we were reading a thai forum and apparantly just before the tsunami hit the beaches all dried up when the water receded. many people not knowing what was happening went out to look at the coral reefs that were previously underwater...
"there was no official alert system in the region because such catastrophes only happen there about once every 700 years, said Charles McCreery, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's center in Honolulu.
Within moments of detecting the quake, McCreery and his staff were on the phone to Australia, then to U.S. Naval officials, various U.S. embassies and finally the U.S. State Department.
They were unable to reach the thousands in the countries most severely affected--including India, Thailand and Sri Lanka--because none had a tsunami warning mechanism or tidal gauges to alert people, he said.
We actually issued a bulletin about the quake but it only went to the countries in the Pacific...that subscribe...and that would include Australia and Indonesia," McCreery said.
...because large tsunamis, or seismic sea waves, are extremely rare in the Indian Ocean, people were never taught to flee inland after they felt the tremors of an earthquake.
It takes a substantial investment and long-term commitment to set up a 24-hour communications infrastructure, operational capabilities and specialized training, he added, declining to estimate the cost.
In addition, U.S. seismologists said it was unlikely the Indian Ocean region would be hit any time soon by a similarly devastating tsunami because it takes an enormously strong earthquake to generate one."
"there was no official alert system in the region because such catastrophes only happen there about once every 700 years, said Charles McCreery, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's center in Honolulu.
Within moments of detecting the quake, McCreery and his staff were on the phone to Australia, then to U.S. Naval officials, various U.S. embassies and finally the U.S. State Department.
They were unable to reach the thousands in the countries most severely affected--including India, Thailand and Sri Lanka--because none had a tsunami warning mechanism or tidal gauges to alert people, he said.
We actually issued a bulletin about the quake but it only went to the countries in the Pacific...that subscribe...and that would include Australia and Indonesia," McCreery said.
...because large tsunamis, or seismic sea waves, are extremely rare in the Indian Ocean, people were never taught to flee inland after they felt the tremors of an earthquake.
It takes a substantial investment and long-term commitment to set up a 24-hour communications infrastructure, operational capabilities and specialized training, he added, declining to estimate the cost.
In addition, U.S. seismologists said it was unlikely the Indian Ocean region would be hit any time soon by a similarly devastating tsunami because it takes an enormously strong earthquake to generate one."
, that's half the population of the city i live in
