80,000 Deaths?

[jynxed hero]

The tsunami has a confirmed 80,000 deaths according to CNN. (Live From 12-29 11:02 PT)

That's 20,000 short of my entire hometown I beleive. I can't beleive that many people died. It'd be strange to think about that many people from my town dieing.

[Tequila Zaire]

Well you have to keep in mind it's spread out and the infurstructure in those areas is 3rd world no matter how you cut it so something like this hitting these areas was expected to cause massive death tolls...it's just really sad it actually happened. Killer Tsunami's have been talked about for years but none expected something in this scale to actually hit...even those that WERE expecting something like this to happen are shocked...just shows you how vulnerable those areas where.

[BrightStar]

Jet Lee almost died in that tidal wave acording to the news!

Whew, Im glad He is ok, Jet is among My Most Favorite Actors!

[ForrestBlack]

Having the landscape of the Earth move over 90 feet that suddenly is pretty shocking. Even some of the islands shifted geographically. They say that the tectonic shift was so strong that it had effected the rotation of the planet and the wobble it caused has actually changed the length of the day by a few milliseconds.

[ForrestBlack]

[jynxed hero]

It's just really weird to think about the numbers...that many people - it's just mind boggling. I can't imagine THAT many lives gone so quickly.

There were about 45,000 in Indonesia alone I think...

[ForrestBlack]

Some of the amateur videos are really freaky.

[franziska]

It's not creepy that the world just wobbled - the day after was 24 seconds short. That doesn't sound like a lot, but if the earthquake had that much impact, what could the impact be, on a long term level? It could be the start of another ice age...

And what's really sad is that it woudn't be on american or canadian news channels, if not for the european and north american tourists there.

And the chidlren, oh god.... there was just a video on CNN, of the first wave and these children caught in it... and I'm going to do everything I can to help them. I'm going to start a fundraiser as soon as I can once I get back to school. Monday morning, I'm going to go and set up something to help.

[CorporateGoth]

Not to sound at all cold or callous (sp?), but what the hell do you do with 80,000 plus corpses? The disease and plague that is likely to come from this will probably be just as if not more so devastaing that the original wave itself. You cannot possibly bury/burn that many corpses fast enough.
Another really scary thought is that I heard that you cant physically see the wave until the ocean floor begins to rise to meet the coast. In most places, about 1/2 mile. This thing was supposedly moving at 50 miles an hour. So with no warnings, you've got minutes to figure out what to do and go do it. Can you imagine what would have happened to Florida if there were no hurricane warnings??

[jynxed hero]

Not to sound at all cold or callous (sp?), but what the hell do you do with 80,000 plus corpses? The disease and plague that is likely to come from this will probably be just as if not more so devastaing that the original wave itself. You cannot possibly bury/burn that many corpses fast enough.
Another really scary thought is that I heard that you cant physically see the wave until the ocean floor begins to rise to meet the coast. In most places, about 1/2 mile. This thing was supposedly moving at 50 miles an hour. So with no warnings, you've got minutes to figure out what to do and go do it. Can you imagine what would have happened to Florida if there were no hurricane warnings??

That's supposed to be a big problem. Supposedly they're taking photos of the bodies and then burrying them. They post the photos on the net for people to identify or somethin.

I can't imagine at all. I'd be dead. I can't even swim.

[morbid_lady]

as of this morning its up to 120, 000 dead.

and there's worry of more tsunamis.

[23*]

its really too much to think about......very sad...

[sheramil]

I can't believe that many people died.

they're not people unless you know each of them personally. if you don't know them, they're strangers.

objectively, this doesn't mean their lives are worthless, but inside, people don't care about people-who-are-strangers-to-them.

why do you think news services say things like "a hundred and twenty thousand dead, and THREE OF THEM WERE FROM AROUND HERE! OH MY GOD!" ?

[Tequila Zaire]

they're not people unless you know each of them personally. if you don't know them, they're strangers.

objectively, this doesn't mean their lives are worthless, but inside, people don't care about people-who-are-strangers-to-them.

why do you think news services say things like "a hundred and twenty thousand dead, and THREE OF THEM WERE FROM AROUND HERE! OH MY GOD!" ?

That's just not true...one may not react the same way one would if it was family, friend, lover, etc...but the lack of that reaction does not mean one does not care for a stranger...take a simple example like this board...total strangers to me and I would not like to see anything bad happen to them and if it did...I certainly wouldn't feel ambivalent toward it. It's just too broad a statement based on the idea that care toward another must meet a certain set of rules for it to matter.

[postcoital]

I've heard that the polar axis moved 8cm.. My mother told me, so I guess it's from the rainbow press. Okay hi, we have a 12.756km diameter planet, what exactly does an 8cm moved polar axis mean?
I'm not nitpicking the facts here, rahter the expression.
Anyway. I'm curious about the disaster. My parents know some people on the maledives, who turned out to be okay, so do their families.
A friend of mine lost some pal down there, which doesnt make me as happy.
But anyway, makes me say what I'm saying for years now: Please, God, do something really ridiculous like a giant earthquake or an alien invasion to sweep us all from that planet. Thx.

[Nightingale]

I've heard that the polar axis moved 8cm.. My mother told me, so I guess it's from the rainbow press. Okay hi, we have a 12.756km diameter planet, what exactly does an 8cm moved polar axis mean?

It can mean massive weather and climatic changes and lead to instability of the planet over the longer term.