Archived material Access restricted Article
Rantburg

Today's Front Page   View All of Sat 05/27/2006 View Fri 05/26/2006 View Thu 05/25/2006 View Wed 05/24/2006 View Tue 05/23/2006 View Mon 05/22/2006 View Sun 05/21/2006
1
2006-05-27 Southeast Asia
Halliburton Earthquake Division is at it again
Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.
Posted by Glenmore 2006-05-27 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11133 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 I wonder if this presages a major eruption of Merapi, which has been bubbling along for weeks.
Posted by phil_b">phil_b  2006-05-27 00:38|| http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]">[http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]  2006-05-27 00:38|| Front Page Top

#2 just Allah - repeating his displeasure til the muzzies get it
Posted by Frank G">Frank G  2006-05-27 00:41||   2006-05-27 00:41|| Front Page Top

#3 Toll up to 115 161 and climbing...
Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious  2006-05-27 00:41||   2006-05-27 00:41|| Front Page Top

#4 An Internet kook predicted a massive earthquake on the 25th that would result in a tidal wave that would wipe out the eastern seaboard. Today, he said that the 25th was the start of a 48-hour window.

And if you felt even a tinge of concern when you read that, he reached this great conclusion psychically.
Posted by Anonymoose 2006-05-27 00:49||   2006-05-27 00:49|| Front Page Top

#5 An Internet kook

was it a certain former VP?
Posted by Frank G">Frank G  2006-05-27 00:51||   2006-05-27 00:51|| Front Page Top

#6 It's already the 27th in Indonesia.
Posted by phil_b">phil_b  2006-05-27 01:24|| http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]">[http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]  2006-05-27 01:24|| Front Page Top

#7 Now 450.
Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious  2006-05-27 03:07||   2006-05-27 03:07|| Front Page Top

#8 The Jakarta Post is reporting 1400 dead. Merapi had an upsurge in eruption in the hours of the quake.
Posted by phil_b">phil_b  2006-05-27 04:54|| http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]">[http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]  2006-05-27 04:54|| Front Page Top

#9 Did the kook also extend the window on the astroid he claimed
would crash into the ocean and cause the tidal wave?
Posted by junkirony 2006-05-27 05:40||   2006-05-27 05:40|| Front Page Top

#10 An Internet kook

was it a certain former VP?

It was an "Eric Julien", an ex-french army air controller turned ufo guru (and perhaps a raelian), announcing a comet impact just in time for my birthday.
Posted by anonymous5089 2006-05-27 05:48||   2006-05-27 05:48|| Front Page Top

#11 This could be any where on the ring of fire (where I also live.) We can make fun top quiet our disease, but next time you pass a burnt out home multipliy that hundreds of times and ad in fatalities. I hope the light bulb goes on for you. There but for the grace of G_d go you too. You and your family too could end up with nothing but the clothes on your back far up Shitz Creek.

I won't be hitting the Red Cross with money this time. Let their coreligionists care for them, or not.

I will not ridicule them in their suffering. I am pretty sure that is one of the seven deadly ones and my karma sucks as it is.
Posted by Sock Puppet of Doom 2006-05-27 06:00||   2006-05-27 06:00|| Front Page Top

#12 I beg to differ SPoD. Have a magnitude 6.4 quake most places and it is a few dozen dead. Have one in a muslim country and its thousands or tens of thousands dead. The variable aint the earthquake.
Posted by phil_b">phil_b  2006-05-27 06:14|| http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]">[http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]  2006-05-27 06:14|| Front Page Top

#13 "Last Updated: Saturday, 27 May 2006, 08:59 GMT 09:59 UK
Hundreds die in Indonesian quake

More than 2,200 people have been killed and thousands more injured by a strong earthquake that struck the Indonesian island of Java, officials have said.

The quake, measuring 6.2, flattened buildings in a densely-populated area near the city of Yogyakarta on the southern coast of Java."

If this hit places in central California you could see hundreds of dead. Not thousands but hundreds. You might have very large number of person with out homes or food and water however.

By the way phil_b how much training have you had a a first responder in case of earthquake? I have had training provided by the State of California. This can happen in in a 6.5 quake right here in central California. People in my state and county plan and train for it and much, much worse. They don't plan for if they plan for when.

I don't plan on acting snarky and feeling superior. I live to close near to several faults the San Andreas being only one.
Posted by Sock Puppet of Doom 2006-05-27 06:49||   2006-05-27 06:49|| Front Page Top

#14 I'm with SPoD on this one. I've been in mag 6 and mag 7 quakes in California ... have one hit at just the right place and we would see major casualties and chaos.

Whatever the cause for the poor building codes (fatalism, poverty ....) that's thousands of human beings who are now dead, and children who've been orphaned etc.
Posted by lotp 2006-05-27 07:04||   2006-05-27 07:04|| Front Page Top

#15 My brother used to live on Elm Street in Berkley, less than a kilometer from the San Andreas fault. I asked him once, don't you worry about earthquakes. His response was the house is made out of wood and nobody keeps anything heavy in the upstairs rooms.

My point being that deaths from earthquakes are a largely solvable problem. The fact that Indonesia hasn't solved them means both they are responsible for the deaths and they will get to portray themselves as the eternal victims with the consequent myriad opportunities for graft and corruption.
Posted by phil_b">phil_b  2006-05-27 07:19|| http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]">[http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]  2006-05-27 07:19|| Front Page Top

#16 Sure they're solvable ... if you have less dense population and 2 story wood houses to deal with, plus are wealthy. My in-laws built their small 2 story home on the top of the hillside north of Berkeley back in 51 and it's remained intact throughout a dozen or more quakes. Of course, as is the case with Berkeley, they are built pretty much on bedrock. My mother-in-law's parents did fine in the Richmond district of San Francisco in their 2 story home as have my sister-in-law and her husband over in Marin County.

At a price.

One major reason for the sprawl in Silicon Valley and elsewhere in California is the building code that imposes very expensive conditions on buildings more than 2 stories high. The result has been the destruction of lovely mature orchards, the loss of a lot of fertile agricultural land and a lot of runoff into the Bay because of all the paved surface, but those 2 story buildings with paved outdoor parking lots rather than parking structures don't tend to fall down in quakes. So yeah, it can be done if you're willing and able to pay the price and have the flat land to build out onto.

No doubt the victim card will be played and graft will ensue. For my part, though, I will continue to feel sorry for those who have lost loved ones this way. Even here, deaths in quakes are in part a matter of luck. My in-laws were the 2nd car back from the edge when a section of the Oakland Bay Bridge collapsed in the last big one to hit the SF Bay area, the 7.1 Loma Prieta quake. Quite literally feet away from death. When you've been in one like that -- and I was driving through Coalinga when that 6.7 quake hit and all the historic brick buildings began to collapse around us -- you develop a healthy respect for the random element that also plays a part. In Coalinga, the first wave literally moved our car sideways a full lane while we were moving at 45 mph. I *saw* the movement of the earth in front of us as it happened. I was in the Santa Cruz mountains visiting a friend when the 6.5 hit that sent the homes near us sliding and crashing down the hillsides. (Hint: homes in that part of the Santa Cruz mountains tend to be expensive, recently built and to code.)

Anyway, 2500 people died in Java yestereday and their loved ones have my sympathy.
Posted by lotp 2006-05-27 08:11||   2006-05-27 08:11|| Front Page Top

#17 I'm with SPoD on this one too; my snarky title is a 'whistling past the graveyard' kind of thing - sort of like the Halliburton Weather Division was just testing things here in New Orleans last August.
Posted by Glenmore">Glenmore  2006-05-27 08:28||   2006-05-27 08:28|| Front Page Top

#18 Tell me about it.
Posted by Matt 2006-05-27 10:03||   2006-05-27 10:03|| Front Page Top

#19 2900 is the lastest number I heard. My best wishes to the survivors -- they won't be getting much useful help from outside after everyone who can takes their bit off the top.
Posted by trailing wife 2006-05-27 10:53||   2006-05-27 10:53|| Front Page Top

#20 It's a no win situation. If you send money - it doesn't get to them. It's heartbreaking.
Posted by 2b 2006-05-27 11:01||   2006-05-27 11:01|| Front Page Top

#21 a 7.0 is 10 times as strong as a 6.0 - your stucco/wood single family homes should make it through a 7. These poor bastards live in hovels barely held together. Our snark is that rather than channel their energy and money to aid the victims, their muslim brethren will continue the fight for the Cliphate and blame us for not taking total care of the victims. I won't contribute a single dollar. Been there, done that for the tidal wave
Posted by Frank G">Frank G  2006-05-27 11:26||   2006-05-27 11:26|| Front Page Top

#22 Understood, Frank. I did the same and will do the same this time around.
Posted by lotp 2006-05-27 13:14||   2006-05-27 13:14|| Front Page Top

#23 Frank, I believe the increase in energy released is 32X for each increase of 1 in the Richter scale. A 7.0 is 32 releases 32 times as much energy as a 6.0. Examples are at the bottom of this page.

What really matters is the Mercalli number for the damage sustained. A 9.0 in the middle of the cocean with no resulting tsunami creates no damage, whereas a 7.0 was sufficent to bring down the Cypress Freeway in Oakland. Like everything in real estate, location, location, location.

For those of you in California, if you haven't been to the Earthquake Trail at Point Reyes Seashore, the epicenter of the 1906 quake, you're missing a treat.
Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-05-27 13:31||   2006-05-27 13:31|| Front Page Top

#24 NS - that's (32X) different than I recall, but seems to authoritative, so I'll buy it. I do know the current codes are designed to maintain a safe exitable (with damage) building, not a quake proof building. Current Calif code is 2003 and most structures should make it to 7-7.5 depending on yes, intensity and type of seismic wave/shaking. Uplift and liquifaction matter, especially liquifaction for high-rises and heavy structures on saturated soils...hello L.A. and S.F.! Your normal house will have cracked stucco, some wall damage, and windows broken, but you are actually more at risk from shelves, book cases, etc. falling and fires from severed gas lines (with little water to put them out...)
Posted by Frank G">Frank G  2006-05-27 15:29||   2006-05-27 15:29|| Front Page Top

#25 Frank, the other big issue is water. In a big one I have no confidence that there will not be a major disruption in water distribution, particularly on the penninsula. Keep those hot water heaters bolted to the walls.

Regarding liquifation, the interesting Loma Prrieta result was the lack of damage in Foster City. A building in Redwood Shores I worked at sat 6 inches above its pre-quake level. As a result, after 3d ay weekends there was the distinct odor of methane in the building until the AC had run for a couple of hours. But the Marina and Oakland paid.
Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-05-27 15:49||   2006-05-27 15:49|| Front Page Top

#26 if the bldg "rafts" it out, it doesn't get damaged as much....another reason for Post-Tensioned Slabs where liquifaction and expansive soils (clay) occur
Posted by Frank G">Frank G  2006-05-27 16:00||   2006-05-27 16:00|| Front Page Top

#27 I'm not at all surprised at another earthquake in the Indonesian archipelago. There are so many faults running through there it makes a geophysicist's heart race. I predicted back in December that the volcanos on Java and Sumatra would begin erupting about six to eight months after the big quake off the coast of Sumatra. SO it's only five months - big deal. After an event as massive as last December's earthquake, a lot of 'adjustments' have to be made to relieve stress. Additional earthquakes and volcanic activity are two ways that stress is relieved.
Posted by Old Patriot">Old Patriot  2006-05-27 17:58|| http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]">[http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]  2006-05-27 17:58|| Front Page Top

#28 OSHA FR and CERT team member.

Figure if it has hit the fan, then somone's got to do the scut work while the pros are busy with the difficult stuff. May as well be me.

Got a "go" locker in the trunk - smaller Medical go-bag rucksack (complete with our ugly green CERT team hardhat and orange reflective vest), half a dozen MREs and coastie approved water rations stored in a cheap cooler, a wrecking bar, and a tac vest with a k-bar and other stuff on it, as well as a light kevlar under-vest if needed. And a stout japanese hard oak "walking stick" that happens to double as a jo staff for places I cant carry my CCW. Oh and the CCW: Kimber (40 S&W) concealed carry stays with me IWB mostly, or kangaroo pouch if I dont care about it being a little obvious.

Theres also a 12ga 870 with an 18 inch barrel and tac grip and flashlight (with bandolier holding #8, 00, and deer slugs) but it stays in the lockbox in the trunk, with the military flap holster and Glock 23 (40S&W same as the kimber) on a drop leg extension and a standard military pistol belt. I hope I never need those - if Im using those items, then something has gone very very wrong.

If Im headed to a military facility, then I have to drop off the bang bang stuff in a storage place nearby.

Yup. Ready to go. Disasters and jackals that prey on them, ready to handle either.
Posted by Oldspook 2006-05-27 19:02||   2006-05-27 19:02|| Front Page Top

#29 Hate the hot weather though - tends to warp the stick, and kills the shelf life of the ammo and the MREs.
Posted by Oldspook 2006-05-27 19:06||   2006-05-27 19:06|| Front Page Top

#30 Frank is right (sort of). The Richter scale measures the magnitude of an earthquake (more or less how much the earth moves) on a base 10 log scale. A magnitude 6 quake is ten time bigger than a magnitude 5 quake. However a mag 6 quake releases something like 32 times as much energy as a mag 5 quake.
Posted by phil_b">phil_b  2006-05-27 19:21|| http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]">[http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]  2006-05-27 19:21|| Front Page Top

#31 So it takes 32 times as much energy to make the earth move 10 times as much? (Serious question) So what is the Richter Scale measuring when it measures "magnitude" or "moving the earth"? I thought it was the energy released as the movement in the earth depended on the specific geological structures between the epicenter and the surface.
Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-05-27 21:25||   2006-05-27 21:25|| Front Page Top

00:04 Broadhead6
23:37 trailing wife
23:34 Sock Puppet of Doom
23:31 Frank G
23:27 Sock Puppet of Doom
23:17 3dc
23:16 trailing wife
23:07 trailing wife
22:52 Fordesque
22:50 Sock Puppet of Doom
22:48 trailing wife
22:35 John F. Kerry
22:27 gromgoru
22:12 JesseMacbethSr.
22:04 gromgoru
22:02 N guard
22:00 Oldspook
21:58 Tibor
21:55 Hyperfine
21:52 Slairong Snomomp1070
21:52 Frank G
21:51 JosephMendiola
21:49 Slairong Snomomp1070
21:25 Nimble Spemble









Paypal:
Google
Search WWW Search rantburg.com