The Wave From Hell

Sploid ^ | 12/24/2005

[Responsibility2nd]

It killed 280,000 people and left more than a million without homes. Some 15,000 people are still missing a year later and presumed dead.

It shook the Earth so severely that sensors picking up the quake in Oklahoma on the other side of the planet, while high waves radiated as far as Mexico and the Arctic. The global sea level actually rose by a millimeter, and the very shape of the Earth changed enough to slightly lengthen the day.

It was the Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004, and today the horrible event is being remembered all around the Indian Ocean.

Not since the year 1556 -- when a massive temblor killed some 830,000 people in China -- had such a devastating earthquake stuck this planet.

The quake itself lasted for 10 minutes, a total outrage compared to the usual few seconds of shaking associated with even huge earthquakes.

Indonesia suffered the immediate effects, mostly around Banda Aceh on the island of Sumatra -- that city of 400,000 was mostly demolished.

A year later, the first "replacement house" has gone up in that wrecked, haunted city.

And then the giant waves moved across the Indian Ocean, radiating out from the 750-mile-long rupture under the sea, at first barely visible in the deep water and finally up to a hundred feet high as the tsunami devastated one Asian coastal city after another, washing away entire villages, resorts, factories, hospitals, ports and highways.

Many hours later, the waves reached the eastern coast of Africa, where most victims still hadn't heard about the horror that struck south Asia.

[Responsibility2nd]

[Responsibility2nd]

One year later.

FReeper prayers still outgoing to the victims.

[Strategerist]

I don't see what's the big deal about it being picked up in Oklahoma is.


Hobbyists with a few hundred or a few thousand dollars worth of equipment can build their own seismometer that will pretty much pick up any Magnitude 6+ quake in the world.

[Dog Gone]

It was the Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004

Even given the international date line, it didn't occur on December 26, did it?

[proudofthesouth]

I'll never forget being online here at FR when the first reports of it started being posted. I stayed up all night reading them.

[solitas]

Not even THAT much money:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=homebrew+seismometer+&btnG=Search

[rawcatslyentist]

Sir Bedevere: ...and that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana shaped.
King Arthur: This new learning amazes me, Sir Bedevere. Explain again how sheep's bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes.

But then again maybe that IS what they used.

[i_dont_chat]

I, too, found myself in another state of consciousness, realizing what was happening on the other side of the planet.

I couldn't keep my thoughts on anything else.

[Central Scrutiniser]

I was in Thailand 3 weeks before the tsunami, and went back 2 months afterwards, it was odd to see the destruction. Here are some photos from Phuket in early March:

[nmh]

What a sad event.

Remembering ... .

[American in Singapore]

"Even given the international date line, it didn't occur on December 26, did it?"

It hit the west side of Phuket Island (where almost all the tourism is) mid Sunday morning on Dec. 26. Many, many tourists and locals working in the bars and restaurants were still sleeping from staying up late the night before. If it was 4 hours or so later, there would have been thousands more dead.

I remember exactly where I was when my friend SMS'd me from Phuket with the news in the early afternoon; it's one of those moments that I will never forget.

Last night, Channel News Asia had a documentary on the tsunami and aftermath. I told my wife: "turn the channel, you don't want to see it"; then not much later, they had footage of pulling out children and babies one after another from the mud and debris.

I still have a hard time believing that it actually happened. My prayers go out to the survivors and all of those who lost loved ones.

[metmom]

"The global sea level actually rose by a millimeter, and the very shape of the Earth changed enough to slightly lengthen the day."

For real? It was that bad?

I remember watching it on TV as reports came in. The before and after photos where entire villages had been obliterated were unreal. It certainly has been a rough year for the planet.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

I remember reading the first reports, when they didn't think there would be a tsunami....

Eternal rest grant them, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them....

[Dog Gone]

Okay, thanks. I was traveling abroad and I thought it happened Christmas Eve my time, but it had to be Christmas night.

[radiohead]

There are some specially commissioned essays that have been read this week on BBC World Service. You can access them at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/off_the_shelf.shtml

The series is 'After the Wave.' Each is about 15 minutes long.

[sourcery]

Even given the international date line, it didn't occur on December 26, did it?

Time the quake began, in selected time zones:

Sun, 26 Dec 2004 13:58:53 +1300 (NZDT: Pacific/Auckland)
Sun, 26 Dec 2004 11:58:53 +1100 (EST: Australia/Sydney)
Sun, 26 Dec 2004 09:58:53 +0900 (JST: Asia/Tokyo)
Sun, 26 Dec 2004 08:58:53 +0800 (WST: Australia/Perth)
Sun, 26 Dec 2004 08:58:53 +0800 (HKT: Asia/Hong_Kong)
Sun, 26 Dec 2004 06:28:53 +0530 (IST: Asia/Calcutta)
Sun, 26 Dec 2004 03:58:53 +0300 (MSK: Europe/Moscow)
Sun, 26 Dec 2004 02:58:53 +0200 (IST: Asia/Jerusalem)
Sun, 26 Dec 2004 01:58:53 +0100 (CET: Europe/Amsterdam)
Sun, 26 Dec 2004 00:58:53 +0000 (GMT: Europe/London)
Sun, 26 Dec 2004 00:58:53 +0000 (UT: Universal Time)
Sat, 25 Dec 2004 22:58:53 -0200 (BRST: America/Sao_Paulo)
Sat, 25 Dec 2004 21:58:53 -0300 (ART: America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires)
Sat, 25 Dec 2004 19:58:53 -0500 (EST: America/New_York)
Sat, 25 Dec 2004 18:58:53 -0600 (CST: America/Chicago)
Sat, 25 Dec 2004 17:58:53 -0700 (MST: America/Denver)
Sat, 25 Dec 2004 16:58:53 -0800 (PST: America/Los_Angeles)
Sat, 25 Dec 2004 14:58:53 -1000 (HST: Pacific/Honolulu)

[Riley]

I don't see what's the big deal about it being picked up in Oklahoma is.

I don't know anything about this particular publication, but the usual deal is that 'journalists' never do any real homework, never get anything right, but are unshakeably convinced that they're better informed than the rest of us.

If I were even mildy curious about something of this sort, I'd have a better degree of perspective than they usually do in fifteen minutes of mining the net.

I detest what passes for 'journalism' these days.

[Arthur McGowan]

The quake itself lasted for 10 minutes, a total outrage compared to the usual few seconds of shaking associated with even huge earthquakes.

This is a detail I've never heard before. Unbelievable!

[Sarajevo]

That really sux. Molly Malones was my favorite hangout during my stays on Patong Beach.