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Tsunamis have been a compelling interest for me since I was very young. The waves
from the 9.0 Sumatra quake have caught the world's attention, as they should for
such a devastating disaster. I think others have covered the main points, so I'll
just offer a few additional observations/thoughts:
- Via Michael Totten's blog, here's a collection of eyewitness accounts from various SE Asia blogs
- I found the accounts of survivors who were scuba-diving at the time of the tsunami educational. I had always been of the opinion that anyone underwater when a tsunami went by would be hurt or killed by the concussion of the pressure wave going by, but apparently that was not the case. Still, there were many other incidents of divers who were swept out to sea and presumed lost, so the survivors' tales should probably be considered just good luck on their part.
- I remain convinced that one cannot surf a tsunami, "Lucifer's Hammer" notwithstanding. From the film I've seen of the tsunami, it isn't a wave per se but more of a sudden, massive increase in the water level. I recall seeing video of a stormchaser who filmed in front of a typhoon's storm surge, and that is pretty much what it was like: a series of rapid floods which didn't recede. Now, it is possible that video was only available for spots where the wave wasn't at full-force, and that anyone filming where the tsunami hit 30+ feet didn't live to tell the tale. However, given the lack of any kind of wave-face, trying to surf the thing would seem well-on-impossible (and stupid to boot).
- There was some speculation that the U.S. base on Diego Garcia would have been inundated by the tsunami, but by various reports, it was unaffected.
- There's been some news reports that this is the most devastating disaster in history. According to Table 2 in this report, it has a long way to go, even for single-incident disasters: Yellow River flood in China, 1931, 3.7 million dead; Bangladeshi typhoon, Nov. 1970, 1 million dead; 1556 earthquake in China, 830,000 dead; etc.
- Long-term, one worry is that the devastation caused by the disaster may set the stage for revolution in those areas affected, if recovery isn't swift. One example of this happening is that after Krakatoa devastated much of Indonesia, the Dutch colonial authorities' slow reaction helped seed an Islamic fundamentalist revival in the region.
from the 9.0 Sumatra quake have caught the world's attention, as they should for
such a devastating disaster. I think others have covered the main points, so I'll
just offer a few additional observations/thoughts:
- Via Michael Totten's blog, here's a collection of eyewitness accounts from various SE Asia blogs
- I found the accounts of survivors who were scuba-diving at the time of the tsunami educational. I had always been of the opinion that anyone underwater when a tsunami went by would be hurt or killed by the concussion of the pressure wave going by, but apparently that was not the case. Still, there were many other incidents of divers who were swept out to sea and presumed lost, so the survivors' tales should probably be considered just good luck on their part.
- I remain convinced that one cannot surf a tsunami, "Lucifer's Hammer" notwithstanding. From the film I've seen of the tsunami, it isn't a wave per se but more of a sudden, massive increase in the water level. I recall seeing video of a stormchaser who filmed in front of a typhoon's storm surge, and that is pretty much what it was like: a series of rapid floods which didn't recede. Now, it is possible that video was only available for spots where the wave wasn't at full-force, and that anyone filming where the tsunami hit 30+ feet didn't live to tell the tale. However, given the lack of any kind of wave-face, trying to surf the thing would seem well-on-impossible (and stupid to boot).
- There was some speculation that the U.S. base on Diego Garcia would have been inundated by the tsunami, but by various reports, it was unaffected.
- There's been some news reports that this is the most devastating disaster in history. According to Table 2 in this report, it has a long way to go, even for single-incident disasters: Yellow River flood in China, 1931, 3.7 million dead; Bangladeshi typhoon, Nov. 1970, 1 million dead; 1556 earthquake in China, 830,000 dead; etc.
- Long-term, one worry is that the devastation caused by the disaster may set the stage for revolution in those areas affected, if recovery isn't swift. One example of this happening is that after Krakatoa devastated much of Indonesia, the Dutch colonial authorities' slow reaction helped seed an Islamic fundamentalist revival in the region.
