some islands have moved by 30 miles

I'd rather have a Tsunami any day then an earthquake. At least with a tsunami we'd have some warning since the Pacific has an emergency warning system.

That's an interesting point. Does anyone know how long it was before the tsunami hit land after the earthquake?

-Dino

It took 2 hours to get to Indonesia, travelling at speeds as fast as 500mph.

Its pretty amazing when you stop to think about it. You have to wonder what a series of quakes like what just happened could do. Its not out of the realm of possibilty in our lifetime.

Escaping reality ... excellent point Dino!
(BTW Merry Christmas, Happy New Years and please send out a big WOOF to the crew!)

You're prolly right. But we should keep an eye on it.

And that is exactly why I feel sorry for most people (sheep) from an industrialized society ... so bent on making money, never taking the time to live, enjoying what they have been given. Live each moment as if it is your last!

Earthquakes vs. the Earth's Rotation
How major tremors alter the planet's wobble.
By Sam Schechner
Posted Monday, Dec. 27, 2004, at 5:05 PM PT

In covering the massive, tsunami-generating earthquake off the northwest coast of Sumatra this weekend, many news outlets picked up a statement from Enzo Boschi, head of Italy's National Institute of Geophysics, saying the temblor was strong enough to disturb the Earth's rotation. Can an earthquake really affect the way the planet spins on its axis?

Yep. As you'll recall from science class, the rotating Earth resembles a spinning top: The planet's axis does not always point in exactly the same direction but wobbles very slightly, describing small but measurable circles at the poles. A very large earthquake?one of a magnitude of 9.0 or greater?can shift enough mass relative to that of the entire Earth to alter, very minutely, the course of that wobble. But the planet's speed of rotation (which, of course, determines the lengths of our days) remains unchanged, so we don't need to worry about adjusting our watches.

Now that is some serious business!

Making Money = Enjoying Life in my eyes. Maybe once I make enough I'll have a different view tho.

Well as George Carlin says: "The Earth will be fine. The HUMANS will go tho." :Graucho

I understand that many lives could have been saved if the countries hit had better means of communicating the 'heads up' they got from the North American monitoring agencies over an hour before it happened (waters hit land).

While the (non-human) collateral damage from the tsunami could not be avoided, I bet the costs of fitting all these countries with a basic infrastructure for emergency broadcasting might be less expensive that the costs attribited to lost lives - not to mention the lives that might be saved.

If anything, any coastal areas which have high concentrations of population should be more reachable by emergency notification centers. Hopefully, this may become a reality as a result of this tragedy.

Unfortunately, it makes too much sense and there does not seem to be much oil in these regions.

:2 cents:

-Dino

I just hope earth doesn't freeze over!!

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

thats quite a large picture in your sig

damn man, that is some weird shit

...meters, not miles

I never thought about it like that.