[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?

[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.

[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)