tsunami disaster and appeal

[Sazar]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/26/asia.quake/index.html

Massive tsunamis triggered by the largest earthquake to shake the planet in more than 40 years wiped out coastal areas across Southeast Asia as far as 1,000 miles away, killing more than 4,700 people.

Most of the deaths were in Sri Lanka and India.

The initial quake, measuring 8.9 in magnitude, struck about 100 miles (160 km) off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island around 7 a.m. Sunday (0000 GMT), according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center.

It is the fifth largest earthquake in recorded history, according to the NEIC. The measurements have been taken since 1899.

Sri Lankan military authorities are reporting more than 2,400 people killed, most of them in the eastern district of Batticaloa. Several districts in the country's south have still not reported casualty figures, and authorities fear the death toll could rise.

scary scenario...

my parents live off the coast of africa and they got slammed by tsunami's there

fortunately everyone is ok but the phone lines are shot... I barely managed to get 5 mins in before the phone cut out... thankfully they confirmed they were safe... our house over there is right on the sea-shore but it was the other side of the main island the got hit...

hopefully south-east asia and the sub-continent will not suffer too long from this and the after-effects will be limited...

gotta go make a donation now when places open up tomorrow...

 

[delta4s]

yes its bad, a couple of my friends live in Chennai where around 70 ppl died.I havent heard from them yet. I hope everyones fine. The unofficial toll is around 3000 ppl in India.

 

[Elektro Slime]

wow, and it all happened in a matter of minutes. makes you think of what would have happened if it was for longer. But thank God it wasn't.

 

[American Zombie]

Death toll is around 10,000 now.

 

[Elektro Slime]

oh boy! its gonna get even worse in a few days, unless relief efforts start straight away. Also wasnt the quake a 8.9? thats huge, largest in 40 years!

 

[muzikool]

That was a major, major quake. I was very saddened to hear of it this morning. I've got a couple of friends from Texas who actually went to Thailand this week. Thankfully they were in the northern part and didn't have any quakes or tsunamis there. I really hope that this doesn't create any strain on the plate along the West Coast... California obviously gets its fair share of quakes.

 

[desie]

Aprently my brother was saying that when the moon gets closer to Earth as it's in orbit at certain times of the year it causes stresses to build up in them tectonic plate areas. Don't know if thats the cause interesting theory.

My heart goes out to all the people that were cought out in it. Must be bad for them, come on Bill Gates donate your money!

 

[Jewelzz]

Don't we, OSNN, have a few members who just went to India?

 

[LeeJend]

SAZAR good idea, but why wait until tomorrow -

International Red Cross web site. You can slect a specific target area. I checked area most in need figuring it should get used for the Tsunami victims. ICRC may put up a specific check box for Tsunami tomorrow if you want to wait.

http://www.icrc.org/Web/Forms/webfo...256E2B00394093&action=Operations most in need

If $25 is a little steep right after christmas you can write in a smaller amount.

And as always the ICRC is a tax deductible contribution.

 

[Perris Calderon]

they'll need all the help they can get...time to give

 

[NetRyder]

Really scary news.
Here's a useful link if you'd like to help: http://www.command-post.org/nk/2_archives/018256.html

come on Bill Gates donate your money!

Not sure about Gates himself, but Microsoft, as a company, matches any such contributions or donations made by its employees.

Don't we, OSNN, have a few members who just went to India?

Omar, Bilal and Hasan (aka Grandmaster, ~bk and hsn) are in Pakistan. They should be fine, fortunately.

 

[delta4s]

Toll is 20,000 now according to CNN. Hundreds of fishermen are missing in my home state (AP) Fortunately, y friend who went to Chennai are safe. They say that anyone within 500 m of the beach was swallowed. Kids playing cricket on a Sunday morning were also drowned. Really sad

@Elektro Slime: The quake was 8.9 under the sea. Had it been on land the effect would have been much more devastating.

 

[FishBoy]

Don't we, OSNN, have a few members who just went to India?

i think they were ~bk and the other vancouver guys but i think they went to pakistan not india

 

[Dublex]

The death toll is over 20,000 now according to the times website

The worse hit are probably the smaller islands like the maldese islands where the main fishing / tourism industries have probably been obliverated - or at least signifcantly damaged - all the workers were probably wiped out by the tidal waves.

It just goes to show what nature can do when it gets going.

 

[Elektro Slime]

pray it doesnt get any worse.

 

[xsivforce]

Absolutely horrific.

 

[Sazar]

i think they were ~bk and the other vancouver guys but i think they went to pakistan not india

as is I think they would have been on the west coast so they likely would have been safe... thankfully...

 

[NetRyder]

i think they were ~bk and the other vancouver guys but i think they went to pakistan not india

Calgary.

 

[ming]

According to my friend, Jet Li (Actor) was apparently in Thailand at the time of the earthquake and Hong Kong (probably film studios) had lost contact with him on Sunday. I'm wondering if there were any other actors in those affected areas.

Sad to hear of such tragedy to all those people who've lost their lives due to the tsunami.

 

[Black-Syth]

We're offically over 24,000 dead. Last few years have been harsh. People at work are actually thinking that it's the end of the world. Crazy stuff. My heart goes out to the victims.