Earthquake kills more than 144,000 in Asia

[Ancelot]

it's rather important actually. the difference between St Peter and St Petersburg is as different as a quarter pounder in the US and in Europe. *Pulp Fiction. hur hur*

and yes.

God speed to the victims and their families.

So what should i say? Thanks?

Please put one's time down to moan the deaths..and understand the meaning of living our lives to the fullest and cherish the ones that are close to us before we lose them forever.

God bless everyone~

[terryansimon]

don't need to be so offensive. I was just merely highlighting the difference and it's rather huge significance. that's like saying LKY and LHL are the same people.

and as for mourning. if you'd noticed, I did say God speed to the victims on several of my post. my MSN nick has changed, and I even blogged substentially about it. if I could, I'll go there and help with rescue efforts. I already pledged my savings meant for a holiday to Europe to the rescue efforts. I'm not bragging here, but I'm in a state of mourning as well as one of my relatives did kenna in Penang. so please, don't teach your grandmother how to suck eggs.

cheers.

[ryz]

I think u mean mourn. not moan. moan is what u do when u feel deep pain or pleasure. lol.

and god speed is usually used for wishing people good luck when heading off for a competition, battle etc. don't think it's pertinently used here.

mourning is non productive.

please flame me.

[terryansimon]

you've been watching too many Armageddon shows lah.

it's used as a well wish, be it for mourning or happiness. basically implies that God be with them. which is rather apt seeing the current situation.

do refer to mr brown

cheers. (=

[Ancelot]

Sorry to know tat your relative has suffered in Penang.

"Dont teach your grandmother how to suck eggs??" How crude..

Anyway, I dont mean offensive either. Just wish that your relative is safe and sound and God bless him/her..

Keep me updated then dude...God bless you too!

[terryansimon]

it's an english proverb.

do look it up. (=

[Ancelot]

Haha..

Okie..

I think everyone is too sad now to even think about what they are typing. So maybe just be alittle forgiving on everyone's shortcomings in this topic..

I dont mean for myself but for anything in the future in this topic..

To talk about this catastrophe is raelly *ARGH* dont know where to begin...or maybe should not have begun..

[Dispar_Anthias]

yeah guys.... chill man..... how come a normal thread becomes a place where reefer get angry and on the verge of flaming each other

[seamonkee]

Haha..

Okie..

I think everyone is too sad now to even think about what they are typing. So maybe just be alittle forgiving on everyone's shortcomings in this topic..

I dont mean for myself but for anything in the future in this topic..

To talk about this catastrophe is raelly *ARGH* dont know where to begin...or maybe should not have begun..

Yup... esp if the thread is for us to give our condolences to the dead....

It goes to show that man's tongue is still the most destructive weapon.... or should I say in this case, man's typing?

[decentkid]

death toll now is >23,000

[ryz]

wow! I thought I heard 12,000 on the news? woah.

[minsmarine]

Guys,

Lets pray and help as much as we can. That's all we can do. Anyway, I don't know whether I can go down and donate my blood.

[andysho]

maybe man destroy mother nature

so now mother nature is showing us

do not take anything that belong to the nature

kekek

[Achilles Tang]

The death toll could go up much much higher.

I believe there are many many poor people in India or Sri Lanka in these coastal areas who are probably not even registered with their own government and may not show up in birth/death records & such.

[kee]

now its more then 20k... so scary man.. hope it will be calm soon.. if not more ppl will sure i duno my maldive fren is doing fine anot

[FuEl]

Amitabha.

[shoelevy]

eh...can i ask sth to ancelot and terryansimon?

r phrases like god speed and god bless christian phrases or used in general to wish people

btw...thai news here saes death toll 30000 leaw

[ryz]

The phrase was used to bid (wish) one ‘Godspeed,’ by uttering words such as ‘God speed (you). This would be used especially to express a wish for success of one setting out on a journey or enterprise or just as a general parting wish.

excerpt from wordwizard.com

meaning used as a general term to bid someone goodbye and goodluck on their journey etc.

might be pertinent in this respect, in an ironic way. lol.

[terryansimon]

ryz...I copy mr brown one. I got indemnity. (=

yes AT, there are many cases of unregistered deaths. and as the days go on, the threat of the aftershock lingers. one can only tell the true damage once everything has tide over *pun not intended.*

for those people who want to donate, give money. the Red Cross needs urgent supplies of fresh drinking water as the water supplies in all affected areas have been contaminated as a result of the catastrophe. dry clothing and food are also essential items that they badly need. please contact the Red Cross for more information regarding donations.

and I just found out my friend's sister almost got dragged out to sea in Phuket. luckily for her, she only lost her mobile phone, her passport and her wallet. she's in Krabi now, awaiting the Singapore Consulate to contact her regarding emergency evacuation flight details.

drop your presents, say a prayer or two.

[RAV-65]

The death toll may rise further in later days even as the quake subside, the disaster areas may have lots of homeless people and there could be other problems like an epidemic spread.... Hope it doesn't happen...

[houndster]

Hey guys, i'm sure no one expected e disaster to strike so soon after Xmas.....

nevertheless, e nid for relief funds is urgent. Pls consider making a

small donation. If u dun have a chq book, u can always combine efforts

with frens, relatives, who have one. For my family, we chipped in and

sent a chq under my sister's name.

If in doubt, pls check at

http://www.redcross.org.sg/press_bayofbengal_appeal.htm

Sincerely appealing to u,

The public can send their donations:

1) By cheque to the "Singapore Red Cross Society"

Please indicate behind the cheque "Tidal Waves Asia". Include name,

address and telephone number at the back of the cheque as a receipt

will be sent to you. Post the Cheque to: Singapore Red Cross, Red Cross House, 15 Penang Lane, Singapore 238486

2) Donors may wish to come personally to make a donation at the Red

Cross House, 15 Penang Lane between 9.00am to 5.30pm on weekdays and

from 9.30am to 12.30pm on Saturdays.

For more information, please contact the following:

1. Mr Lim Theam Poh

Manager, International Services Division

Singapore Red Cross

Tel: 6 336-0269

Email: theampoh.lim@redcross.org.sg

2. Ms Carol Teo

Manager, Corporate Services Division

Singapore Red Cross

Tel: 6 336 0269 / Mobile: 9847 2024

Email: carol.teo@redcross.org.sg

[Achilles Tang]

Real Time quake monitoring at Sumatra epicentre.

Not much help if you see a red box appear suddenly though.

[Achilles Tang]

Here's some horror stories I got off some diving boards.

this british couple was on a big ferry (100 seater) to Ko Lanta. 5 minutes from ko lanta, the boat captain saw the wall of water, calmly positioned the boat to face the wave and then yelled life jackets!!!

the boat went like 90 degrees and then slammed down, people were thrown all over the shop. There were total 3 waves, the first one was the biggest.

The long tail boats in the area had no chance. Zero.

The ferry stayed in the area hidding behind an island for the next 5 hours, the captain was afraid to leave.. they plucked survivors from the sea. Many were missing their friends.

Those who were our snorkelling, were never seen.

As i'm typing now, the pick-up ambulances were zomming away. I guess another boat just came back from the island. Inside the trucks were 2-3 white bags. damn..

[kschew1498]

Cant imagine what would have happen if we (Singapore) are in that position facing straight on this disaster!

The ECP, Sentosa, Jurong Island....would have been wiped off from our map!

Its really 10 X Sept 11th!!!!

[jc85]

From BBC News website about horrific experiences as sea surges hit their homes and holiday retreats.

Troy Husum, a 28-year-old Canadian, was on holiday in Phuket, Thailand. He spoke of the devastation as the waves hit the town of Patong and how survivors are coping.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I felt the quake first at about 0915.

I went out on my balcony in the hotel where I was staying - it was a beautifully calm day - and talked to others on their balconies. The quake felt very slight so we thought little of it.

About 45 minutes later, I noticed that water had receded from Patong Bay. We'd never seen it before and we could hear people on the beach talking about it. You could even see fish flopping around on the beach, which was unusual.

I noticed small kids and tourists walking to where the water had receded, curious as to why the water had gone.

Then I saw it - I noticed people craning their necks and looking out on the horizon. You could see a wall of water about three or four stories high.

I felt like I was watching a movie, it was completely surreal.

It wasn't moving very quickly, it took between four and five minutes until I saw it hit and in that time slowly people started to realise what was happening.

Most disturbing was I saw people literally disappear when the water hit... people were literally swept away

People were saying 'Oh God, what is that?' I thought I was dreaming.

After a few seconds the wave hit and smashed against the beach.

It was incredible, it actually bent the trees, washed everything away - at least 1,000 beach umbrellas were swept along as all the water surged through.

There is a line of cars where people park by the beach and hundreds of bikes, I saw them all picked up like toys and moved along.

Most disturbing was I saw people literally disappear when the water hit.

I saw a lot running, but there were people snoozing on the beach, I saw small children hit. People were literally swept away.

A lot of injuries occurred from people being hit by debris from cars, from bikes.

Running for safety

I thought I should get some pictures because I was staying on the fourth floor of my hotel, but other people on the balconies said we had to get on the roof.

I grabbed my equipment and ran outside into the hall. People were screaming "Go! Go!" I ran up the stairs and saw the water coming.

It flowed up to the third floor, you could see it in the stairwell, some people were completely wet.

We watched the chaos from the roof. The water had already started to recede as we got there.

The hardest part for survivors was actually when water receded - the undercurrent sucked people back into the ocean.

Bodies

The most frightening part was not the wave - it was the panic that ensued.

They are still pulling people out of the debris, one was a small Thai girl - she must have been there all night but she was still alive

Send us your experiences

There were car accidents, people were trying to escape as everyone was positive another wave was coming.

People - mainly local Thais - went up the roads to the mountain and slept up there for safety.

Within an hour I went back to the beach. I saw bodies. The rescue crews were panicking and there was not much control.

Bodies were pulled from the debris - most had clearly drowned. I also saw a number of fractures - one tourist had a very badly broken arm.

You could constantly hear helicopters - they flew up to about one kilometre out to sea to try to rescue people.

Last night most hotels allowed tourists to sleep for free in their lobbies or by the pool and there was still a lot of fear and misinformation about other waves.

Aftermath

This morning the cleanup started. All the foreigners are in disbelief, there are two or three feet of sand in all these devastated restaurants.

There are piles and piles of rubble deep inland - it looks like a bomb has gone off.

Some bars I went to the night before on the beach are completely gone,. All of the palm trees were flatted or removed. How is water capable of doing that?

They are carting out hundreds of cars and bikes and the streets are still covered with sand.

They really should have cordoned off the streets. There has been a little looting, some last night and today. I saw guys with televisions and computers.

There are people staggering around with injuries, I saw a girl with bandage on her head. Today there have also been sirens which have now died down.

They are still pulling people out of the debris. One was a small Thai girl - she must have been there all night but she was still alive.