Reply #3: These eyewitness reports are so compelling.

[stellanoir]

Thanks for posting.

The enormity of this tragedy has had me entranced since it occured. I've been scouring maps and praying for my dear cousin and her family who live in nearby Bali. Can't get through. So much death in so little time.

Yet the hours that transpired between the quake and the tsunami ravashing the shores, as far away as even Somalia, point to a drastic need for a seismic warning system monitoring the Indian ocean as we have in other parts of the world. The coastline in most of those regions is largely mountainous and not that far from the shores. With warnings many would have sought higher ground and most certainly been saved.

Why does it take the loss of 23,000 lives for people to realize such a basic and practical need. People base their needs on what they remember, I guess.

I just can't get out of my mind the image of people relaxing on the beach, or going about their business not at all cognizant of the devastation that approached.

Is it true that the island of Sumatra was actually moved 100 feet?
Or that this 9.0 earthquake actually altered the earth's rotation?
Guess it's time to go to slashdot.com and see what the "nerds are saying.

Though I am fairly sure that the death count will rise, it's still not reached a quarter of the innocents unnecessarily killed in this bogus war in Iraq.

Too sad really.

Peace