Asian Tsunami

[yazid]

1]

Disaster mystery: No dead animals

Sri Lankan wildlife officials stunned by lack of carcasses.

As the human death toll from Sunday's earthquake and subsequent tsunami continues to skyrocket in Asia, a mystery is unfolding in Sri Lanka. Somehow, the animals survived the disaster.

According to reports out of Colombo, Sri Lankan wildlife officials are said to be stunned.

"The strange thing is we haven't recorded any dead animals," H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of the national Wildlife Department, told Reuters. "No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit."

"I think animals can sense disaster," he added. "They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening."

The sentiment was echoed by Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, whose Jetwing Eco Holidays runs a hotel in the Yala National Park, the country's largest wildlife reserve where hundreds of wild elephants dwell along with some 130 other species.

"This is very interesting. I am finding bodies of humans, but I have yet to see a dead animal,'' he told the Associated Press.

Floodwaters reportedly rushed up to two miles inland at the park, where 41 human bodies have been recovered so far, including 13 foreigners, according to Lanka Business Online.

Wildlife officers reportedly found a 13-year-old boy yesterday morning, the only survivor of the tsunami at the park.

Wildlife Conservation Director General Dayananda Kariyawasam told the paper except for dead fish, no carcasses of animals have been found. The human death toll in Sri Lanka exceeds 21,000.

[2]

Bam quake strucked exactly one year ago.

The earthquake that killed 36,000 in Bam, Iran, struck exactly one year -- almost to the hour -- before the devastating Sumatra quake this Boxing Day.

The 2003 quake hit at 01:56:52 UTC, while the 2004 quake struck at 00:58:55 UTC – exactly one year, 58 minutes apart.

[3]

Why Thais avoided tsunami warning: Meteorologists decided against it 'out of courtesy to tourist industry'

Thailand's foremost meteorologists, meeting in a crisis session before the tsunami hit, decided not to issue a warning "out of courtesy to the tourism industry," according to a report in the Thai paper The Nation.

Minutes after the earthquake in the Indian Ocean Sunday morning, Thailand's top meteorological experts met to consider the danger posed to the coast. But the economic impact on the nation's tourism industry dissuaded them from warning those most in danger.

According to the report, the experts considered the fact that there had not been any dangerous floods in 300 years. There was a consensus that the Indonesian island of Sumatra would be a "cushion" for the southern coast of Thailand.

The experts also reportedly believed the quake was an 8.1 on the Richter scale, rather than a 9.0. A similar sized quake hit the same area in 2002 with no flooding at all, according to the report.

Among the meteorological experts, only four had expertise in earthquakes, according to The Nation.

"We finally decided not to do anything because the tourist season was in full swing," a source told the paper. "The hotels were 100 percent booked. What if we issued a warning, which would have led to an evacuation, and nothing had happened. What would be the outcome? The tourist industry would be immediately hurt. Our department would not be able to endure a lawsuit."

[hotstuff]

animals have good sense of disaster

[flubberina13]

yup...and I believe certain kinds of fish also...

their inert 'sixth sense'?

[lightningstrike]

when i was in japan a couple of months back, the japanese meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning even though when the quake was 6.2 on the ritcher scale. thank god that the anticipated tsunami wave came up to abt only 0.1m in height.

[RAV-65]

I believe there are light tremors before the actual earthquakes occur which the animals can sense.... so they seek refuge... some kind of animal instinct...

[typrobin]

so now the thai tourism board can enjoy the full aftermath of the disaster..how irresponsible can those "experts" be?? just because it is holiday season and they decide to keep quite about the dangers..can't believe this!!

[shiraz]

when i was in japan a couple of months back, the japanese meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning even though when the quake was 6.2 on the ritcher scale. thank god that the anticipated tsunami wave came up to abt only 0.1m in height.

0.1m?! isn't that.. 10cm? okla since the japanese are small people, tsunamis should be on the small side as well.. but then 10cm...

[Archilles19]

Animals are created a lot less intelectual than human.....got brain but cannat use lah......but one thing special about them animal is that they can sense danger miles away......could be because the change in the atmosphere....change in magnetic fields surrounding us.....smell....moisture.....but one thing for sure they dont have the ego some of us have. like not warning people about an incoming disaster.

There are few facts about animals & the place they live in....some of them,...

1) If Ur in a trekking through the jungle & in Ur path there's a big plot of very nice, green grass or pasture.....nicer than its surrounding....dont go through it but around it because some people say its a deception by something to trap anything that step into the nicer plot.

2) Animals will run or scammper when they sense danger......& they will always run in the same direction...any species...will run in the same direction...sooo....if U see this....run in the same direction too because U can be sure the other way might just fulfill Ur wish for eternity in paradise.....

[untouchables]

it is easy for everyone to criticize the experts for not issuing the warning but look at the facts at that point in time.

a. quake was first measured at 8.1 which should not be strong enough to trigger such devastating tsunamis

b. it was reported as off west coast of sumatra, which most, if not all of us, assume will not affect thailand, malaysia and singapore if tsunamis came

c. no major tsunamis, esp in this region for hundreds of years

based on the above sketchy info, i think they acted responsibly and not caused a panic.

yeah i know most will argue "see... now more people died" but based on the above info, if it was true, they will be castrated for false alarm!

[surfedelic]

Perhaps technology in measuring Tsunamis are still backdated which resulted in inaccuracy in the analysis. The fault line of 1000 km ... imagine how many times the size of singapore and 30m high ,.. how much water it could have displaced.

Maybe we should use animals instead .....

[evanscence]

it is easy for everyone to criticize the experts for not issuing the warning but look at the facts at that point in time.

a. quake was first measured at 8.1 which should not be strong enough to trigger such devastating tsunamis

b. it was reported as off west coast of sumatra, which most, if not all of us, assume will not affect thailand, malaysia and singapore if tsunamis came

c. no major tsunamis, esp in this region for hundreds of years

based on the above sketchy info, i think they acted responsibly and not caused a panic.

yeah i know most will argue "see... now more people died" but based on the above info, if it was true, they will be castrated for false alarm!

perhaps this is a lesson for our younger generations. Assumption is the mother of all fxxx up. In order not to create a false alarm, that subsequently led to the deaths of countless people and rising. Given a choice, raise a false alarm and caused losses of milion of dollars or raise the alarm and saved millions of lives especially those from the third world countries whose lifes have been ruined by the tidal waves. I guess it was a damn bad call. Money can be earned again, reef rebuilt and holidays goes year after year. Life have lot of the above alternatives.

Pls flame me cos i aint a saint either

[rockfish]

perhaps this is a lesson for our younger generations. Assumption is the mother of all fxxx up. In order not to create a false alarm, that subsequently led to the deaths of countless people and rising. Given a choice, raise a false alarm and caused losses of milion of dollars or raise the alarm and saved millions of lives especially those from the third world countries whose lifes have been ruined by the tidal waves. I guess it was a damn bad call. Money can be earned again, reef rebuilt and holidays goes year after year. Life have lot of the above alternatives.

Pls flame me cos i aint a saint either

Fully agreed!! .. Now the Experts can sleep tightly in their comfortable bed with their job intact and money still in their bank... Thinking that they din lose anything ..or did they..??

i guess they are wondering .. where did my conscious gone.. ??

[clammy]

it is easy for everyone to criticize the experts for not issuing the warning but look at the facts at that point in time.

a. quake was first measured at 8.1 which should not be strong enough to trigger such devastating tsunamis

b. it was reported as off west coast of sumatra, which most, if not all of us, assume will not affect thailand, malaysia and singapore if tsunamis came

c. no major tsunamis, esp in this region for hundreds of years

based on the above sketchy info, i think they acted responsibly and not caused a panic.

yeah i know most will argue "see... now more people died" but based on the above info, if it was true, they will be castrated for false alarm!

i tend to agree with you on this one altho that will probably list us into the unpopular category.. but who's counting???

Just thought that the experts should still issue warning, but play it down. So perhaps instead of warning, they can broadcast in radios that earthquake occur=may have stronger currents than usual etc.. tho it may not save many more lives, those who heard the announcement will be more aware when they see larger than normal waves and start spreading the word rather than what most tourist did: whip out their video cam/camera and record the "cool waves" (i would have done the same) ...

Just a thought to share everyone, do ponder about it...

Was singapore issued a warning? any signs at all?? NO!!! therefore, the 'experts' in question went thru the same line of reasoning like wat the singapore counterparts did: access the situation, try to imagine "sonic booms" and their path of destruction, and decided that,

"hey, we'r sheltered. sumatra will take most of the shit.. hasnt happened in more than a century, what's the chances of anything major happening when "I", who have to be on shift on Boxing Day, am in charge??"

Think about that, and what we can do to help with the relief efforts, and not blame the people who 'failed' to issue warnings k?

[nicky30092002]

"We finally decided not to do anything because the tourist season was in full swing," a source told the paper. "The hotels were 100 percent booked. What if we issued a warning, which would have led to an evacuation, and nothing had happened. What would be the outcome? The tourist industry would be immediately hurt. Our department would not be able to endure a lawsuit."

Now, ain't they more liable for a lawsuit when so many life were lost???

[Clownfish]

i guess the Thais r realli selfish... they shld hav warned the world wat is going to happen if they realli detected anythin as they claimed

[wolfie]

why can't we learn from happened in Pearl Harbor?

is it everytime must kenna jia-lat jia-lat then will learn?