beerbarrel wrote:

On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 18:56:46 -0800, running dogg wrote:



As I understand it, the damage caused by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake
was relatively minor and localized, it was the tsunami that caused all
the death and destruction. That means that this tsunami was easily the
deadliest and most destructive tsunami in recorded human history. Radio
Habana Cuba claimed last night that "hundreds" of people in Somalia-in
Africa-died in the tsunami, although I have yet to hear confirmation of
that anywhere else. Somalia is on the other side of the Indian Ocean
from Sumatra-6,000 miles, IIRC.


--Mike L.





The Pacific is by far the most active tsunami zone, according to the
U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). But
tsunamis have been generated in other bodies of water, including the
Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas, and the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.
North Atlantic tsunamis included the tsunami associated with the 1775
Lisbon earthquake that killed as many as 60,000 people in Portugal,
Spain, and North Africa. This quake caused a tsunami as high as 23
feet (7 meters) in the Caribbean.

But most of the dead in Iberia (Spain and Portugal) were from the
earthquake, not necessarily from the tsunami that followed it. In
Southeast Asia, most of the dead were specifically from the tsunami. See
the difference?

But how do you really know?


Nov. 1, 1755: After a colossal earthquake destroyed Lisbon, Portugal
and rocked much of Europe, people took refuge by boat. A tsunami
ensued, as did great fires. Altogether, the event killed more than
60,000 people.

Aug. 27, 1883: Eruptions from the Krakatoa volcano fueled a tsunami
that drowned 36,000 people in the Indonesian Islands of western Java
and southern Sumatra. The strength of the waves pushed coral blocks as
large as 600 tons onto the shore.

June 15, 1896: Waves as high as 100 feet (30 meters), spawned by an
earthquake, swept the east coast of Japan. Some 27,000 people died.

April 1, 1946: The April Fools tsunami, triggered by an earthquake in
Alaska, killed 159 people, mostly in Hawaii.

July 9, 1958: Regarded as the largest recorded in modern times, the
tsunami in Lituya Bay, Alaska was caused by a landslide triggered by
an 8.3 magnitude earthquake. Waves reached a height of 1,720 feet (576
meters) in the bay, but because the area is relatively isolated and in
a unique geologic setting the tsunami did not cause much damage
elsewhere. It sank a single boat, killing two fishermen.

May 22, 1960: The largest recorded earthquake, magnitude 8.6 in Chile,
created a tsunami that hit the Chilean coast within 15 minutes. The
surge, up to 75 feet (25 meters) high, killed an estimated 1,500
people in Chile and Hawaii.

March 27, 1964: The Alaskan Good Friday earthquake, magnitude between
8.4, spawned a 201-foot (67-meter) tsunami in the Valdez Inlet. It
traveled at over 400 mph, killing more than 120 people. Ten of the
deaths occurred in Crescent City, in northern California, which saw
waves as high as 20 feet (6.3 meters).

Aug. 23, 1976: A tsunami in the southwest Philippines killed 8,000 on
the heels of an earthquake.

July 17, 1998: A magnitude 7.1 earthquake generated a tsunami in Papua
New Guinea that quickly killed 2,200.



BBC is currently reporting that deaths in the Southeast Asian tsunami
have reached at LEAST 60,000, and are climbing by the hour. That puts it
on a scale with the Lisbon earthquake/tsunami. I suspect that total
deaths, especially in the future few weeks after disease sets in, will
top 100,000, making it easily the deadliest tsunami in recorded history.
Yes, there have been bigger tsunamis. But the tsunami of Christmas 2004
surely ranks as among the deadliest and most destructive, if not THE
MOST deadliest and destructive, in recorded history.