Satellite images of Kalutara, Sri Lanka before and after tsunami

QuickBird via Digital Globe ^

[Zacs Mom]

Click on the links below to see some incredible before and after images of the beach area of Kalutara, Sri Lanka. The images are high-resolution QuickBird satellite images featuring the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka. The before imagery was collected in January 2004 and the after imagery approx 4 hours after earthquake and shortly after the moment of tsunami impact.

[Zacs Mom]

Kalutara Beach before flood ~ January 2004

Kalutara Beach during flood ~ December 26 2004

Kalutara Beach after flood ~ December 26 2004

before - long view

after - long view

[Born Conservative]

bump for later

[pennyfarmer]

Wicked currents. Not much say. I guess "Pray it don't say it" applies here.

[A Cyrenian]

nice pics, good job.

[Paradox]

It looks like someone took a giant squeegee to the coast line!

[samtheman]

amazing

[Zacs Mom]

it is incredible - isn't it!? look at these images with the 'detail information' added:

[The Mayor]

Wow.

Bump

[Zacs Mom]

I thought you might want to check out these images ~ they are really something to see

[OXENinFLA]

OMG! PING...

[Conspiracy Guy]

That is absolutely amazing.

[chemical_boy]

www.Globasecurity.org has satellite Images too

[NautiNurse]

Astounding photos.

I may be mistaken thinking the third photo titled "after flood" is actually the water receding just prior to the big waves crashing.

[chemical_boy]

that is one massive rip tide

[gridlock]

Bump for when I have broadband...

[Zacs Mom]

I thought the same thing when I saw that pic.........but the site lists all the other "before" as being before and it didn't label this one as such. I wonder if I got it wrong......I'll double check 'cause it really does look like what you'd expect that huge pre-tsunami build up we've heard about to look like

[Zacs Mom]

it is a "receeding after image - check out the hotel in this image:

longer view

close in

[ZinGirl]

wow...you're good with that stuff!

thanks for the pix....the flooding went further inland than I had envisioned.

[Mercat]

bump

[Centurion2000]

BUMP

[meema]

bump for later printout

[barker]

Bump for later. Just got off work and am dead tired.

[Mercat]

add an "l" globalsecurity.org

[SittinYonder]

mark

[tubebender]

Just Wow. I live in Eureka Ca and there have been Tsunamis here in the past. Our business sits at about 18 feet elevation with only the north spit and a mile of Humboldt bay between us and the surf line.

Norm...I'll bet the Nascar Pit crew would like to see this. Loads slow even on BB...

[winodog]

I agree and its over three football fields long.

[NautiNurse]

Thanks for the info--nice work!

[Zacs Mom]

I keep looking at that photo and I really do think you are right!! I mean, look how clean the beach area side of the water is...........that almost has to be the out flow before the tsunami

[bobsatwork]

Jesus.
Thanks for posting. Helps to get some inkling of the immensity of this disaster.

[NorseWood]

bump

[NautiNurse]

I've got it! There are two pics with the water going out--one before, and the angry one after, with rivulets in the sand. You have posted both.

Receding wather before tsunami

Receding water after

The two pics do not appear to be of the identical location, but very close.

[NautiNurse]

You can see in the "before" pic, a boat is motoring along the shore. The water in the second pic is much more disturbed.

[GVnana]

Wow. One native witness described how he saw the ocean recede and starting warning people to get away from the beach. Then the water turned black and surged forward. Nothing to be done.

[o_zarkman44]

Thank you for the photos. Such an incredible disaster there are no words to describe the horror and helplessness of the affected and how helpless we are to give immediate assistance.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks for the pics, Zacs Mom.

Ping to a few others .....

[Smartass]

Amazing photos.   Prays to all of them.

[Zacs Mom]

there are some additional exceptional images on this post:
QuickBird satellite images provide a new perspective

Dallas59's "Tourists and Native" image link posted on #15 is definitely not for the weak hearted, but it is probably one of the most graphic images I've seen that truly brings "it all' home and gives meaning to the numbers we keep hearing about

[sully777]

If I were looking for bodies, I'd search around the pools of current out in the ocean

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks.

[longjack]

Satellite Photos from: presented and hosted by:

---

Kalutra, Sri Lanka....River mouth before

---

Kalutra, Sri Lanka....River mouth with erosion after

---

Kalutra, Sri Lanka....Hotel and Vacation facilities before

---

Kalutra, Sri Lanka....The wave washes over almost the entire coastal area. The flood tidal suction is clearly recognizable

---

Near Kalutra, Sri Lanka....Before Tsunami strike....Calm sea....Beach is the narrow, light strip

---

Near Kalutra, Sri Lanka....Tsunami approaches....Sea recedes by as much as 300 meters

---

Near Kalutra, Sri Lanka....Hotel grounds before Tsunami strike, the swimming pool visible

---

Near Kalutra, Sri Lanka....Hotel devastated after first Tsunami strike....Sea recedes

---

Informative images from Germany's

longjack

[ntnychik]

I'm in awe. What unbelievable pictures. The receding of the ocean before the tsunami overtakes the town is just chilling. If only people had known what that meant and could have run to safety.

[ChefKeith]

marking for RR later

[ChefKeith]

Check this out

[RadioAstronomer]

I have visited the QuickBird satellite operations center. Quite a place.

[MeekOneGOP]

I'm in awe. What unbelievable pictures. The receding of the ocean before the tsunami overtakes the town is just chilling. If only people had known what that meant and could have run to safety.

It really is a shame. In the pics/comments just above your post, they say the ocean receded up to 300 METERS before the big wave. Yeah, that would be a red flag alright.

And some of the home/private videos I've seen are just incredible to see.

Now they are estimating over 100,000 casualties expected from this. Probably well over that, I bet.

:^(

[tutstar]

page can't be found

[potlatch]

Thanks for the pings. It's hard to even comprehend what all happened over there! My son was in Thailand a year ago and loved it.

[TheOtherOne]

GREAT POST

I think you have the last image, and 3rd from last reversed. If you look at the small strip of the original beach. The picture you describe as "after the tsunami srtike" shows dry sand and calm waters. The other photo (of before the wave) shows wet sand, and dirty water...a sign that it is between waves.

What do you think

Near Kalutra, Sri Lanka....Tsunami approaches....Sea recedes by as much as 300 meters

---

Near Kalutra, Sri Lanka....Hotel grounds before Tsunami strike, the swimming pool visible

---

Near Kalutra, Sri Lanka....Hotel devastated after first Tsunami strike....Sea recedes

[longjack]

I checked the sequences and captions again at the slide show. I translated the original German captions into English for you to look at.

I think the dirty water in Photo 6 is from beach sand being drawn up into the crest from the undertow in front of the wave.

The landmarks indicate to me that photos are in the correct order.

I agree with you, though, that the water in photo 8, which the caption says has receded after the first stike, should be dirtier.

Each picture below is linked to the "Spiegel" site. When I checked my ping list for the original post it looked like the links were screwed up.

Thanks for the compliment, and Happy New year!

Photo 6 of 8.... When the catastrophe broke over the region, the sea at first receded up to 300 meters. Then the tsunami came.

Photo 7 of 8.... On this section of beach near Kalutra you can even see a hotel swimming pool: the vacation facilities are right on the water, behind it a street runs parallel to the sea.

Photo 8 of 8.... After the first Tsunami the Hotel facilities are destroyed, the sea has drawn far back.

Translated by longjack.

[Die_Hard Conservative Lady]

bttt