Southeast Asia death toll reaches 23,000, fears grow for 540 Israelis missing in SE Asia

Jerusalem Post ^ | Dec. 27, 2004

[expatguy]

I have posted a link to some high resolution photos and more on my blog.

An American Expat in Southeast Asia

[IonImplantGuru]

Is this fact or fiction? Does anyone have any facts or articles that compare today's natural disasters with those of 20, 50, 100, 200 years ago?

I googled 'greatest disasters' and checked out a few links.

Spanish flu, 1918 - 1919... 20 - 40 million dead.

Yangtze River flood, 1931... 3 - 5 million dead.

So yeah, this tsunami event is horrifying as events unfold; but in the historical scheme of things, not even close.

[bushisdamanin04]

Thanks.

[Quix]

THANKS.

MUCH.

[Quix]

Probably not.

But plenty loose with the haughty accusations.

[Quix]

HOW ABOUT

INSTEAD OF TO you individuals

to WORLD VISION as aid for victims or to FR.

[Quix]

THIS STRIKES TO THE HEART of reality.

My undestanding of God is that, as His Scripture says, ?MERCY? TRIUMPHS OVER JUDGMENT.

--THAT those who [truly] SEEK HIM SHALL FIND HIM.
--THAT those who "CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED."

God has made much provision for finding safety in Him. He does insist that No man comes to the Father but through Jesus, His Only Begotten Son by whom was all created that was made.

And, I don't believe anyone should risk neglecting to walk as close to God hand in hand with Jesus as possible.

It may, in some cases where God feels the heart attitude warrants it--it may be the case that God will offer those who were truly seeking Him but had not yet found Him--the chance of a Salvation-through-Christ experience at their moment of death--if the so choose. This is not per se anything I'd want to bank on in the slightest. And, there's only hints to point in that direction. Nothing to build a doctrine on.

I just know that God desires Biblical 'excuses' to save people, not Biblical excuses to damn them.

And, I know HE HAS FAR MORE COMPASSION FOR THE POOR AND HURTING THAN ALL THE COMPASSION OF ALL MANKIND PUT TOGETHER.

He alone feels and knows every lost hair; every pain; every loss; every death.

And somehow, He balances it all out and is more than fair for each individual. Of that, I have no doubt.

[steve86]

I don't know. Saw the 12/23 sign up date. Haven't looked at other posts.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Why lecture me with facts I already know?

[AmericanInTokyo]

Actually, Quix, the attempt earlier today was to be a Good Freeper, to spot, smoke out (and run off) a suspected TROLL, a distruptor on this important thread.

I have indeed run him off it seems.

Kindly examine his sign up date (12/23/04) and his few hit/run posts to-date, particularly the totally irrelevant, unfair and inappropriate slam at Jerry Falwell on such a thread as this.

Glad to have been of service. I believe this thread, still on topic, is once again "Troll-Free".

[Quix]

Sorry. Would never want to hinder such worthy work.

Always like to see your posts. Thanks.

Blessings where you are.

[Dang Librul]

The point of my post was to point out the absurdity of assigning blame to anybody in a tragedy like this. I never imagined it would set such a huge brush fire. Excuse me.

[injin]

You can help out , please do :

http://www.redcross.org/ (Red Cross United States)

http://www.icrc.org/eng (International Red Cross)

http://www.redcross.or.th/english/home/index.php4
(Thai Red Cross)

http://www.careusa.org/ (Care USA)

http://www.catholicrelief.org/
(CRS – very good one for India)

http://www.directrelief.org/sections/our_work/asia_earthquake.html
(Direct Relief International )

http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/disaster_assistance/help/index.html
(USAID – United States State Dept )

[MikefromOhio]

no not really...

find the dead, mourn them, get back on your feet....

[ddtorque]

""None of the countries most severely affected - including India, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka - had a tsunami warning mechanism or tidal gauges to alert people to the wall of water that followed a massive earthquake, said Waverly Person of the USGS National Earthquake Information Centre.

"'Most of those people could have been saved if they had had a tsunami warning system in place or tide gauges,' he said yesterday. "
More at TechCentralStation

[Dang Librul]

Warning systems only evolve through the actual experience of disasters. According to a piece I translated for an NHK publication about disaster reporting in Japan, the Japanese tsunami reporting system has evolved through two major diasters:

In 1983, the Sea of Japan Chubu earthquake claimed 104 lives, of which 100 were the result of the tsunami that followed the offshore quake. At the time, it took 19 minutes to issue a tsunami warning, by which time it was too late.

Again, in 1993, the Hokkaido Nanseki-oki earthquake caused a 20 meter (65 ft.) tsunami that took a toll of 230 lives. By this time, NHK and the Meteorological Agency had cut the time between the quake and the warning to 7 minutes, but the tsunami struck the island of Okushiri, which was closest to the epicenter, 5 minutes after the quake.

At present, they have reduced the time to 3 minutes.

Tsunamis travel 500 km/h (310 mph) in the open ocean, and in shallower costal areas at 165 km/h (100 mph), meaning this is the speed they are traveling when they hit.

(Information taken from Disaster Reporting and the Public Nature of Broadcasting published by NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute; 2004.)

Obviously, with time frames like this, preventive measures are difficult. It requires not only an excellent reporting system, but an effective mechanism for immediate evacuation and an educated public. Considering the time differentials involved, this is next to impossible in most areas.

[Future Useless Eater]

Some of the posts here, and the enormity of the death and destruction from this got me thinking... I wondered if Al Qaeda or the crazy N.K. dictator were to set off an atomic bomb underwater, could they generate the kind of energy that triggered a tsunami like this?

The answer was no, not even close...

Hiroshima Atomic bomb	20,000 tons of TNT
Hydrogen bomb tested 1952	10,000,000 tons of TNT
Mt. St. Helens blast 1980	10,000,000 tons of TNT
9.0 Richter Earthquake	1,000,000,000 tons of TNT

earth.ast.smith.edu/courses/ast220/PPT/group06.ppt

[AmericanInTokyo]

At any rate....we will be enjoying your posts in the future. Just remember, they are all archived, and any Freeper can recall them at any time for a review. Enjoy! Thanks!

[Dang Librul]

Thanks. Consider me warned and chastized. A word to the wise, as they say. Meanwhile, I'll consider your message my welcome on board.

Gleaned from Japanese news sources today regarding the tsunami:

Seismic waves from the quake traveled circled the earth three times. They were strong enough to jolt the earth's rotation.

The Japanese government has pledged $30 million in aid for areas afffected by the disaster. Japan along with Australia will help put in place tsunami warning systems in the area.

[onedoug]

Deuteronomy 4:19..."And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven."

Malachi 1:11..."For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts."