Posted on 12/31/2004 9:06:24 PM PST by Pharmboy
"I have lived on the water all my life, and I have on numerous occasion seen very very low tides, but I have never seen a tsunami. 20/20 hind sight isn't really all that cool."
Tides sneak out. Tidal waves rush out. You would see it as a very strange thing, and either be mesmerized or running.
Those pictures were posted on another thread saying the family made it. It turns out the pictures were taken at Krabi, not Ko Phi Phi.
They probably didn't want to upset the tourism industry or create a false panic had they been wrong.
A tsunami could probably happen to us here on the east coast too and I bet there are no warning devices or emergency plans for us if there is one. Call the port authority and state police on monday and see what they say.
It appears the NOAA did the right thing. Shoot, there were questions about a possible tsunami right here on FR minutes after the earthquake was detected (before the MSM had even broadcast anything about a quake). This was hours and hours before any waves hit. All sorts of junior oceanographers and statisticians offered theories and speculation, many with fear and trepidation about what might lie ahead after such a large quake. (I'll see if I can find the thread for you. Going back and reading it after the fact is quite fascinating.) Yes, all the signs were there, and villages and resorts in the region could have easily been given a BOLO for possible shoreline activity.
I have, however, seen Thai government officials admit that yes, they were warned several hours in advance, but this was the height of the tourist season, and what if they called for an evacuation but there turned out to be no danger? The tourists would be mad. Couldn't have that happen. No, they just decided to adapt a wait-and-see attitude. Only they waited way too long.
I think you'll find the thread quite interesting.
I guess they thought it could never happen to them. When was the last Tsunami?
>>>I guess they thought it could never happen to them. When was the last Tsunami?
::Crude Opinion from what I read at NOAA::
We have a buoy tracking system in the Pacific. There are also monitoring systems that share alerts with Japan and Australia (Pacific).
There is no buoy system in the Indian Ocean. The reason for this wasn't blatantly clear. When I find answers hard to come by, from my experience, it is due to politics.
Our tracking system picked up the initial report of reading 8.0. This was confirmed with Australia. The initial alert that went out in the warning bulletins was 8.0. This information went right up to a NOAA office in Seattle that generated THIS: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/video/tsunami-indonesia12-2004.qt predicted model of what would come from that earthquake. As we got more data, updated reports went out on the information bulletins.
Some Asian countries (like Indonesia) picked up *smaller* earthquake readings and didn't lend the reports we issued validity. This is the reason for the different reports on the magnitude. They took their reading own readings of 6.5 vs. our report from NOAA of 8.0.
They all miraculously survived.....Mother, BIL, brother, 3 sons and Father and Aunt on the beach......
No way! How do you know they survived?
Interview with the mother was published....Think this is the thread.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1312177/posts?page=81,19
MORE:
In fact, I watched an interview on Swedish television with the family, and one of the kids stated that when the first wave hit them, he bodysurfed to the shore.
203 posted on 01/03/2005 2:12:53 PM EST by Eurotwit
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