Bibby_Is_Clutch
Starter
That tells you they are way overpopulated there.
The Tsunami
- Thread starter slugking50
- Start date
sloter
Starter
Don't be ignorant. Lots of the dead were tourists too. Also, the kids are the most volnurable physically and also know the least about what to do in those situations...
I'm not sure if people realize how big this was. The stress was millions time stronger than the impact of atomic bomb and a whole island was actually displaced by 30 meters. The victims come from 5 (five) countries. The scenes that they are showing on European news channels are terrifying.
I'm not sure if people realize how big this was. The stress was millions time stronger than the impact of atomic bomb and a whole island was actually displaced by 30 meters. The victims come from 5 (five) countries. The scenes that they are showing on European news channels are terrifying.
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sloter
Starter
Probably so. There's a fear of collera and other type of epidemia disease. The dead are piled up on top of each other and have to be desinfected. Some places cannot be reached by ground, only by helicopters and water. The help needs to be in hundreds of millions of dollars because I'm sure there's close to a half a million people who are either hurt or in immediate need of help... CRAZY!
quick dog
Starter
I'll bet that there have been 5,000 unreported European casualties.
Some of the local dive shops run package trips to that region. I suppose that if I were involved in a tsunami, I would rather be 40 feet underwater, five miles offshore. I'll bet it would be interesting.
There have got to be thousands of deaths that will never be recorded. Little islands in the Maldives where everyone and everything was swept out to sea.
I would think that we will begin hearing of disease casualties later this week. Thousands of people have no potable water. That would be the single biggest problem in my estimation. Immediate and life-threatening issue.
Some of the local dive shops run package trips to that region. I suppose that if I were involved in a tsunami, I would rather be 40 feet underwater, five miles offshore. I'll bet it would be interesting.
There have got to be thousands of deaths that will never be recorded. Little islands in the Maldives where everyone and everything was swept out to sea.
I would think that we will begin hearing of disease casualties later this week. Thousands of people have no potable water. That would be the single biggest problem in my estimation. Immediate and life-threatening issue.
Lightforms
G-League
People are people are people.
I feel thankful my family is safe and healthy.
My prayers are with those affected.
I feel thankful my family is safe and healthy.
My prayers are with those affected.
Bibby_Is_Clutch
Starter
Dont deny the fact. Im not saying thats why so many are dead but that sure might be.mcsluggo said:
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Here's an interesting thought: Just about the greatest disaster nature can unleash. Let's say the death toll reaches 125,000. Horrifically high number. And yet...
that's roughly only 1 out of every 50,000 people on Earth. Its like living in a city of 100,000 and having two people die last week in a car accident. From the persepctive of humanity as a race, its almost nothing.
Doesn't mean we treat it like nothing, but it is interesting that nature's best shot is really pretty much just a blip at this point.
that's roughly only 1 out of every 50,000 people on Earth. Its like living in a city of 100,000 and having two people die last week in a car accident. From the persepctive of humanity as a race, its almost nothing.
Doesn't mean we treat it like nothing, but it is interesting that nature's best shot is really pretty much just a blip at this point.
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
What, perchance, do you think the deathtoll would be if a tsunami hit NYC? (as it does all the time in the movies). Or London, or Sydney, or Copenhagen, or Miami/South Florida or Venice for that matter?Bibby_Is_Clutch said:
I don't know if this quite qualifies as "natures best shot". I think natures best shot would be a little more along the lines of this kind of thing:Bricklayer said:
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/
Could be a quite a ways out... but one day...
Lightforms
G-League
i think florida would be hit hard by a tsunami. The SF/bay area would more likely be hit by an earthquake. Can you imagine if a large earthquake hit, like the one due on the hayward fault, and broke the water and gas pipes?
Of course buildings are better structured in 1st world countries, but even different states have stronger structures than others. If an earthquake ever hit Oregon, many of their buildings aren't up to the same saftey code as those in California.
Of course buildings are better structured in 1st world countries, but even different states have stronger structures than others. If an earthquake ever hit Oregon, many of their buildings aren't up to the same saftey code as those in California.
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Oh, my point wasn't really about the probability of it happening, just that the death toll would be massive in first world countries too if they were hit where they were vulnerable.rhuber said:
As an aside, Frisco is an interesting place, because logic says it must ALREADY get hit by some number of tsunamis. I mean, if Japan gets hit with these things with some regularity, what is to stop them from traveling across the ocean to hit the West Coast? Nothing but open sea. And yet, if it happens something must be stealing all of the waves power on the trip, and it must just come in as a lage but relatively unremarkable surge. Not sure why. (also would think Frisco would be much much safer than 90% of South Asia just because of the steep elevation gain from the water's edge).
Where is that crazy mountain hermit I'll-contact-aliens-with-my-megaspotlight geologist of ours when we need him?
quick dog
Starter
That is precisely what I have been thinking. The Earth's orbit is roughly coincident with the asteroid belt that is providing these babies. They come in at a very low angle on the horizon and are difficult to see. Humankind WILL be obliterated some day. It is not a matter of if, but when. I think each day the odds are about 1 in 20,000 that we will be blown to smitherines by a large asteroid. Even a little one, say 100 meters in diameter, would make things interesting.rhuber said:I don't know if this quite qualifies as "natures best shot". I think natures best shot would be a little more along the lines of this kind of thing:
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/
Could be a quite a ways out... but one day...
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quick dog
Starter
San Francisco is protected by the San Francisco Peninsula. Most of the population lives along the shore of San Franciso Bay. The people at Jenner and Santa Cruz would be crushed. Another big issue is early warning. The Indians and Sumatrans were warned by scientists from Japan and America that a tsunami was coming. They failed to react. People in California would have plenty of warning from a distant quake near Japan or Alaska.Bricklayer said:
The main trace of the San Andreas Fault is a strike slip fault, and would not likely generate a big ocean wave. (I have seen the fault zone under water while scuba diving. It is even more interesting under water than on dry land.) Fault movements with a vertical component tend to make bigger and better waves. There was a big wave in Alaska that was triggered by an earthquake, then ultimately caused by an associated andslide into a confined inlet. An air burst caused by the massive landslide blew the roofs from houses located on a ridge top hundreds of feet above the bay. Now that was a wave.
Bibby_Is_Clutch
Starter
Im not arguing either way. Im simply saying it is known that it is a overpopulated area and if it werent there would be a lot less deaths. But I guess that gets into a bigger problem. I was only making a comment.Bricklayer said:
If it hit NYC or any of those citites it would be catastrophic but I dont see if reaching the toll this one has had.
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
The splash up in Alaska was something like 1500 ft tall.quick dog said:
A 1500 foot tall wall of water would probably be about the most awesome/terrifying thing you could ever witness I would think -- for the 2-3 seconds before it obliterated you from existence.In any case, my point about Frisco is this -- Japan gets hits by Tsunamis a LOT. To the best of my knowledge those waves don't make it across th Pacific to San Francisco. Why not? Just poop out from the long voyage? Not like there's any land to stop them.
P.S. 1 in 20000 a day is much too high for the asteroid risk -- that comes out to about 1 every 60 years. Which means we would get obliterated twice a century or so.
The risk is there, but the big species killers only clock us in intervals of millions of years. If we're going to count that as Mother Nature then I got dibs on the Sun expanding out and swallowing the Earth up whole in about 15 billion years or so (having of course incinerated us a few billion before that) and then going supernova just to top it off. Be a bad time to be stuck on our little rock... 
Bibby_Is_Clutch
Starter
Lightforms said:
1989
A more pressing concern than being hit by a Tsunami generated as far away as Japan, would be getting hit by one generated only 50 miles off our western coastline. I was recently reading that just 50 miles off the west coast lies the Cascadia subduction zone, a 700-mile fault. Apparently, this was the source of a 9.0 quake in 1700 that created one hell of a Tsunami that slammed North America's West Coastline.
If that were to happen again today, there would be virtually no time react, and the consequences would sure be different than they were 300 years ago.
If that were to happen again today, there would be virtually no time react, and the consequences would sure be different than they were 300 years ago.
Bibby_Is_Clutch
Starter
I still dont think if would be even close to as bad as what has just happened.
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Obviously getting hit by a tsunami anywhere is no fun, but I'm really not sitting around holding my breath waiting for it to happen. For whatever reason its a very rare occurrence in N. America. No doubt will happen someday, but one of those things where you are probably far more likely to get killed in a car accident.
I'm just kind of curious as to why (with the Japan-based thing).
P.S. Part of curiosity stems from the fact that I know there is an island in the Canary Island chain which is volcanically active, and whihc has a giant split running down the middle of the volcanic cone. Scientists expect that one day its going to erupt, half the island is going to crash into the ocean, and that that is going to produce a tidal wave that is going to make it all the way across the Atlantic and slam into the Eastern seaboard, with rather devastating consequences. If that tidal wave is expected to make it all the way across the Atlantic with enough force to cause serious damage, why don't the ones generated in the Japan region make it to the West Coast?
I'm just kind of curious as to why (with the Japan-based thing).
P.S. Part of curiosity stems from the fact that I know there is an island in the Canary Island chain which is volcanically active, and whihc has a giant split running down the middle of the volcanic cone. Scientists expect that one day its going to erupt, half the island is going to crash into the ocean, and that that is going to produce a tidal wave that is going to make it all the way across the Atlantic and slam into the Eastern seaboard, with rather devastating consequences. If that tidal wave is expected to make it all the way across the Atlantic with enough force to cause serious damage, why don't the ones generated in the Japan region make it to the West Coast?
quick dog
Starter
The 1963 Alaskan Earthquake created a big tidal wave on the coast of northern California. The angle of the dangle is important. You always get a bigger splash when you are in the direct path of a tsunami, otherwise you are subject to reflected waves. The area offshore of Eureka has Magnitude 6 quakes on a fairly routine basis. I know there are small tsunamis associated with these events. No big deal. There are thirty-foot waves off the California coast at Maverick (west of Half Moon Bay) all the time. There are 30-footers during storms every year somewhere on the coast of california. Northern California just doesn't have really big, low lying, population centers exposed to the open sea.
The asteroid threat is very real. I think the 1 in 20,000 probability assessment is real also. Just because the probability is one in twenty thousand does not mean that the event will occur in 20,000 days. Also, I think the 1/20,000 quote I heard was for killer asteroids. Probably not world beaters. There is plenty of geologic and historic evidence for big cosmic impacts on the earth. Meteor Crator, Arizona. Tunguska, Siberia. Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Sudbury, Canada. Etc.
I believe that scientists have observed fossil and geologic evidence to suggest that there is a 30,000,000-year periodicity for some type of Earth-destructive cosmic event. As I recall, they think it may relate to a planetary body, comet, or something that swings around our sun in an eccentric orbit with a full swing about every 30M years. Sometimes you just can't get out of the way of trouble.
The asteroid threat is very real. I think the 1 in 20,000 probability assessment is real also. Just because the probability is one in twenty thousand does not mean that the event will occur in 20,000 days. Also, I think the 1/20,000 quote I heard was for killer asteroids. Probably not world beaters. There is plenty of geologic and historic evidence for big cosmic impacts on the earth. Meteor Crator, Arizona. Tunguska, Siberia. Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Sudbury, Canada. Etc.
I believe that scientists have observed fossil and geologic evidence to suggest that there is a 30,000,000-year periodicity for some type of Earth-destructive cosmic event. As I recall, they think it may relate to a planetary body, comet, or something that swings around our sun in an eccentric orbit with a full swing about every 30M years. Sometimes you just can't get out of the way of trouble.
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
the 30M year thing is about right as I recall, which is why the 1 in 20,000 thing is..well, it could be right, but 20,000 what's? If you had a 30,000,000 yr period of time, divided into 20,000 equal parts that comes out to about 1500yrs which...well, no idea how that would fit.quick dog said:
I'd guess a 1 in 20,000 thing would not be days but more likely 1 in 20,000 it will happen in your lifetime or some such. But then, even assumign a 70yr lifetime that comes ouot to about 1.4million years. Its possible we get hit by biggies every 1.4 million years, but not mass extinction biggies I don't think.P.S. Sloter, don't turn this political. I thought of the exact same comparison you did, especially since I was there to witness those same heartbreaking "Have you seen" posters up all over town. But I had the good taste not to invoke it. A natural disaster and 9/11...its the difference between somebody dying of a heart attack and somebody being murdered.
sloter
Starter
Bricklayer, that's true ... but this is WAY TOO EARLY to start putting things in perspective. In terms of human tragedy, this is a LOT WORSE than 9/11 and that's what you were comparing ... small percentage of the world population. I'd perhaps show some compassion instead of saying 'Oh that's just 1 in 50,000' just cause they are not people who you know. I'm sure they meant a whole lot to someone else...
Insomniacal Fan
Starter
135,000 confirmed dead, this has to be the worst disaster in human cost ever, excluding diseases and such.
quick dog
Starter
I recently finished a detailed and well-written book on the Middle Ages of Europe, the period between 300 AD and about 1,500 AD. I recall an event where one of the marauding groups murdered an estimated 300,000 individuals over a period of a day or two. That would be all the humans present in an entire region. I don't recall which group it was, or where it was. My daughter has the book now. I am sure that it was one of the Germanic groups of eastern Europe or the Baltic region.
Speaking of carnage. The concept of survival of the fittest is still at work in Buenos Aires. They just had a nightclub fire, started by indoor fireworks in a room with four of the six doors wired shut, that killed about 200 and injured about 600. That's a full year's worth Fallujah killing. How many heavy metal nightclub fires need to happen before they stop locking the frigging exit doors. Adults should know better. Insightful kids should be more aware of their surroundings.
Apparently, in Latin America, people shoot fireworks everywhere, and in this case, someone fired a roman candle into the combustible ceiling of the dance floor. Way to go genius. We recently had a similar occurrence in Chicago (?) where 100 people were killed. Does anyone read? No, how stupid of me.
Speaking of carnage. The concept of survival of the fittest is still at work in Buenos Aires. They just had a nightclub fire, started by indoor fireworks in a room with four of the six doors wired shut, that killed about 200 and injured about 600. That's a full year's worth Fallujah killing. How many heavy metal nightclub fires need to happen before they stop locking the frigging exit doors. Adults should know better. Insightful kids should be more aware of their surroundings.
Apparently, in Latin America, people shoot fireworks everywhere, and in this case, someone fired a roman candle into the combustible ceiling of the dance floor. Way to go genius. We recently had a similar occurrence in Chicago (?) where 100 people were killed. Does anyone read? No, how stupid of me.
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