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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
8.5 earthquake rocks Aceh, tsunamis swamp Sri Lanka
2004-12-26
File under Signs & Portents:
An 8.5-magnitude earthquake that may rank among the 10 strongest in the past century struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra, triggering aftershocks and giant tidal waves across India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. ``We don't have confirmation of any casualties yet,'' said Fauzi, an official at the Geology and Meteorology Office in Jakarta who goes by one name only. He said the earthquake created txunami waves as high as 5 meters (17 feet) along the north coast of Aceh province, knocking out at least one bridge. Six aftershocks of magnitude between 5.8 and 6.1 struck in the Bay of Bengal between the west coast of Thailand and India's east coast, the U.S. Geological Survey reported on its Web page. Nine Sumatrans died in flash floods triggered by the earthquake, Reuters reported, citing El Shinta radio in Jakarta, Tsunami waves killed at least 160 people in Sri Lanka and swept at least four foreign tourists out to sea at the popular Thai resort of Phuket, Agence France-Presse reported. ``The big waves in the Bay of Bengal are a result of the earthquake in Sumatra,'' A.K. Shukla, head of the Indian Meteorological Department, said in a phone interview from New Delhi. ``We expect the big waves to lash Chennai and parts of Tamil Nadu for the next two days.'' The Indonesia earthquake, which struck about 7 a.m. local time, was a magnitude 8.5 earthquake, centered offshore about 1,605 kilometers northwest of the capital Jakarta at a depth of 10 kilometers, the U.S. Geological Survey said in a preliminary report on the Web site. There were no immediate reports of damage to oil facilities in Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest oil producer. ``As long as you don't see any damage to the facilities, especially the oil and gas pipelines, I don't see the impact as being significant,'' said Song Seng Wun, regional economist with G.K. Goh Holdings Ltd. in Singapore.
Posted by:Seafarious

#63  Thanks so much. I hope the information from that article is correct. Now I will just have to wait for him to call so I can yell at him for not calling!! When I hear from him and get more definate info, will let you know.
Posted by: usafwife   2004-12-28 2:01:00 PM  

#62  Here is an article I found today in the Stars and Stripes. http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=26265

I hope it is true and helpful.
Posted by: JS   2004-12-28 1:54:13 PM  

#61  I have read that DG was wiped out and I have read that there was no damage at all. If anyone has any 100% true information please let me know. My husband is there right now and I haven't heard from him. Please anything would help
Posted by: usafwife   2004-12-28 1:50:17 PM  

#60  Looked over all the emails. I did post a question to Diego's PA and have yet to receive any type of answer. Does anyone have contact with anyone on the island?? or any other new info?
Posted by: dammitjanet   2004-12-28 1:47:11 PM  

#59  Some DG info

http://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_aviation/read.main/1878835/


Posted by: someone   2004-12-28 1:10:01 PM  

#58  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Gromons Thrineque9138 TROLL   2004-12-28 9:28:30 AM  

#57  i want to know how affected is diego garcia by the tsunami because i never heard any news about it while in fact all islands around it are affected
Posted by: jonas   2004-12-28 6:00:40 AM  

#56  Just send an inquiry to the Public Affairs office at Diego Garcia as to their status. Will let you guys know of their status when i find out.
Posted by: keko   2004-12-27 11:59:07 PM  

#55  ... the countries affected - India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand are democracies ...

So what? They're still amongst some of the most corrupt nations on earth! Or does that not pose any particular problem for you? Where do you think terrosim comes from? The Land of Chocolate?
Posted by: Zenster   2004-12-27 12:00:01 AM  

#54  Aris, glad to hear that you get a little more time at home before being called up. Hopefully you will be able to stay in touch -- at least when they set you free for a weekend or something. Despite the annoyance it brings to some here, I believe its important to sometimes get a very different perspective, whether or not I agree with it. But please don't share that perspective with your drill instructors! We'd all hate to learn after the fact that you spent most of your time in the brig for insubordination, or whatever they call it.
Posted by: Gleaper Thomomble7223   2004-12-26 11:50:05 PM  

#53  Apart from Myanmar, and to a lesser extent Maldives and Malaysia, the countries affected - India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand are democracies, and from looking at news websites of those countries, their local media do not appear to be restricted in their reporting.
Posted by: Paul Moloney   2004-12-26 11:34:38 PM  

#52  Shipman> They told me I'll be called in May -- which is a couple months later than I had expected actually. And I don't know whether I'll be able to stay in touch.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris   2004-12-26 11:30:42 PM  

#51  I'm sure Burma (Myanmar) has had a significant death toll, but all that's been reported so far is "there have been casualties".

Yet, we are supposed to roll over and pretend that Myanmar's corrupt concealment of citizen casualties are reason enough to delay rescue efforts in that region?

Don't any of you see what I am saying? These corrupt hermetic countries are deflecting any sort of pointed inquiry so that they can continue to control all flow of information and foreign aid while NOT GIVING A ROTTEN DAMN about what happens to their people.

Protecting these filthy authoritarian tyrannies merely abets the murder of how many more innocents?

Oh, I forgot, I'm supposed to be the one who wants to "kill 'em all." Unlike you bleeding-heart compassionates. Nations who willingly conceal or delay the correct reporting of their disaster statistics are MURDERERS.

Any questions?
Posted by: Zenster   2004-12-26 11:18:47 PM  

#50  Most of the aftershocks have been in the area of the Andaman and Nicobar islands between Indonesia and Burma, but belonging to India. At least eight have been 6.0 or higher. I'm sure Burma (Myanmar) has had a significant death toll, but all that's been reported so far is "there have been casualties". Eighteen to twenty-two aftershocks so far listed on the USGS site.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2004-12-26 10:18:19 PM  

#49  Barbara S.,

I have looked just about everywhere for about an hour now. I even tried online shortwave broadcast. I can't get any latest info on Diego Garcia. I could only find what Dave has already found.
Posted by: Poison Reverse   2004-12-26 9:46:07 PM  

#48  Doubt there was time in Diego Garcia to get ships underway,or even double up moorings.Good chance some pre-positioned vessels sitting there cold iron are on the beach.
Posted by: crazyhorse   2004-12-26 9:36:38 PM  

#47  I kinda-sorta agree with Zenster for official US government aid. In particular, any aid that doesn't go directly to individuals, (to the governments or large organizations) should be tied to behavior. I would give food and water and shelter and medicine pretty much openly without requirement.

Private relief should go there unconditionally.

Well spoken, jackal.
Posted by: Zenster   2004-12-26 9:14:46 PM  

#46  PS: Please rest assured that Poison Reverse's bile factor is equally repugnant to myself.
Posted by: Zenster   2004-12-26 9:10:47 PM  

#45  My sentiments exactly, Adriane. What makes Americans so decent as a people is that (among other things) when someone needs help, we help. Doesn't matter whether you have a turban on your head or not. We must never lose that.

Steve, neither do I argue that we must abandon our fundamental decency. I seek only to ensure that we no longer funnel massive quantities of aid to corrupt governments who will exacerbate terror and minimize civilian relief.

Nowhere have I said that we should not help. It just happens to be time to begin tracking who does and who does not show the least respect for our massive assistance in times of need.
Posted by: Zenster   2004-12-26 9:08:58 PM  

#44  Diego Garcia's website is still up (they're posting "Thunder II" conditions high of 86 low of 77.) So who knows? On the good side the reef drops straight down 1/4 mile from shore, on the bad side it's only 4 feet above sea level. From when I was there, I can remember looking UP at the waves outside the reef during storms, while only rain hit the land. I hope they are OK.
Posted by: Dave   2004-12-26 8:36:49 PM  

#43  The tsunami has hit Africa now, ferchrissakes. Surely someone should know how Diego Garcia fared.

Anyone know where to look for that info?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2004-12-26 7:56:07 PM  

#42  Thanks, Steven, I added those to my list of pictures.
I've managed to get a friend over there on chat so I've got some idea of how bad it is, and isn't, outside of the tourist areas, which (needless to say) are all along the coast.
Note to Poison Reverse: FOAD.
Posted by: Kathy K   2004-12-26 7:19:38 PM  

#41  When's muster day Aris? Will you be able to stay in touch?
Posted by: Shipman   2004-12-26 7:19:27 PM  

#40  EU designed and blessed NGOs would have made earthquakes a thing of the past except the US NEO SENATE refused to confirm the KYOTO treaty by a slim yet delightful margin. Let's vote until we get it right folks. LOL!
Posted by: Shipman   2004-12-26 7:17:55 PM  

#39  EU designed and regulated structures would have washed out to sea slower, allowing the sea mammals time to laugh.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-12-26 7:15:14 PM  

#38  LOL! Train Wreck and Earthquake! Let's work the EU into this somehow.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-12-26 7:14:10 PM  

#37  It's payback time via in quadrapule biblical proportions. I have no sympathy.

Why am I not surprised to see Poison Reverse display such Christian charity? "Love your enemies, do good to those that harm you" seems to be yet another Christian teaching that Poison Reverse has retconned out of his personal religion.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris   2004-12-26 6:37:24 PM  

#36  A 7.0 aftershock??. I used to live in SoCal. A 6.x is pretty bad. I don't think I ever had a 7.0 primary. Northridge was 6.7, which, if I remember My logarithms, was one-third the strength of this "aftershock."

I kinda-sorta agree with Zenster for official US government aid. In particular, any aid that doesn't go directly to individuals, (to the governments or large organizations) should be tied to behavior. I would give food and water and shelter and medicine pretty much openly without requirement.

Private relief should go there unconditionally. In fact, is there a trustworthy group coordinating such relief now? I don't want to go through a leftist America-hating group.
Posted by: jackal   2004-12-26 6:31:00 PM  

#35  Nineteen aftershocks so far, all above 5.0. Two are above 7.0. Source is here. Original quake has been revised up to 9.0 by USGS. That'll shake your martini a bit too much!
Posted by: Old Patriot   2004-12-26 6:20:25 PM  

#34  My sentiments exactly, Adriane. What makes Americans so decent as a people is that (among other things) when someone needs help, we help. Doesn't matter whether you have a turban on your head or not. We must never lose that.
Posted by: Steve White   2004-12-26 6:11:50 PM  

#33  I'm just never bin real sexy.
Posted by: Chopped Liver In Dafur   2004-12-26 5:42:30 PM  

#32  If this were an act of terrorism, possibly I could agree that our aid be less than forthcoming. Cause meet Effect. But an earthquake? A tidal wave?

Why become the shriveled souls the Anti-American press tells everyone we are, when living happy, generous lives is so much more fun? My prayers go out to both the victims and their rescuers and as soon as I can find a reputable coordinator, my charity will go out too.

And while I also think the world would be much better off with transparent governments and free economies, I don't think people picking up dead bodies of loved ones are in a receptive mood for the PAD lecture.
Posted by: Adriane   2004-12-26 5:01:51 PM  

#31  Looks like Christian hatingpersecuting countries (including large sections of Hindu poplulated India) to me. It's payback time via in quadrapule biblical proportions. I have no sympathy. Where is the sympathy when the Christians are getting their heads cut off in these affected countries? Then these bastards cut their d**ks off and shoves into the mouth of the decaputated head, for display. I have been watching the persecution, helplessly, for years and years, now. Kiss my a**. Everyone of you Christian/Jew hating Mooselimbs can die for all I care.

Diego Garcia is the exception. I pray that our beloved military are able to escape the island.
Posted by: Poison Reverse   2004-12-26 3:12:40 PM  

#30  I'll play my ultra-cynical card over here in this thread too.

Maybe it's time to drop all pretenses and tie any foreign disaster relief to full cooperation with anti-terror efforts. Ruthless? You betcha. Then again, so is the enemy and all those who soft-pedal the Islamist cause.

It's time to get concessions over who's patroling the Malacca Straits. Let's see if Bashir might be available for some stateside interrogation. This is QUID PRO QUO TIME.

I have no problem dumping a few billion American taxpayer dollars onto this natural disaster. But remember, the tremendous loss of life from this quake is also directly linked to the same corrupt governments whose graft and preferential treatment are breeding up the terrorists.

The routine diversion of funds that could have built better civil engineering projects (although that might not have helped too much against an 8.9) and, especially, put in place disaster-relief provisions, medical centers and staff is one of the things that exacerbates Islamist unrest.

If we are going to help these countries rebuild, it had best be on our own terms. Very few of them are providing much more than lipservice in fighting terrorism. It's time to change the pattern of minimal compliance and spark some real enthusiasm.

Through blunt force trauma (i.e., 9-11), America has been forced to begin rebuilding this world in our own image. However ethnocentric it may sound, the US's vision of global democracy beats the living snot out of all the alternatives, especially those that continue to foster terrorism.

This is a golden opportunity to step forward with a helping hand that intentionally pulls all disaster aid recipients towards our side. Cynical? Yup! Machievellian? Bingo! Self-preserving? You got it!

If America is obliged to do all of the heavy lifting, it's time to make the exertion count. Communist China does not have the bandwidth or will to step into the breach and help on the scale needed. All smaller countries cannot possibly make any sort of dent in this human tragedy that America can.

If we're going to play the bleeding heart one more time, it's time to begin charging for our blood donations. We no longer have the luxury of pretending that unaccountable foreign aid spending (even in the form of disaster relief) permits us to assure ourselves that we are fighting the poverty, intolerance and corruption that spawns terrorism.

This time, let's finally attach a realistic price tag to our help.
Posted by: Zenster   2004-12-26 2:43:13 PM  

#29  The death toll is over 11,000 now.
Quake, Tsunami Devastate Asia; Over 11,300 Dead
Posted by: ed   2004-12-26 2:42:05 PM  

#28  Diego Garcia will be pretty hard hit. It's only 3 or 4 feet above sea level and the tidal wave did damage all the way to the African coast. With any warning, the people should do fine in bomb shelters, but aircraft, hangers, maintence equipment and supplies will take a beating. One mitigating factor is the the wave will have to wash over the eastern arm of the island and the lagoon before reaching the airbase.
Two other concerns are:
1. Did the aircraft make it off the island, especially the bombers.
2. Were the prepositioning ships (2 brigade's worth of equipment?) able to turn their bows into the tidal wave?
Posted by: ed   2004-12-26 2:37:08 PM  

#27  Rumsfeld's fault.
Posted by: Capt America   2004-12-26 1:41:45 PM  

#26  Here's a map of the region, including the sea floor. It's a map of the world, split into sections, and the section is unfortunately placed for our purposes (scroll down to see other sections, or the whole world). But you can see that the ocean floor rises just east of the Maldives, allowing waves to reach those islands. The situation is not quite so bad for DG, south of the Maldives. I don't know if "not quite so bad" will be good enough.

This page has images of Diego Garcia (second picture down). You can see that a tsunami would be seriously bad news there.
Posted by: Angie Schultz   2004-12-26 1:05:40 PM  

#25  
Diego Garcia
7°20'S 72°25'E
Diego Garcia
"Camp Justice"

Diego Garcia is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) formed in 1965 from territory belonging formerly to Mauritius and the Seychelles. The island is one of 52 in the Chagos Archipelago, which extends over an area of 10,000 square miles. The archipelago is located in the heart of the Indian Ocean, south of India and between Africa and Indonesia. The tropical island is a narrow coral atoll with a land area of about eleven square miles, nearly enclosing a lagoon. Its configuration is that of a "V" drawn by a shaky hand. The island stretches 37 miles from tip to tip, with an opening to the north-northwest. Three small islands dot the mouth of the lagoon which is approximately 13 miles long and up to 6 miles wide. The lagoon is from sixty to one hundred feet deep with numerous coral heads in most areas. Shallow reefs surround the island on the ocean side, as well as in the lagoon. The island's mean height above sea level is 4 feet.

Diego Garcia is the largest of many atolls that form the Chagos Archipelago. The horseshoe- shaped atoll is located seven degrees south of the equator in the North Central Region of the Indian Ocean. It is heavily vegetated, has a land area of 6,720 acres and is 37 miles long, tip- to-tip. The maximum elevation is 22 feet, with an average elevation of four feet above sea level. The enclosed lagoon is approximately seven miles wide and thirteen miles long. The three small islands at the mouth of the lagoon and the shape of the atoll give the impression of a footprint, hence the term “Footprint of Freedom”.


So we are talking a lagoon
60 to 100 feet deep
shallow reefs -- the slope com was worried about as worst case seems to be true.
average height of 4 feet
1,700 military personnel and 1,500 civilian contractors in normal times (and these are anything but.)
B2s, B52s, P3s KC-135s
Maritime Prepositioning Ship
Squadron Two


The Provisional Peoples' Democratic Republic of Diego Garcia

another off beat site

All these beg the question.
are our troops and planes and ships alright on Deigo Garcia?
The 4ft above sealevel doesn't leave one feeling too confortable about it.

Posted by: 3dc   2004-12-26 12:48:32 PM  

#24  Kathy: I'm sure you already know by now that Phuket suffered severe damage. If you're curious, here are 60 photos from that area.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste   2004-12-26 12:47:02 PM  

#23  Wikipedia on the Richter Magnitude Scale...
Posted by: .com   2004-12-26 11:31:58 AM  

#22  BTW, Fred - the USGS is the source of the upgraded magnitude from 8.5 to 8.9, as reflected on their site, so it's legit.
Posted by: .com   2004-12-26 11:26:07 AM  

#21  This map shows it pretty well. Epicenters were on the Northern tip of Indonesia - Western side...

Obviously, The Maldives, full of tourists at this time of year, would've gotten hit very hard, too.
Posted by: .com   2004-12-26 11:24:40 AM  

#20  WSW and nothing in between - you bet it was. The question is the subsurface terrain - is Diego Garcia a steep seamount - or is a flatter seamount with extended shallows offshore. The latter would be very, very bad...
Posted by: .com   2004-12-26 11:21:47 AM  

#19  Was Diego Garcia hit too?
Posted by: 3dc   2004-12-26 11:18:15 AM  

#18  This map is probably the best available for that region. Combined with Sea's link to the USGS you get an excellent picture of what areas are worst hit. Sri Lanka is, unfortunately, square in the middle of the zone for all the quakes.
Posted by: .com   2004-12-26 11:16:50 AM  

#17  an 8.9 would take down our best earthquake-engineered structures...truly monstrous
Posted by: Frank G   2004-12-26 10:56:58 AM  

#16  7.0+ aftershocks! This will be a tragedy of biblical proportions.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2004-12-26 10:53:31 AM  

#15  I'm just letting the articles stack up. The numbers keep rising...
Posted by: Fred   2004-12-26 10:51:34 AM  

#14  Thanks, Fred; I think this needs page 1.
Posted by: Phil Fraering   2004-12-26 10:51:28 AM  

#13  Latest number from Fox is 8700 confirmed dead.
Posted by: .com   2004-12-26 10:39:00 AM  

#12  Fred - Can you wipe all the duped articles on this story and make this the sole thread? The confusion will be reduced dramatically.
Posted by: .com   2004-12-26 10:37:50 AM  

#11  Normally I don't put signs and portents on Page 1, but this makes anything the terrs can do look pale.
Posted by: Fred   2004-12-26 10:24:07 AM  

#10  And now saying at least 7000 dead.
Posted by: .com   2004-12-26 10:23:10 AM  

#9  Fox just reported that 200 bungalows were swept out to sea from Ko Samui (If that's where they made "The Beach") - few specifics but the language being used and the hushed tones indicate horrific loss of life...

Saying 6000 dead and expected to rise much higher.

Kathy - the people I am in contact with are up North in the mountains, Chaing Mai - so this will not have affected them at all. Since it was on the Indian side of the peninsula, nothing in the Bay of Thailand was affected. With 90% of Bangkok less than 3 ft above sea level, well - it would have been horrific.

TS ViceGirl and Lone Ranger are in Bangkok, IIRC - I hope they will share the details they hear.

This is the time of year when Phuket and the island resorts on the Indian side are full of Europeans - and I mean full. I tried to get reservations for the 2003 Christmas period and everything down there had been booked up since September by the Europeans with their group-purchase holiday clubs.

Much worse hit will be Sri Lanka and everything coastal in Southern India, Bangladesh, etc. Given the centers of the quakes, there was nothing to deflect the waves for that entire region. Myanmar, with its totalitarian regime and little news coverage may have been hit very hard, as well. The death toll is going to be staggering, I'm afraid.
Posted by: .com   2004-12-26 10:18:32 AM  

#8  Phukets been hit pretty bad from the news reports i have seen.
Posted by: God Save The World   2004-12-26 9:57:39 AM  

#7  .com,
If you hear anything about Phuket and other southern Thai areas -- especially anything we can do to help, please send me a note! Thanks. I've got e-mail out to friends but I don't expect they are likely to be getting online to surf anytime soon.
Posted by: Kathy K   2004-12-26 9:42:20 AM  

#6  Magnitude now 8.9. Death toll in the thousands.
Since we can't trust the ICRTC, how can we help?
Posted by: jackal   2004-12-26 9:38:42 AM  

#5  Up lens 3.234 degrees, azumuth unchanged, change the polarity on the Shamit Projector to Sideways, your code is, ACMEFOREVER, shake for effect.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-12-26 9:22:08 AM  

#4  Maybe Allan's not happy with you Moose Limbs?
Posted by: Frank G   2004-12-26 9:05:32 AM  

#3  Ok, who's been playing with the Seismotron HAARP projector Zionist earthquake machine again?
(mutters to self) I see I'm going to have to change all the passwords again, dammit!
Posted by: N Guard   2004-12-26 7:34:02 AM  

#2  Page 1, Sea? *snicker*
Posted by: .com   2004-12-26 4:06:31 AM  

#1  Sounds like the mythical global warming is the least of their worries.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2004-12-26 2:40:50 AM  

00:00