Biggest earthquake in 40 years hits Southeast Asia - Part 2

[Ming]

Continued from:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=127339

And to repeat my warning from the last thread...

Discuss things in a civil fashion. Take your political agenda's, trolling, and personal attacks somewhere else.

[Boris Godunov]

So it seems the guy who hired me in my current job (he quit shortly thereafter to vacation for 3 months in SE Asia)was in Thailand and is currently MIA.

[Sava]

The media is saying up to 10x the death toll could die from disease in the coming week. That's just terrible.

And I do think the US could do more...

Anyone have any reputable links where I can view Tsunami footage?

[GePap]

Some of the predictions of death may be inflated- thought at this point getting to 150,000 is not out of hand, depending on just how many dead are found in Aceh.

[Az]

Personally, I think that the estimates of "GAZILLION PEOPLE DYING FROM DESEASE IN TWO DAYS" are a load of crap. People are very resilient.

[Chemical Ollie]

Sorry to hear that Boris. I tried to send an E-mail to a colleague last week, but got the auto-reply "On Holiday - back in business on January 10" . Today I heard that she lost her son to the Wave, and they know he was on the beach when it happened, so the hope to find him alive is minimal.

This is truly a global disaster. Some local events, mostly in Bangladesh, might have been in the similar magnitude as the current (but increasing) death toll. And of course, there were uncountable wars and genocides that were much worse, several in the last 20 years.

Still, you feel so small when this happens. No event since WW2 effected such a large area. I hardly believe there is enough helicopters in the world to cover the 2 continents and 1000's of remote islands involved. The help will go to the mostly populated and easiest reachable areas, while other places with a total of 10 000's of victims will be totally ignored.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Azazel
Personally, I think that the estimates of "GAZILLION PEOPLE DYING FROM DESEASE IN TWO DAYS" are a load of crap. People are very resilient.

Maybe, but I'd rather people THINK that will be the case and then over prepare for combatting disease rather than the opposite and get caught off guard by epidemic.

[CiverDan]

Listening to the news there were showing the aerial footage of a section of the area around and north of Meloubah. Basically entire towns are gone over a distance of 100+ miles. While the population of Meloubah itself may only be 30-40K, the entire west coast probably contained hundreds of thousands of people. I agree a few of these predictions may be inflated, but the fatality rate from to meluobah north to the provincal capital in likely to be higher than anywhere else in the region, except possibly some of the smaller islands without any modern infrastructure. (by the way, this is probably what kept the Maldives casualities down, as I believe some of that island is more modern in regards to infrastructure).

IFAIK this region as a whole has not been accessible by ground. If you look an an Indonisean map you can understand why: Just one long north-south road along the west coast with no connection easterly through the mountains. With the road destroyed in many places nothing has gotten there. I believe a few areas of Sri Lanka have the same problem.

[Chemical Ollie]

Add disagreements between government and rebels in Sri Lanka and Aceh, and the death tolls might be underestimated. Do the official number include the rebel controlled areas at all?

I've also heard that the mine fields on Sri Lanka have been moved by the Wave. Previosly, the mine fields were well known and easily avoided, but now the mines are spread all over the place. So before they can start to look for bodies, rescue workers have to look for land mines.

[Mr. Harley]

Healthy adults are resiliant. Small children, the old, and people already seriously injured are not. Plus medical facilities are either over-taxed or non-existant. Imagine having lost your spouse, and then losing all your children under the age of 12. Corpses seriously contaminate water, and for a considerable time even after they are removed. I will not be surprised if the total death toll including disease exceeds 200,000 when they are done.

[Hueij]

When I got home from work this evening the guy sitting across me in the train told me he lost his niece. Two of the party she was with are still missing, only one survived.

[Drake Tungsten]

Originally posted by Sava
Anyone have any reputable links where I can view Tsunami footage?

http://jlgolson.blogspot.com/2004/12/tsunami-video.html

[Giancarlo]

There was a cyclone that hit Bangladesh in 1991 that killed 138,000 from what I have read...

More updates:

http://reuters.myway.com/article/20041230/2004-12-30T213608Z_01_L29719800_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-QUAKE-DC.html

[BlackCat]

Originally posted by Giancarlo
There was a cyclone that hit Bangladesh in 1991 that killed 138,000 from what I have read...

More updates:

http://reuters.myway.com/article/200...-QUAKE-DC.html

Post it in the Political thread and you may have a respond - Ming is watching

[BlackCat]

Just heard on the radio that current worldwide aid is approx 2.26 Bill $ and that current loans for the involved countries will be forgiven (doesn't help now, but will in the long run)