Tsunamis Kill Thousands in Southeast Asia

[delmarrey]

12/26/04

JAKARTA, Indonesia_—_Rescue and recovery operations are underway after a massive earthquake off the coast of Indonesia's island of Sumatra (search) triggered tsunamis that slammed into resort towns and seaside villages throughout southern and southeast Asia.

More than 11,000 people are dead in seven countries, and the number of casualties continues to rise.

The 9.0-magnitude earthquake, the largest recorded in the world in 40 years, occurred at sea shortly after 8 a.m. local Sumatra time on Sunday, or around 8:00 p.m. EST Saturday evening. Experts can't say whether it was the initial temblor or the nine aftershocks, including one on Sumatra's northernmost tip that measured 7.3 on the Richter scale, that sparked the tsunamis, or ocean surface waves, which reached as high as 20 feet.

The waves traveled more than 3,000 miles in all and at speeds that could have reached as much as 500 miles per hour, National Earthquake Information Center Scientist-in-Chief Harley Benz told FOX News.

The tsunamis hit Sri Lanka (search), India, Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh (search), Malaysia (search) and the Maldives.

Eyewitnesses said the massive waves dragged people out to sea along with cars, buildings and bridges.

[sv_makai]

We spoke with one of our friends whose family lives in Sri lanka. Luckily his family was ok, but the devastation there is high.

He was unable to get through via landline, but was able to Skype and talk with his family.

[GordMay]

The Current Reported Death Toll - 23,962 as follows:
-10,000 Sri Lanka
--6,200 India
--2,500 Tamil Nadu
----866 Tailand
--4,350 Indonesia
-----46 Maldives

[GordMay]

From 'Lectronic Latitude http://www.latitude38.com/LectronicL...#anchor1085433

If you're worried about a loved one traveling in southern Asia, you can call a State Department hotline, or visit their Web site at http://travel.state.gov In the U.S. the hotline phone number is (888) 407-4747. From overseas, call (317) 472-2328.

The items that follow are from cruisers who are in the area.

[b]Death and Destruction in Phuke]/b]- December 27 - Phuket, Thailand
Reporting from Ao Nai Harn are Bill and Sam Fleetwood aboard Blue Banana out of Monterey:

"The giant earthquake which occurred off the west coast of Sumatra yesterday morning created a tsunami ('tidal' wave) which caused much damage, death, and destruction here in Phuket and throughout Southeast Asia. We heard the earthquake was the strongest, worldwide, in 40 years.

"We are anchored in a bay called Nai Harn. This is a deep bay and we had a lot of anchor chain out, which was fortunate. We had absolutely no prior warning of the probability of a tsunami. The first we knew of the event was when we looked out our port and saw that we and other boats were spinning crazily. We believe this was caused by the rapid outflow of water from the bay prior to the big wave. Then we heard screaming, so we climbed into the cockpit just in time to watch a giant wave devour the beach and cover the road behind the beach. Hundreds of people had been sunning and playing on the beach. They and a multitude of beach chairs, umbrellas, food and massage stands, restaurants, and clothing shops disappeared in an instant, as did cars. We hope all the bathers survived. We did hear that on a neighboring island over 200 people died in a similar environment. The restaurant where 200-300 of us had Christmas Eve dinner is completely gone as is the pizza place where we had eaten the previous night. Nothing remains ashore but concrete slabs.

"In the main bay, Ao Chalong, where we first anchored after arriving at Phuket, many boats were damaged, maybe some destroyed. There must have been at least 80 boats anchored here in our bay when the tsunami arrived, and none were lost. Almost all of us got our anchors up as quickly as possible and went to sea to avoid the possibility of other tsunamis from aftershocks. About five hours later we were back, after retrieving a deck load of plastic beach chairs, beach mats, boogie boards, etc., which had washed out and are littering the sea for miles. One boat thought they saw a body but it was just a mannequin.

"Our friends Phil and Janie on our sistership Tsolo are in a marina at the north end of Phuket. We heard the water there surged so high the docks almost floated off the tops of their pilings. We talked to Phil and Janie on our HF radio last night and they are okay.

"Of the three marinas at Langkawi, two of them, Telaga and Rebak, were totally destroyed with many boats severely damaged or sunk. The third marina, which is at the yacht club must have survived - a case of no news hopefully being good news.

"What a sad time for all here. Our boat radio frequencies are alive with rumors mixed with fact and no means to differentiate. The good news, which we know for certain, is that we and Blue Banana are just fine and were barely disturbed by all this."

No Drama in Harbor at Kuah - December 27 - Langkawi, Malaysia
Tom Scott of Nepenthe reports: "No worries. No drama. Just a quick note to let you know everything is fine after yesterday's earthquake and tidal wave. Here in Kuah, Langkawi, Malaysia the effects of the quake were minimal. I was on deck futzing around when the thing apparently arrived at Langkawi, but noticed absolutely nothing! Later on there was a very strong tidal stream: It is not often that Nepenthe can make 4-5 knots while at anchor. The harbor at Kuah is pretty much enclosed - maybe that had something to do with it. I understand that other parts of the island were not so lucky. The newspaper was delayed so I have only rumor at this point. Folks are saying that the marinas at Rebak and Pantai Kok both sustained significant damage."
Docks at Rebak Marina Gone

Langkawi, Malaysia
Long-time cruiser and Latitude correspondent Leslie King III forwarded this email from Mazrizal B. Othman, the assistant marina manager of the Marina Department at Rebak Marina in Langkawi:

"I sad to inform that there was TSUNAMI had hit Rebak Marina badly. All the dock is gone and resume operation is in progress. Boats will be lifted up onto hardstand as soon as possible. We will give you further news in the next few hours. Catamaran Bamboula has sunk and will try to re-float her."

[sy_gilana]

Does anbody know the condition of British registered sailboat "STEADFAST" somewhere in Thailand? Family of four on board?

[GordMay]

Sy_gilana:
Check out the CRUISER'S DISCUSSION FORUM - SAIL @ http://www.cruiserlog.com
Tho’ I didn’t note any mention of “Steadfast”, you may wish to post an enquiry, with all available details.

[GordMay]

A cruisers report, with incredible photographs, from the island of Phi Phi Don, Thailand.
http://www.yachtaragorn.com/Thailand.htm

Catherine York’s (“ARAGORN”), and Lou Evans’ “GAULTINE III” photos cover a one-minute span, and you can see how fast the water goes from ebbing hard to a wave standing toward the shore.

[GordMay]

URI Scientists Present Tsunami Expedition Results

The first research expedition to directly observe the seafloor near the epicenter of the earthquake that caused the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has revealed unexpected results that will dramatically improve forecasting of future tsunamis. Scientific results of the expedition were reported at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco on Dec. 5-6.
An international team of 27 scientists, led by Kate Moran of the University of Rhode Island and David Tappin of the British Geological Survey and including biologists, seismologists, geologists and tsunami modelers, spent 17 days at sea last May exploring the seafloor off the coast of Sumatra to gain a better understanding of the bottom deformation that led to the devastating tsunami. The team found significant differences between what they expected to find based on tsunami and earthquake observations and models and what they actually observed on the seafloor.
“This event marks a sea change in our understanding of giant earthquakes and the generation of tsunami waves because modern instruments recorded the quake better than ever before, and tsunami observations of wave heights, arrival times and coastal impact were rapidly gathered immediately after the event,” said Moran.
The research team found far fewer underwater landslides and generally less widespread disturbance of the seafloor than would have been expected given the size of the earthquake. “That might mean that we’re safer than we realize, because the material in that environment might be dissipating the seismic energy more than we thought,” Moran said.
Using the results of a British acoustic survey of the region conducted last February that identified disturbances on the seafloor, the researchers used remotely operated vehicles and other techniques to investigate those disturbances to determine if and how they played a role in the tsunami. One major underwater landslide they examined probably occurred more than 1,000 years ago, but in an area they called The Ditch they found large vertical displacements of the seafloor that were very fresh and were almost certainly the result of the Dec. 26 earthquake.
“In some places in The Ditch we found up to 12 meters of seafloor displacement, and that’s almost twice as high as seismologists predicted would have occurred,” said Stephan Grilli, an ocean engineering professor from the University of Rhode Island who led the team of tsunami modelers.
Based on the geologic information collected during the expedition and the observations and measurements made when the tsunami struck the coastline, Grilli refined his tsunami model to replicate the actual seafloor movements and tsunami waves generated in the Indian Ocean. The more accurate model has also been applied to forecast future tsunamis in other locations.
“The more we learn about the motion of the seafloor, the more we can improve tsunami forecasting and mitigation,” Grilli said. “It helps us improve tsunami warning systems by knowing where to put measurement gauges that will give us the necessary advanced warning.”
Grilli has applied his updated model to a fault off the Oregon coast called Cascadia, which has been moving 4 centimeters per year since the last large earthquake occurred in the area in 1700 and where seismologists have long predicted another large earthquake, possibly up to 9.2 in magnitude, could occur. The refined model now predicts that an earthquake of that size could generate tsunami wave run-ups of up to 30 meters in some locations along the Pacific Northwest coast – almost three times higher than previously predicted – and significant waves could reach as far away as Japan and Russia.
“Communities in Oregon and Washington have been anticipating waves of only 10 to 12 meters or so, but now they need to be even better prepared,” Grilli said.
Primary funding for the research expedition was provided by the BBC and Discovery Channel.
A documentary about the expedition will air on both channels on Dec. 18.