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

[lindor]

When I viewed that second photo I could almost feel that she was running as if panicked and looking for her children. It seems that is what was happening.

If I recall something I had read, the first two or three waves were not as large and strong as the three following.

[MikefromOhio]

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

[ctdonath2]

Problem is, the tsunami wave just keeps coming. Regular waves receed after a few seconds.

[Ditter]

I have read that the closer to shore line the tsunami gets the higher it gets. Don't know if this one got higher or not.

[dead]

I think when we look at that water coming in, we think "wave" and it's not so bad. But a wave is a temporary swell in the water level. It passes over you quickly.

What's heading towards them isn't the same thing. It's the whole freaking ocean that had just got sucked out. There isn't a back side to the swell like a normal wave.

Looking at the third picture, they are about to get pummelled by the leading edge, with the second tier right behind it. They won't just get knocked to the ground and then pop back up. They are going to get slammed and dragged all the way up to the beach and into the treeline and/or village.

Crushed first and then drowned.

[Lazamataz]

well if you think about it, water is one of the most powerful forces on Earth.

I'd argue that genetics is the most powerful force on Earth.

It isnt the height, its the momentum of such an event....

Well yeah, and this is why I'm not really critical of the tourists that somply stood there gawking. The waves don't look all that dangerous. It's what's behind them that is dangerous -- zillions of tons of 60-MPH water.

[Bon mots]

the Tsunami was only about 6-10 feet high....

Actually, it was more like 6-10 METERS high, which is closer to 19.5 to 32.5 feet high. Look at the wave in the last photo in relation to the masts of the sailboats. They are clearly closer to 30 feet high. Scary. I doubt that any of those poor folks survived. They were just out too far to be able to grab onto a tree or something to keep them all from being sucked out to sea when the waves receded.

[DK Zimmerman]

I'm no expert, but I understand that tsunamis do not appear threatening while over deeper water. Indeed, to someone out on the ocean, it appears as little more than a swell. When it hits shallower areas, however, it rises in height and becomes destructive. From the pictures, this stretch of beach appears to be fairly shallow for quite a ways.

[WildTurkey]

The wave in the foreground, then, simply doesn't look that large. But, of course, as we know looks are clearly decieving in this case.

The wave builds in height as it reaches shallower water. In really deep water, it may only be a few inches in height.

[EllaMinnow]

If the blue area is a land mass, wouldn't it still be visible in the 3rd photo?

[bvw]

That would be closest to the quake. Further away they slow down. But yeah, sixty would be the minimum -- probably much faster.

[gortklattu]

Unless the photographer taking these photos was sitting on the seat of a Suzuki crotch rocket.

[1Old Pro]

WOW, the photo of the surf engulfing the boats is awesome. I hear many people on boats survived.

[kassie]

500 mph???? Oh my.

[nhoward14]

This is why people called them tidal waves for centuries. It was like a giant, off-schedule tide had come in.

[dfwgator]

They move at 500 MPH over the open ocean, as they approach shallow water they slow down considerably, and as a result they get much higher.

[shield]

HORROR

[MikefromOhio]

crap you know what...I didnt even realize I did that...

It is METERS!!!! grrrr....I gotta pay better attention to detail :) Its been a long day....

I would doubt that the people survived the initial rush onto land, much less getting sucked back off....

[KC Burke]

I think what happens Laz is that the wave height varies from event tot event and place to place. As this one reaches shollower water, it increases in height exponentially. At Diego Garcia, the ocean base is so steep just off shore that the wave passes by as a small event.

The record of the century was 1700 ft tall in an Alaska Bay directly accross from a earthquake induced mountain collapse. It scoured the opposite side of the bay to that height removing a forest, so they know its actual height.

The well known one at Hilo came ashore as 30 feet high as I recall the stories.

Each is different based on the volume of water displaced and the sea-bed rise where it comes ashore.

[Lokibob]

I think the camera panned to the left of the photo. Look at the rock in the forground that comes into the picture.