What do you make of the tsunami?

[gini]

Richard, I was here for the 6.7 earthquake as well. My little R/B kitty, Patches shook all day. I ended up holding her most of the day to reassure her..........and it helped me as well.

I read that the recent earthquake was 200 TIMES STRONGER THAN OUR EARTHQUAKE.

I believe we have had three other "9's" in the last century, so does this have any significant meaning? I don't think so, except that it shows us WE AREN'T IN CHARGE!

[RICHARD]

The local radio station is talking about a town with 150,000 people that has disappeared.


The death toll is projected to be close to 400,000 people as the days go by.

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To put that number into perspective. This is what the LA Coliseum looks like with a little more than 100,000 people in it.......Empty it out and refill it three more times to get 400,000.

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The news service just told a story that a professor Turcotte (?)
from the University of Davis, California 'predicted' on December 14th that a large quake would hit that area in the next ten years...

He gave a speech at a Dec 14th meeting and gave the prediction.

[boscibo]

I ma a geology major, and stuff like this has happened for millions and millions of years. It will happen again. The Earth is covered with plates that move constantly. Google "plate tectonics" and look at how drastically the Earth has changed in the past. All those plates moving are going to cause quakes and there's nothing we can do to stop it. The geological time scale is huge (4.6 billion years), that to us these large destructive events seem rare, but they have been happening all along.


The big difference now is that the human population is so large and tend to congregate near the coasts. Any coastline is vulnerable. A big one like this could happen again next year, or it could happen in a thousand years. But it will happen again.

[ChrisH]

Originally posted by RICHARD
A strange story about the tsumani..
... The people providing help to the stricken areas have reported that there are very few, if any animal corpses found among the ruins.

Did animals have quake warning?
By Sue Nelson
BBC Science correspondent

Wildlife officials in Sri Lanka have reported that, despite the loss of human life in the Asian disaster, there have been no recorded animal deaths.
Waves from the worst tsunami in memory sent floodwater surging up to 3.5km (two miles) inland to the island's biggest wildlife reserve. Many tourists drowned but, to the surprise of officials, no dead animals have been found. It has highlighted claims that animals may possess a sixth sense about danger.

Yala National Park in Sri Lanka is home to elephants, deer, jackals and crocodiles. Praised for its conservation, the park is also considered one of the best places in the world to observe leopards. It is now closed after floods damaged buildings and caused the deaths of tourists and employees of the park and lodge. Yet, surprisingly, none of the park's varied wildlife is reported to have perished.

Debbie Martyr, who works on a wild tiger conservation programme on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, one of the worst-hit areas in Sunday's disaster, said she was not surprised to hear there were no dead animals.
"Wild animals in particular are extremely sensitive," she said. "They've got extremely good hearing and they will probably have heard this flood coming in the distance. There would have been vibration and there may also have been changes in the air pressure which will have alerted animals and made them move to wherever they felt safer."

There are many eyewitness accounts of birds and animals migrating before earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The scientific evidence for a sixth sense is lacking, but if the reports are confirmed, they could add to the understanding of animal behaviour and possibly even be used in the future as an early warning system for humans.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4136485.stm

[Karen]

The lesson of this is, if you are ever somewhere and notice all the animals fleeing in one direction, GO WITH THEM! Not that there's a Pet Talker in existence that wouldn't instinctively go with them just to see all the animals and what they were doing ...

[Kirsten]

Gosh, I have just learnt that my boss' sister in law and her spouse have died in Khao-Lak, Thailand.

27 other people from my area have returned from Asia meanwhile, safe.

Update: My boss has just called (me and another co-worker) and we learnt that his SIL is "only" missed. They weren't in the plane which was supposed to bring them back, and they haven't heard anything else. Still bad enough, but at least there's a small glimmer of hope left...

Kirsten

[popcornbird]

I have never cried so much over a news. 9.0 is HORRIBLE...HORRIBLE. We heard this news in the car on our way home from a wonderful picnic with our cousins. It was a horrible shock. So devastating to hear. Personally, I feel ALL of us who are here and well-to-do should do ALL we can to help the MANY victims of the quakes. The ones that are gone, are sadly gone, but there are so many survivors that need our help. Its a horrible tragedy. I was shaking when I heard the story. 9.0. I can't even imagine. I do believe this was a sign from God, and my religion also teaches us that there will be a huge increase in natural disasters before the end of time. We can all see that increase before our eyes now. It is so scary to think about. God help those poor people, and protect us all from such tragedies. Its horrible. Just shows that the power of man is NOTHING compared to the power of God. We can continue to advance in technology, make new inventions, do all sorts of things, but when you look at the power of God, we're nothing but little insignificant creatures. We can only do as much as our minds have the capacity to allow us to do. If God wants to destroy us, there isn't ANYTHING we can do about it. A big wake up call for me, personally. Very scary.

[jazzzytina]

I just wanted to add my 2-cents here, kinda off topic, about the hurricanes that Florida experienced this year.

Florida was not the only state that was affected by these horrible hurricanes. Hurricane Ivan came up the east coast through the mountains (Mountains!) of North Carolina and washed out an entire community called Peeks Creek that had been there for generations. I read a follow up to the story recently in the paper (after having read about it when it actually happened). Homes were completely demolished and pushed off their foundations, a 51-year old nurse lost her life in a creek trying to save her pets, a firefighter lost his unborn child and his mother, and his wife, who was pregnant, lost a leg. Not to mention 7 people in that one neighborhood were killed. I know that doesn't sound like a lot compared to the tsunami victims, but the neighborhood only had about 30 people in it. That was an incredibly devastated area which will never be the same again. The topography has changed forever. People who fled Florida to get away from the hurricane were also affected.

You don't expect a hurricane to come hitting you in the mountains, and it was just devastating, and that area will probably never be the same again. When it hits so close to home, it really makes you think. And yes, I do believe in God, although I can't know the mind of God and can't say if we are in the "end times". The best I can do is thank Him every day that I have been spared these terrible tragedies, and pray that He will help those who have been affected, and donate my money and time to helping the affected ones.

Thanks for reading, sorry it was off topic.

[Barbara]

I think it is the same whether it is hurricanes quakes or volcanoes!

Nature is stronger than mankind - and being among these persons who are afraid we might destroy all nature I also feel a bit relieved about it.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

They've just increased the death toll to 155,000 with about 4,000 still missing. I just can't imagine it.

[AmberLee]

Originally posted by Karen
The lesson of this is, if you are ever somewhere and notice all the animals fleeing in one direction, GO WITH THEM! Not that there's a Pet Talker in existence that wouldn't instinctively go with them just to see all the animals and what they were doing ...

{{{Karen}}} Thank you so much for this message -- it gave me a much needed laugh. Bless you!

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by Karen
The lesson of this is, if you are ever somewhere and notice all the animals fleeing in one direction, GO WITH THEM!

One instance where stepping into a dog/cat/animal pile isn't bad at all.

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Just when you think it's on the other side of the world-

A doctor my sister works with was killed in the disaster....

[Miranda_Rae]

I was in shock when I learned about it. Its so terribly sad. I can't believe it. The first time I heard about it was on PT, and i was just looking at the Titles and I saw one said said, "Tsunami" on it, and I thought, "Why are we talking about Japanese food?" I didn't open it because i didn't want to discuss Japanese food, but now I know its not Japanese food. I don't watch the news so I didn't learn about it till 3 days after it happened while I was watching ET. I was like, "What? What happened?!?!" I just can't believe it. My heart breaks for all the people that lost family members in it.

As for religious significance, yes I do think there is some.