Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Tsunami
Back in High School, I read Michener's Hawaii which included a tidal wave scene; he made mention of how out at sea the wave was so small that sailors didn't even notice it. Did not understand at the time, but the papers have given a good description (NYTimes has a way cool simulator) of how the Tsunami moves at 500 mph & is up to 100 miles wide. I still have a very hard time grasping anything that large moving that fast & why its energy doesn't dissipate quicker.
The death toll is mind-boggling as well. 68,000 off the latest news reports & that's sure to rise to over 100,000 with secondary effects such as disease, starvation & thirst. Does make me once again feel fortunate to live in the West with all its technology & wealth to guardband us against natural disasters. Hopefully Japan & others will help set-up some Tsunami (the english of 'harbor wave' loses much in the translation) system for the Indian Ocean.
The death toll is mind-boggling as well. 68,000 off the latest news reports & that's sure to rise to over 100,000 with secondary effects such as disease, starvation & thirst. Does make me once again feel fortunate to live in the West with all its technology & wealth to guardband us against natural disasters. Hopefully Japan & others will help set-up some Tsunami (the english of 'harbor wave' loses much in the translation) system for the Indian Ocean.
