)
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To: bonfire

I posted this over 6 hours ago on my site. Did I beat FOX?


5 posted on 12/27/2004 12:11:58 PM PST by expatguy (http://laotze.blogspot.com/)
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To: syriacus

Haliburton's fault as they have the most to gain in the clean-up.


6 posted on 12/27/2004 12:13:34 PM PST by Drango (Those who advocate robbing (taxing) Peter to pay Paul...will always have the support of Paul.)
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To: expatguy

Just clipped from Google's cache:



This is G o o g l e's cache of http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/wmsg as retrieved on Dec 26, 2004 03:02:24 GMT.
G o o g l e's cache is the snapshot that we took of the page as we crawled the web.
The page may have changed since that time. Click here for the current page without highlighting.
This cached page may reference images which are no longer available. Click here for the cached text only.
To link to or bookmark this page, use the following url: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:CuEuGwYvKJEJ:www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/wmsg+&hl=en

Google is not affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its content.

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 002
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 0204Z 26 DEC 2004

THIS BULLETIN IS FOR ALL AREAS OF THE PACIFIC BASIN EXCEPT
ALASKA - BRITISH COLUMBIA - WASHINGTON - OREGON - CALIFORNIA.

.................. TSUNAMI INFORMATION BULLETIN ..................

ATTENTION: NOTE REVISED MAGNITUDE.

THIS MESSAGE IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THERE IS NO TSUNAMI WARNING
OR WATCH IN EFFECT.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 0059Z 26 DEC 2004
COORDINATES - 3.4 NORTH 95.7 EAST
LOCATION - OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATERA
MAGNITUDE - 8.5

EVALUATION
REVISED MAGNITUDE BASED ON ANALYSIS OF MANTLE WAVES.
THIS EARTHQUAKE IS LOCATED OUTSIDE THE PACIFIC. NO DESTRUCTIVE
TSUNAMI THREAT EXISTS FOR THE PACIFIC BASIN BASED ON HISTORICAL
EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI DATA.

THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF A TSUNAMI NEAR THE EPICENTER.

THIS WILL BE THE ONLY BULLETIN ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.

THE WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER WILL ISSUE BULLETINS
FOR ALASKA - BRITISH COLUMBIA - WASHINGTON - OREGON - CALIFORNIA.


7 posted on 12/27/2004 12:15:07 PM PST by solitas
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To: expatguy
I think that the notion that a tsunami warning could be adequately conveyed to everyone on every beach that could possibly be affected is a pipe dream.

There are major earthquakes all the time that do no generate such waves, so even if someone in Los Angeles thinks that a tsunami might be created, the chances of anyone in Somalia hearing about it or caring if they did is negligible.

8 posted on 12/27/2004 12:15:10 PM PST by Dog Gone
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To: expatguy

I heard them mention it this morning.


9 posted on 12/27/2004 12:16:37 PM PST by bonfire
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To: solitas

I posted that same bulletin on a thread here on the 25th.


10 posted on 12/27/2004 12:18:10 PM PST by Godebert
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To: Godebert

Oh, cool. I was just responding to expat's observation that the text of the page had been changed after-the-fact. Thank God for Google's cache!


11 posted on 12/27/2004 12:25:08 PM PST by solitas
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To: Drango
Haliburton's fault as they have the most to gain in the clean-up.

I forgot about them...that makes it Cheney's fault, I guess.

12 posted on 12/27/2004 12:25:08 PM PST by syriacus (Who wanted Margaret Hassan murdered? What did she know about the oil-for-food scandal?)
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To: Dog Gone
I think that the notion that a tsunami warning could be adequately conveyed to everyone on every beach that could possibly be affected is a pipe dream.

The people had over an hour and a half. Things like this travel over the internet in the blink of an eye.

I understand very well what you are saying, but I might ask you why tornado warnings are posted on the internet in the United States? Surely that is not an adequete way to convery a warning.

13 posted on 12/27/2004 12:29:40 PM PST by expatguy (http://laotze.blogspot.com/)
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To: solitas

Thanks for digging that up.


14 posted on 12/27/2004 12:30:58 PM PST by expatguy (http://laotze.blogspot.com/)
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To: solitas
Someone caught the wave hitting Phukett on video. Here is a still image from the video:


15 posted on 12/27/2004 12:31:55 PM PST by Godebert
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To: Dog Gone
I think that the notion that a tsunami warning could be adequately conveyed to everyone on every beach that could possibly be affected is a pipe dream.

Before 2000, no one understood tsunamis. But with the election of Bush, it all became very clear. Much like Reagan not caring about AIDS, Bush didn't care about brown skin natives on the beach and their death is on his head. He and he alone could have built a system to let the world know, but he didn't care.

16 posted on 12/27/2004 12:33:03 PM PST by Drango (Those who advocate robbing (taxing) Peter to pay Paul...will always have the support of Paul.)
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To: expatguy

Would that surprise you? It shouldn't.


17 posted on 12/27/2004 12:33:58 PM PST by BykrBayb (5 minutes of prayer for Terri, every day at 11 am EDT, until she's safe. http://www.terrisfight.org)
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To: solitas

It's sounds like they are only warning the Pacific, not the Indian Ocean. Sheesh, you'd think before India bought another Russian sub or ran another nuclear test, they'd have some rudimentary system in place, if nothing more than monitoring the USGC website for earthquakes in the "Indian" Ocean.

Why is it the responsibility of the U.S. to warn them anyway?


18 posted on 12/27/2004 12:37:02 PM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (Uday and Qusay are ead-day.)
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To: solitas

That's a frantic warning? Well, it is in all caps.


19 posted on 12/27/2004 12:40:12 PM PST by BykrBayb (5 minutes of prayer for Terri, every day at 11 am EDT, until she's safe. http://www.terrisfight.org)
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To: expatguy

http://ioc.unesco.org/itsu/contents.php?id=120

Recommendation ITSU-XIX.4: Working Group on the Tsunami Warning System in the Southwest Pacific and Indian Ocean
Writer: Tammy Kaitoku Updated: 15.10.04 Created: 21.09.04 Hits: 394
Recommendation ITSU-XIX.4: Working Group on the Tsunami Warning System in the Southwest Pacific and Indian Ocean [endoresed by the IOC Executive Council at its 37th Session in June 2004]
Recommendation ITSU-XIX.4
 
WORKING GROUP ON THE TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AND INDIAN OCEAN
 
The International Co-ordination Group for the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific,
 
Recognizing that the Southwest Pacific and Indian Ocean has a significant threat from both local and distant tsunamis;
 
Further recognizing that some areas of this region are not covered by the PTWC;
 
Noting the interest of Member States in the Indian Ocean and Southwest Pacific regions to enhance their tsunami warning services;
 
Acknowledges that Indonesia has decided to develop its National Tsunami Warning System with already existing and planned upgrades to seismic and sea-level networks and that the PTWC provides distant tsunami warnings for the Southwest Pacific;
 
Further acknowledging that there may be mutual benefits to these regions and to the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific from the establishment of this system;
 
Decides to establish an intersessional Working Group on the Southwest Pacific and Indian Ocean with the following Terms of Reference:
 
-                      to evaluate capabilities of countries in these regions for providing tsunami warning services;
-                      to ascertain requirements from countries in the Southwest Pacific and Indian Ocean for the tsunami warning services.
 
Requests Australia and ITIC to prepare a draft prior to the next SOPAC meeting for consideration by the Working Group.
 
Recommends that the Group be composed of representatives from Indonesia, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Japan, Observer from Papua New Guinea and the Directors of ITIC and PTWC and Chaired by the Representative of Indonesia.
 
Acknowledges that ITSU is the Co-ordination Body for the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific (TWSP) and encourages non-ITSU Member States to contact the IOC Secretariat to request membership of the ICG/ITSU.
____________________
Financial implications:
 
US$ 5,000 for 2004; US$ 5,000 for 2005.
 


20 posted on 12/27/2004 12:40:28 PM PST by syriacus (Who wanted Margaret Hassan murdered? What did she know about the oil-for-food scandal?)
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