SE Asia Tsunami Disaster

[Paul]

I felt it too. Kept on shaking for like 3 minutes. T'was kind of faint though. I wish I had died instead of those people.

You live in Canada... South East Asia in the other hemisphere..

[ahoteinrun]

Large quakes can often be felt in very far away places. Though... I have heard nothing of it being felt in Ontario, and I have yet to hear reports of it being felt on the west coast of Canada.
*shrugs* But then again, I live in Central-Northern Alberta. I've never felt an earthquake (And I pray I never will).

The death toll will keep rising. If not from the tsunami and quake itself, but from the lack of clean water, and the unsanitary conditions that will now sweep the area. *shakes head*

[Twizzler0171]

Wow. That's just... scary. I didn't feel it, (if I did I didn't notice it, but then again I live in California... closer to Nevada) I feel so sorry for all those people...

I hope that all the people who are missing are found, safe and unhurt. Or at least not majorly hurt...

[Runevalkyrie]

It's saddening and my prayers are out to them... survivors and those who are still missing. It's scary to think that an expert says the power of the earthquake was equal to a million atomic bombs.

[Kitten Medli]

That is so scary. Poor people..

One of my friends lives near there. I hope shes okay..

[Alisquid]

I heard about it this morning...worse earthquake in fourty years...Its so scary that things like this happen.

And as Inrun said, the death toll will keep rising. Earthquakes do damage even after they are over.

[everconfused]

This, when I saw it on the news, just completely broke my heart, I started crying my eyes out, seeing parents searching for their children, hearing the stories of people who had survived, but now have no home, no clothing, no clean water or food.

Sri Lanka has no emergency warning system and is one of the poorest countries in the region - average worker earns 3,000 dollars a year (that would be in US funds). To make matters worse in Sri Lanka, there was enormous damage in the north - where there is civil unrest and there are now landmines dislodged by the water, making recovery of survivors even more treacherous.

I know many of you are young - too young to have credit cards or anything like that. But there is a need for donations for medicine, food, clean water and at least temporary shelter.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=363005 has a list of many agencies all working together to try to help all those left behind.

The International Red Cross reported 23,700 deaths and expressed concern about waterborne diseases like malaria and cholera. Jan Egeland, the U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator, said millions of people were effected by lost homes, polluted drinking water, destroyed sanitation and that the cost of the damage would "probably be many billions of dollars."

"We cannot fathom the cost of these poor societies and the nameless fishermen and fishing villages and so on that have just been wiped out. Hundreds of thousands of livelihoods have gone," he told reporters.

I know I will do what little I can and I also send my thoughts and wishes for all of these people and all of you who have been, and will continue to be affected. Please know that people do truly care.

[LAQ]

I just got a newspaper a few minutes ago, and it was the first I'd heard of it. The newspaper only said 13,900 dead, but the totals here are nearly double that.

This is saddening and sobering at the same time.

[Wolven Spirits]

My family friends were in Asia. They were diving. Two of them got pulled under, but somehow got pushed back up, so they managed to survive. They were in the water for a long time, though, since I think there was only one boat rescuing, and around five different diving groups. I got so freaked when I found out. I'm just glad nothing happened to them. I'm very sorry to all those who lost someone they knew. Such a strong earthquake hasn't happened for...40 years? The one in Alaska I think? Yeah. Hopefully it won't happen again for a long, long time.

[Lillie]

It's been the main thing on the news for the past few days. Every morning it's the front page on the newspapers. The death toll just keeps going up, and up. When you look at the TV footage ... it really makes you cry.

I'm praying really hard it won't reach 30,000.

It's the biggest earthquake in the area in 40 years. And according to some bit of information on today's paper, it was so hard it rocked the earth's rotation. And then they say that there maybe minor quakes following this one.

But there have been no official reports of the earthquake being felt in anywhere else other than the affected areas. That is good, because we don't want more areas to be affected.

[plducala16]

This is so sad.. I really can't think of much to say. I am so spoiled.. I get good foo, good clothes, and many other luxuries that I don't need. When I see somebody get their home taken away, their family taken away, it just sickens me. About how much I take everything for granted.

There is one thing I can say.. For any people who were unfortunate, and did not survive, Rest In Peace. And for anyone who did survive, but lost something huge to them, Peace Be With You.

I am so sad.

[vkceankraz]

I got chills when I first heard about it a day or two ago, and I'm still getting chills as I watch the death toll climb. 24 hours ago, it was 13000 people and now it's doubled. I'm just sending out prayers to all those affected by this disaster.
Here in California, we're known for having earthquakes, but I don't ever remember one being this drastic. The one over a decade ago wasn't nearly as bad.

[Azzie]

I'm really sorry i have to say this but i think the total amount of lives lost may be well over 50 000. Indonesia says that it might have 25 000 casualties alone, but because they haven't really sorted out the place yet and let help trickle in, it might take some time to have the numbers go up. Add that to the 28 000 people world wide who are already counted for and still plenty of people missing in other countries that have not been accounted for. 50 000 + lives lost in a matter of moment thanks to water..water that we each drink every day and use everyday can become such a powerful destructive force.

I saw a link to a video that someone was taking in phuket. It showed the water gushing in and within minutes it was chin deep, no wonder most people didn't have a chance.

http://izreloaded.tripod.com/december2004.htm#phukettsunamivid

[Twisted Sanity]

Wow.. this is horrible. I didn't really hear much about it since I was out camping. I found out when my Dad's friend told us about it (had a TV with him). But God... that's horrible.

I'm not old enough to do much, but sit back and watch the horror unfold. A couple of friends of mine were actually in that region a few weeks back. Thank God they didn't go there any later.

I'm really sorry for all those who lost loved ones or relatives, or who are awaiting news of the wherabouts of people they know. I'll keep them in my prayers.

[Pokemon Kid]

I felt it too. Kept on shaking for like 3 minutes. T'was kind of faint though. I wish I had died instead of those people.

You live in Canada... South East Asia in the other hemisphere..

I am in China as I speak. I'm on vacation!