Incredible Tsunami Pictures + Nobody Alerted

[Guest guest]

Unbelievable Tsunami Pictures Give Clearer Picture

 

Click on link to pictures:

http://coreykoberg.com/Tsunami/

 

 

No warning given: See below two article references:

 

http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=518

 

 

12/28/2004

Swedish paper reports tsunami warning halted out of

concern for tourist industry

 

Tsunami warning halted ‘for tourist industry’

 

This from the Swedish paper Expressen. Translation by

RAW STORY excerpted here.

 

Just minutes after the earthquake in the Indian

Ocean on Sunday morning, Thailand’s foremost

meteorological experts were sitting together in a

crisis meeting. But they decided not to warn about the

tsunami “out of courtesy to the tourist industry,”

writes the Thailand daily newspaper The Nation.

 

The experts got the news around 8:00 am on Sunday

morning local time. An hour later, the first massive

wave struck. But the experts started to discuss the

economic impacts when they discussed if a tsunami

warning should be issued.

 

The primary argument against such a warning was

that there had not been any floods in 300 years. Also,

the experts believed the Indonesian island Sumatra

would be a “cushion” for the southern coast of

Thailand. The experts also had bad information; they

thought the tremor was 8.1. A similar earthquake

occurred in the same area in 2002 with no flooding at

all.

 

One expert The Nation spoke with also noted that

the department had only four earthquake experts among

their

900-strong meteorological department. A second

told The Nation that a tsunami warning was discussed

but that because of the risk, they opted not to issue

a warning.

 

“We finally decided not to do anything because the

tourist season was in full swing,” the source said.

“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.”

 

This story was first noted and originally translated

at Democratic Underground.

The URI to TrackBack this entry is:

http://www.bluelemur.com/wp-trackback.php/518

 

1.

 

I have been holding my breath expecting to hear

something like this as we live in a society that

values money above human lives.

 

I’m sick over the loss of life, and disgusted

and angry over the GREED in this world!!!

 

Comment by Vonnie Holmes — 12/28/2004 @ 6:44 pm

2.

 

So when did you learn to speak Swedish?

 

Editor’s Note: The translation was compiled from

another translation with additional sections

translated with help of online translator services and

Swedish-English dictionaries. Feel free to contact us

if any sections are inexact. We’re confident the story

itself is accurate, as it was referenced in short form

in a Washington Post article. We’re also trying to get

translation of the original Thai Nation piece.

 

Comment by flou — 12/28/2004 @ 7:26 pm

3.

 

Unbelievable. The greed-heads were worried about

a lawsuit. Now there are untold numbers of people who

have lost their lives. Shame…

 

Comment by Pete — 12/28/2004 @ 7:37 pm

4.

 

(Not in ANY way making light of this)…But

reading this, I kept hearing the voice of the Mayor in

“Jaws” in my head..can’t scare the tourists, after

all. Their $$ is more important than their safety.

 

My chests feels very heavy. It makes me

heartsick.

 

Comment by rhyfeddu — 12/28/2004 @ 9:12 pm

5.

 

imperfect information + an aversion to false

warnings and unnecessary panic does not equate valuing

human lives below money.

 

Comment by d_lete — 12/28/2004 @ 9:14 pm

The primary argument against such a warning was

that there had not been any floods in 300 years. Also,

the experts believed the Indonesian island Sumatra

would be a “cushion” for the southern coast of

Thailand.

 

The experts also had bad information; they

thought the tremor was 8.1. the department had only

four earthquake experts among their 900-strong

meteorological department.

 

“We finally decided not to do anything because

the tourist season was in full swing,” the source

said. “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.”

 

LAME, LAZY, STUPID, GREEDY!!!!!!!!!!

 

Those fools WILL have a lawsuit now!!!

 

Comment by phantomstarchild001 — 12/28/2004 @

10:00 pm

Typical.

 

Comment by ~A! — 12/28/2004 @ 10:05 pm

Let’s see if I have this right.

 

The primary argument against such a warning was

that there had not been any floods in 300 years.

 

So what? That made it right for them to stick

their heads in the sand and their butts in the air??

 

Also, the experts believed the Indonesian island

Sumatra would be a “cushion” for the southern coast of

Thailand. The experts also had bad information; they

thought the tremor was 8.1.

 

Those numbskulls need to research the effects of

an 8.1 tremor.

stupid idiots!!

 

One expert The Nation spoke with also noted that

the department had only four earthquake experts among

their

900-strong meteorological department.

 

piss poor planning!!!

 

We finally decided not to do anything because

the tourist season was in full swing,” the source

said.

 

Hello? Hello? Hello? They were worried about a

lawsuit of a “hurt” tourist industry? Worried about

the loss of their almighty dollar is what it

translates to me. Those dumb ass’s won’t have to worry

about a “possible” lawsuit now. HA! HA! HA! They will

HAVE one or more!!

 

Comment by carol brown — 12/28/2004 @ 10:14 pm

 

“What if we issued a warning, which would have

led to an evacuation, and nothing had happened. What

would be the outcome?”

 

Well, we sure know what the outcome is when you

DON’T issue a warning.

 

I don’t know if this is true, or not, but if it

is…what a disgrace. What a disgrace we have become.

Unbelievable.

 

Comment by ForCryingOutLoud — 12/28/2004 @ 10:45

pm

 

..

Article 2:

 

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO412C.html

 

The URL of this article is:

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/412A.html

 

Foreknowledge of A Natural Disaster

Washington was aware that a deadly Tidal Wave was

building up in the Indian Ocean

 

Michel Chossudovsky | December 29 2004

 

The US Military and the State Department were given

advanced warning. America's Navy base on the island of

Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean was notified.

 

Why were fishermen in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand

not provided with the same warnings as the US Navy and

the US State Department?

 

Why did the US State Department remain mum on the

existence of an impending catastrophe?

 

With a modern communications system, why did the

information not get out? By email, telephone, fax,

satellite TV... ?

 

It could have saved the lives of more than 80,000

people. And the death toll is rising.

 

The earthquake was a Magnitude 9.0 on the Richter

scale, among the highest in recorded history. US

authorities had initially recorded 8.0 on the Richter

scale.

 

As confirmed by several reports, US scientists in

Hawaii, had advanced knowledge regarding an impending

catastrophe, but failed to contact their Asian

counterparts.

 

Charles McCreery of the Pacific Warning Center in

Hawaii confirmed that his team tried desperately to

get in touch with his counterparts in Asia. According

to McCreery, director of the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration's center in Honolulu, the

team did its utmost to contact the countries. (The

NOAA in Hawaii's Report at

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2004/s2357.htm ).

 

His team contacted the US State Department, which

apparently contacted the Asian governments. The Indian

government confirms that no such warning was received.

(The Hindu, 27 Dec 2004)

 

Nine (9.0) on the Richter scale: The Director of the

Hawaii Warning Center stated that " they did not know "

that the earthquake would generate a deadly tidal wave

until it had hit Sri Lanka, more than one and a half

hours later, at 2.30 GMT. (see Timeline below)

 

" Not until the deadly wave hit Sri Lanka and the

scientists in Honolulu saw news reports of the damage

there did they recognize what was happening... 'Then

we knew there was something moving across the Indian

Ocean,' said Charles McCreery. (quoted in the NYT, 28

Dec 2004 ).

 

This statement is at odds with the Timeline of the

tidal wave disaster. Thailand was hit almost an hour

before Sri Lanka and the news reports were already

out. Surely, these reports out of Thailand were known

to the scientists in Hawaii, not to mention the office

of Sec. Colin Powell, well before the tidal wave

reached Sri Lanka.

 

''We wanted to try to do something, but without a plan

in place then, it was not an effective way to issue a

warning, or to have it acted upon,'' Dr. McCreery

said. ''There would have still been some time -- not a

lot of time, but some time -- if there was something

that could be done in Madagascar, or on the coast of

Africa.''

 

The above statement is also inconsistent.

 

The tidal wave reached the East African coastline

several hours after it reached The Maldives islands.

According to news reports, Male, the capital of the

Maldives was hit three hours after the earthquake, at

approximately 4.00 GMT. By that time everybody around

the World knew.

 

It is worth noting that the US Navy was fully aware of

the deadly tidal wave, because the Navy was on the

Pacific Warning Center's list of contacts. Moreover,

America's strategic Naval base on the island of Diego

Garcia had also been notified. Although directly in

the path of the tidal wave (see animated chart below),

the Diego Garcia military base reported " no damage " .

 

" One of the few places in the Indian Ocean that got

the message of the quake was Diego Garcia, a speck of

an island with a United States Navy base, because the

Pacific warning center's contact list includes the

Navy. Finding the appropriate people in Sri Lanka or

India was harder. " (NYT, 28 Dec 2004, emphasis added)

 

Now how hard is it to pick up the phone and call Sri

Lanka?

 

According to Charles McCreery, director of the Pacific

Tsunami Warning Center.

 

" We don't have contacts in our address book for

anybody in that part of the world. "

 

Only after the first waves hit Sri Lanka did workers

at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's

Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre [PTWC] and others in

Hawaii start making phone calls to US diplomats in

Madagascar and Mauritius in an attempt to head off

further disaster.

 

" We didn't have a contact in place where you could

just pick up the phone, " Dolores Clark, spokeswoman

for the International Tsunami Information Centre in

Hawaii said. " We were starting from scratch. "

 

These statement on the surface are inconsistent, since

several Indian Ocean Asian countries are in fact

members of the Tsunami Warning System.

 

There are 26 member countries of the International

Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning System ,

including Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia. All these

countries would normally be in the address book of the

PTWC, which works in close coordination with its

sister organization the ICGTWS , which has its offices

in Honolulu at the headquarters of the National

Weather Service Pacific Region Headquarters in

downtown Honolulu.

 

The mandate of the ICGTWS is to " assist member states

in establishing national warning systems, and makes

information available on current technologies for

tsunami warning systems. "

 

Australia and Indonesia were notified. The US Congress

is to investigate why the US government did not notify

all the Indian Ocean nations in the affected area:

" Only two countries in the affected region, Indonesia

and Australia, received the warning "

 

" Although Thailand belongs to the international

tsunami-warning network, its west coast does not have

the system's wave sensors mounted on ocean buoys.

 

The northern tip of the earthquake fault is located

near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and tsunamis

appear to have rushed eastward toward the Thai resort

of Phuket.

 

" They had no tidal gauges and they had no warning, "

said Waverly Person, a geophysicist at the National

Earthquake Information Centre in Golden, Colorado,

U.S., which monitors seismic activity worldwide.

" There are no buoys in the Indian Ocean and that's

where this tsunami occurred. " " (Hindu, 27 Dec 2004)

 

The issue of the Ocean sensors is a Red Herring

 

We we were not able to warn them because we had no

sensors in the Indian Ocean: This argument is a Red

Herring.

 

We are not dealing with advanced information based on

the Ocean sensors, but on an emergency warning

transmitted in the immediate wake of the earthquake.

The latter took place at 00.58 GMT on the 26th of Dec.

That information was sent to The State Department and

the US Navy.

 

With modern communications, the information of an

impending disaster could have been sent around the

World in a matter of minutes, by email, by telephone,

by fax, not to mention by live satellite Television.

 

Coastguards, municipalities, local governments,

tourist hotels, etc. could have been warned.

 

According to Tsunami Society President Prof. Tad Murty

of the University of Manitoba:

 

'there's no reason for a single individual to get

killed in a tsunami,' since most areas had anywhere

from 25 minutes to four hours before a wave hit. So,

once again, because of indifference and corruption

thousands of innocent people have died needlessly. "

(Calgary Sun, 28 Dec 2004)

 

Key Questions

 

1. Why were the Indian Ocean countries' governments

not informed?

 

Were there " guidelines " from the US military or the

State Department regarding the release of an advanced

warning?

 

According to the statement of the Hawaii based PTWC,

advanced warning was released but on a selective

basis. Indonesia was already hit, so the warning was

in any event redundant and Australia was several

thousand miles from the epicentre of the earthquake

and was, therefore, under no immediate threat.

 

2. Did US authorities monitoring seismographic data

have knowledge of the earthquake prior to its actual

occurrence at 00.57 GMT on the 26th of December?

 

The question is whether there were indications of

abnormal seismic activity prior to 01.00 GMT on the

26th of Dec.

 

The US Geological Survey confirmed that the earthquake

which triggered the tidal wave measured 9.0 on the

Richter scale and was the fourth largest quake since

1900. In such cases, one would expect evidence of

abnormal seismic activity before the actual occurrence

of a major earthquake.

 

3. Why is the US military Calling the Shots on

Humanitarian Relief

 

Why in the wake of the disaster, is the US military

(rather than civilian humanitarian/aid organizations

operating under UN auspices) taking a lead role?

 

The US Pacific Command has been designated to

coordinate the channeling of emergency relief? Marine

Corps Lt. Gen. Rusty Blackman, commander of the 3rd

Marine Expeditionary Force based in Okinawa, has been

designated to lead the emergency relief program

 

Lieutenant General Blackman was previously Chief of

Staff for Coalition Forces Land Component Command,

responsible for leading the Marines into Baghdad

during " Operation Iraqi Freedom. "

 

Three " Marine disaster relief assessment teams " under

Blackman's command have been sent to Thailand, Sri

Lanka and Indonesia.

 

US military aircraft are conducting observation

missions.

 

In a bitter irony, part of this operation is being

coordinated out of America's Naval base in Diego

Garcia, which was not struck by the tidal wave.

Meanwhile, " USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group,

which was in Hong Kong when the earthquake and

tsunamis struck, has been diverted to the Gulf of

Thailand to support recovery operations " (Press

Conference of Pacific Command,

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2004/n12292004_2004122905.html

).

 

Two Aircraft Carriers have been sent to the region.

 

Why is it necessary for the US to mobilize so much

military equipment? The pattern is unprecedented:

 

Conway said the Lincoln carrier strike group has 12

helicopters embarked that he said could be " extremely

valuable " in recovery missions.

 

An additional 25 helicopters are aboard USS Bonhomme

Richard, headed to the Bay of Bengal. Conway said the

expeditionary strike group was in Guam and is forgoing

port visits in Guam and Singapore and expects to

arrive in the Bay of Bengal by Jan. 7.

 

Conway said the strike group, with its seven ships,

2,100 Marines and 1,400 sailors aboard, also has four

Cobra helicopters that will be instrumented in

reconnaissance efforts.

 

Because fresh water is one of the greatest needs in

the region, Fargo has ordered seven ships — each

capable of producing 90,000 gallons of fresh water a

day — to the region. Conway said five of these ships

are pre-positioned in Guam and two will come from

Diego Garcia.

 

A field hospital ship pre-positioned in Guam would

also be ordered to the region, depending on findings

of the disaster relief assessment teams and need,

Conway said. (Ibid)

 

Why has a senior commander involved in the invasion of

Iraq been assigned to lead the US emergency relief

program?

 

 

--

 

The Tsunami Timeline

 

Sunday 26 December 2004 (GMT)

 

00.57 GMT: Between 00.57 GMT and 00.59 GMT, an 8.9

magnitude earthquake occurs on the seafloor near Aceh

in northern Indonesia. (See

http://ioc.unesco.org/itsu/ and other reports)

 

00.58 GMT: Saturday 25 December, 2.58 pm Hawaii Time

(GMT-10) 26 Dec 00.58 GMT. US government's Pacific

Tsunami Warning Center registers the earthquake on its

seismic instruments. In other words at the time of its

occurrence at 00.58 GMT.

 

shortly after 01.00 GMT: Earthquake hits several

cities in Indonesia, creates panic in urban areas in

peninsular Malaysia. The news of the earthquakes is

reported immediately.

 

01.3O GMT: Phuket and Coast of Thailand: The tidal

wave hits to coastline shortly after 8.30 am, 01.30

GMT

 

02.30 GMT: Colombo Sri Lanka and Eastern Coast of Sri

Lanka, the tidal wave hits the coastal regions close

to the capital Colombo, according to report at 8.30 am

local time, 02.30 GMT (an hour and a half after the

earthqake)

 

02.45 GMT: India's Eastern Coastline. The tsunami hits

India's eastern coast from 6:15 a.m.(2:45 GMT)

 

04.00 GMT: Male, Maldives: From about 9:00 am (0400

GMT), three hours after the earthquake, the capital,

Male, and other parts of the country were flooded by

the tsunami. (more than three hours after the

earthquake)

 

11.00 GMT (approximate time according to news

dispatches): East Coast of Africa is hit. More than

ten hours after the earthquake

 

The animation below indicates approximate times at

which the tidal wave hits the coastal areas of

Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Sri Lanka,

India, Bangladesh, The Maldives. (see original link)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read only the mail you want - Mail SpamGuard.

 

[Guest guest]

In the Times of India newspaper of Jan. 04, 2005, the

news is that ALL the five tribes in the Andaman

Nicobar Islands saved themselves by observing the

behavior of birds and marine animals and then going

deep into the forest.

Ratan.

--- as <glkbreeze wrote:

 

>

>

> Unbelievable Tsunami Pictures Give Clearer Picture

>

> Click on link to pictures:

> http://coreykoberg.com/Tsunami/

>

>

> No warning given: See below two article references:

>

> http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=518

>

>

> 12/28/2004

> Swedish paper reports tsunami warning halted out of

> concern for tourist industry

>

> Tsunami warning halted ‘for tourist industry’

>

> This from the Swedish paper Expressen. Translation

> by

> RAW STORY excerpted here.

>

> Just minutes after the earthquake in the Indian

> Ocean on Sunday morning, Thailand’s foremost

> meteorological experts were sitting together in a

> crisis meeting. But they decided not to warn about

> the

> tsunami “out of courtesy to the tourist industry,”

> writes the Thailand daily newspaper The Nation.

>

> The experts got the news around 8:00 am on

> Sunday

> morning local time. An hour later, the first massive

> wave struck. But the experts started to discuss the

> economic impacts when they discussed if a tsunami

> warning should be issued.

>

[Guest guest]

also interesting is that - according to the news - NO bodies of dead

animals were found. So, apparently all the animals had an early

warning system and hoofed it to high ground.

 

This phenomenon seems worthy of some research.

 

 

 

ellen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In , psych doc

<psych_58> wrote:

>

> In the Times of India newspaper of Jan. 04, 2005, the

> news is that ALL the five tribes in the Andaman

> Nicobar Islands saved themselves by observing the

> behavior of birds and marine animals and then going

> deep into the forest.

> Ratan.

> --- as <glkbreeze> wrote:

>

> >

> >

> > Unbelievable Tsunami Pictures Give Clearer Picture

> >

> > Click on link to pictures:

> > http://coreykoberg.com/Tsunami/

> >

> >

> > No warning given: See below two article references:

> >

> > http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=518

> >

> >

> > 12/28/2004

> > Swedish paper reports tsunami warning halted out of

> > concern for tourist industry

> >

> > Tsunami warning halted `for tourist industry'

> >

> > This from the Swedish paper Expressen. Translation

> > by

> > RAW STORY excerpted here.

> >

> > Just minutes after the earthquake in the Indian

> > Ocean on Sunday morning, Thailand's foremost

> > meteorological experts were sitting together in a

> > crisis meeting. But they decided not to warn about

> > the

> > tsunami " out of courtesy to the tourist industry, "

> > writes the Thailand daily newspaper The Nation.

> >

> > The experts got the news around 8:00 am on

> > Sunday

> > morning local time. An hour later, the first massive

> > wave struck. But the experts started to discuss the

> > economic impacts when they discussed if a tsunami

> > warning should be issued.

> >

[Guest guest]

Oh boy, I just knew this incredible sin of omission was true and was asking such

questions from the beginning. Also I believe there is a continuing cover up of

the cover up but maybe less for Swedes since they lost so many of their own. But

who really cared enough about the third world people who were the bulk of the

casualties? A warning could have saved even more than half, who were able to

flee inland 1 or 2 kilometers and get to higher ground. There was a four hour

hiatus before the tidal wave arrived at around the edges of the Indian Ocean.

Also, I presume that those more in the middle like the Andaman Islands were hit

first, so why weren't there telecommunications warning those on the path of the

tsunami?

 

Such massive neglect is outrageous, even more so in a world of instantaneous

communication: internet, mobile phones, etc. Global news media like the BBC or

CCN could have been used to warn those lazing in their hotel rooms watching TV.

Simply outrageous...

 

BTW, does anyone here suffer from morning bloat? Sometimes I feel like a boat...

 

ZB

Message: 10

Mon, 3 Jan 2005 16:46:02 -0800 (PST)

as <glkbreeze

Re: Incredible Tsunami Pictures + Nobody Alerted

 

Unbelievable Tsunami Pictures Give Clearer Picture

 

Click on link to pictures:

http://coreykoberg.com/Tsunami/

 

No warning given: See below two article references:

 

http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=518

 

 

12/28/2004

Swedish paper reports tsunami warning halted out of

concern for tourist industry

 

Tsunami warning halted ‘for tourist industry’

 

This from the Swedish paper Expressen. Translation by

RAW STORY excerpted here.

 

Just minutes after the earthquake in the Indian

Ocean on Sunday morning, Thailand’s foremost

meteorological experts were sitting together in a

crisis meeting. But they decided not to warn about the

tsunami “out of courtesy to the tourist industry,”

writes the Thailand daily newspaper The Nation.

 

The experts got the news around 8:00 am on Sunday

morning local time. An hour later, the first massive

wave struck. But the experts started to discuss the

economic impacts when they discussed if a tsunami

warning should be issued.

 

The primary argument against such a warning was

that there had not been any floods in 300 years. Also,

the experts believed the Indonesian island Sumatra

would be a “cushion” for the southern coast of

Thailand. The experts also had bad information; they

thought the tremor was 8.1. A similar earthquake

occurred in the same area in 2002 with no flooding at

all.

 

One expert The Nation spoke with also noted that

the department had only four earthquake experts among

their

900-strong meteorological department. A second

told The Nation that a tsunami warning was discussed

but that because of the risk, they opted not to issue

a warning.

 

“We finally decided not to do anything because the

tourist season was in full swing,” the source said.

“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.”

 

This story was first noted and originally translated

at Democratic Underground.

The URI to TrackBack this entry is:

http://www.bluelemur.com/wp-trackback.php/518

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mail - You care about security. So do we.