Panic before the storm (a terribly sad series of three pictures taken as the tsunami approaches)

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | 12/30/04

[dead]

Tourists run for their lives as the first of six tsunamis starts to roll towards Hat Rai
Lay Beach, near Krabi in southern Thailand. One woman runs towards the waves.
Photo: AFP

The woman continues to run as the wave advances.
Photo: AFP

With the waves engulfing boats, the woman makes contact with her group. It is not known if they survived.
Photo: AFP

[VOA]

What's most interesting to me is how far out the water line receded to.

I heard a radio report that cited the story of a Swedish family group printed in
The Washington Post.
I think they were on one of the beaches in Thailand.
The father of the family said that the water seemed to recede about 2000 yards in
"what seemed like 15 seconds", leaving an exposed seabed with flopping fish.

Then the wave rushed in; the family lost a niece in their race to survive, IIRC.

I heard a tsunami expert say that in extreme cases, the receding of the water
(prior to the hit of the wave) can be so far out that a person standing on the beach
will lose sight of water (i.e., recede to the horizon).

[Travis McGee]

Boats and ships in mid ocean don't even notice the tsunami passing. The wave energy is moving at 500 mph, but not the surface water itself. Only when the wave reaches shallower water does it rise up as a dangerous tsunami.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

You were talking about people on the boats surviving. Here is so cal there were so stories on AM radio about scuba divers out in the water as it approached. Said the fish all started schooling together and was really freaky. When the water wall passed by them they surfaced and were a long way away from their boats. The boats found them and they all sat around hugging each other and crying. Creepy, but Praise God, they made it.

[Travis McGee]

I wonder if any of those yachts or yachties made it. I did see some post-wave pics with sailboats riding calmly at anchor. I guess it depends on how deep and far out you were anchored.

[budwiesest]

It appears the time it took this woman to cover about 30-40 yards, the water covered about a quarter mile.

[thefactor]

her body language seems to hint that she is very tired from running and also that she can see what is coming. and also utter disbelief at what she is seeing.

[antivenom]

Yes it is very humbling when an act of of G-d just swoops down with no warning. Imagine all the diasters centuries ago that affected people...imagine the early settlers in America, floods, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes...all acts of G-d with no warning...people today just EXPECT to be immune to natural disasters because science has helped us so much.

Humbling to see mother nature at work...

[monday]

"That's interesting! 3-4 foot waves are common on the ocean, so I would never have suspected that the tsunami that caused this much devastation would have a wave height that small."

The difference is the amount of water behind them. Most waves are only a few feet thick. Tsunamis can be miles thick. Imagine the whole ocean suddenly rising ten feet and burying the land.

[Howlin]

Isn't the "white line" merely the spray where the actual wave is swelling and tipping?

I got the impression that these are not like "waves" as we in this country think of them.

[Howlin]

actually they said the waves were moving at 500 MPH....

Not that close to shore; maybe 30 mph. When is slows down is when the SWELL really bulges.

[monday]

"She was running towards what looks like her husband and four kids. I would imagine the five of them are all gone. It’s just so sad."

Both the woman and her family did exactly the wrong thing. She should have run away to higher ground and her family would have been better off swimming out deeper and diving just before the wave hit letting it pass over their heads.

I expect you are right. They are dead.

[idkfa]

I read somewhere that it was some time between waves. The smaller first wave beached a bunch of fish and people came to the beach to collect them, only to be engulfed by the larger second wave.

[Howlin]

I think when we look at that water coming in, we think "wave" and it's not so bad.

I think you are right; it's not what we are use to as a "wave."

In those videos, I kept waiting for the water to "go back out" but it never did; it just kept coming; it was like being inside the Titanic.

[atruelady]

Thank you for the pictures.

It is sad what happened. You can see how the waters receded a lot.

Scary.

[monday]

"Things simply happen too fast, the distances to safety too great."

and yet many people did out run it and reach safty.

[Howlin]

http://www.digitalglobe.com/sample_imagery.shtml

[Howlin]

I wondered the same thing; it does look like she went out farther than you would think people would swim.

[libravoter]

her family would have been better off swimming out deeper and diving just before the wave hit letting it pass over their heads.

Many people who survived the brunt of the wave died anyway when the wave sucked them so far out. The receding wave pulled anyone in the water hundreds of meters out to sea ... sort of like a rip tide except there's no way to escape it.

[budwiesest]

It looked like the ocean just spilled over the edge and kept spilling. Less wave-like, more wall-like.

[Sunshine Sister]

Scary indeed! This is all so sad.