Tsunami Caught On Camera In Thailand

NBC10.com ^ | 12/27/2004 | nbc10.com

[FReepaholic]

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NBC10.com

Tsunami Caught On Camera In Thailand

Video Shows Tsunami Hitting Beach

POSTED: 2:24 pm EST December 27,

2004

UPDATED: 2:32 pm EST December 27,

2004

Stunning pictures just in from Asia show one of nature's most-feared acts: a tsunami crashing into a beach on Thailand's Phuket Island.

Slideshow: Video Shows Tsunami Hitting Thailand
E-Mail: Send Video To A Friend

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	Tsunami Caught On Camera

The amateur video shows the huge wave hitting Patong Beach.

In the video, the big wave is seen quickly approaching the beach, seemingly out of nowhere.

People can first be heard gasping, then screaming, as the tidal wave moves quickly over the beachhead, by buildings and into town.

The tidal waves were triggered by the world's biggest earthquake in 40 years.

The Thai navy is still scouring the islands in the Andaman Sea today for survivors of this weekend's deadly tsunamis, which slammed into the country's tourist areas such as Phuket Island.

Several hundred tourists have been rescued from Thai islands in the sea, but nearly 800 bodies have been retrieved from stricken areas.

Disaster officials say its not yet known how many foreigners were among the dead although a Thai health ministry official has estimated as many as 80 percent of the dead could be foreign tourists.

Phuket Island is a popular tourist spot after being made famous by the Leonardo DiCaprio film, "The Beach."

Already its estimated about 130 people died on the island including an American.

Across Asia the death toll from the weekend earthquake and tsunamis is nearing 24,000.

Copyright 2004 by NBC10.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Ciexyz]

frightening pics. prayers offered for the grieving.

[dasboot]

Thanks....I was curious if any ergs slipped through, enough to cause a ripple.

The penguins in Antarctica musta got swept off their burgs....orcas are well fed, though.

[God luvs America]

can't disagree

[RightWhale]

Yep, that's about it, a twenty foot wave with no backslope, no trough and no break until it gets to First Avenue. That's the thing that erased Valdez from the land on the Good Friday earthquake like living in the muzzle of a shotgun. We don't appreciate the strength of kinetic energy.

[null and void]

their language is alot of "baht, baht, ping, pop, baht, bing bing baht pot, ping pot bing bot." ~ Malsua

Hey, you can't say that on FreeRepublic!< ~ OldSmaj

Oh yeah? Take THIS:

Ooo eee ooo ah ah walla walla bing bang!

[Strategerist]

They weren't worse waves. Or the damage on Dauphin Island would have been worse.

A 20 foot tsunami wave is a totally different animal from a 20 foot wind wave.

[Age of Reason]

Some time around 1978--give or take a year--I read an account written by one of the fisherman anchored in the bay at the time of the landslide and wave, as published in "National Fisherman" magazine.

I remember reading how the chain to his anchor flew out of his boat's chain locker as the wave carried his boat backward, until the chain reached the end and snapped.

He said that as he looked over the stern of his boat, he could see the tops of pine trees below him, as the wave carried him over them.

He also mentioned early in the article that long before this incident happened, he had seen in earlier visits to the place, marks high up the sides of the surrounding mountainsides, which appeared to be caused by water--he said before he witnessed it for himself, he would never have believed those marks could have been caused by water.

Apparently chunks of that mountain had fallen and caused waves before.

[GVnana]

Thanks.

[Righter-than-Rush]

The NBC clip only works with Internet Explorer. Firefox users won't be able to see it.

[pitinkie]

I saw them all thanks.

[airborne]

[Howlin]

You don't know what you're talking about.

[JockoManning]

bookmark
[Stunning pictures just in from Asia show one of nature's most-feared acts: a tsunami crashing into a beach on Thailand's Phuket Island.]

[Mo1]

I just went back to nbc10.com's site and tried it from there but it's not working either

If you have Zone Alarm or a firewall of that type .. it's will block NBC10 video

Happens to me all the time and the only why to view the video is to shut down my Zone Alarm

[capitan_refugio]

1964 Alaskan earthquake.

The tsunami height varied with the distance away from the earthqauke, but it was nowhere near 1000 feet.

However, in Valdez Harbor there was a gigantic landslide which caused a large seiche.

[capitan_refugio]

I have heard about that one too. But the "run up" of a wave is not the same as the wave height. In a storm, a "20 foot wave" can break and run up far above the 20 foot elevation mark.

I think the Lituya Bay event is more likely ... a danged big splash!

[wideminded]

From the link you posted:

"To measure the height of the biggest wave, all scientists had to do was look for the high water mark - that's the line where the water reached it's highest point on the nearby land. It's real easy to find, you just look for the uppermost edge of the damaged area (see photo at left)."

This doesn't seem like a good way to measure the height of the wave. The wave in the bay could have been much shorter but the momentum of the water could have carried it over the headland in its path. Thus the maximum depth of the water was possibly no where near 1700'. Apparently open ocean tsunami waves are often only about a foot high. This doesn't mean that when they hit land the water only covers objects less than one foot high.

[Minn]

Ooo eee ooo ah ah walla walla bing bang!

You forgot the ting tang.

[null and void]

Dang! You're right.

[Blue Jays]

Hi Central Scrutiniser & GnL-

Excellent diagram of the area...

Any idea where the luxurious J.W. Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa and the main airport is in relation to the map? To think I walked those beaches and visited Phi Phi Island with my family just a few months ago is amazing...

~ Blue Jays ~