Tsunami Warning, Could it get any worse? Options

[BlackCelicaGT94]

A tsunami warning is now issued for the southern coast of india.

This is just horrible!

This post has been edited by BlackCelicaGT94: Dec 30, 2004 - 2:04 AM

[WannabeGT4]

Anyone else hear that this warning was a hoax? Some guy with "sensors" in the back of his truck claimed to have picked up readings of an earthquake from that area. Probably the biggest, most tactless, practical joke of all time. Here is an article I found...

(12-30) 10:27 PST PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) --

An Oregon man said Thursday that his firm warned the Indian government of an impending earthquake that could cause more destruction across Asia. An Indian government minister called the warning "hogwash," and blamed him for the scare that prompted tens of thousands of people to flee their homes for higher ground.

"It was a tough decision, but it was at least important to pass the information on," said Larry Park, who runs Terra Research and Consulting Services, from his home in Manning, Ore., near Portland. "I guess they held a press conference and revealed where their information came from."

"There is a good chance of a quake coming, yes, we've got a few days window," he said.

In New Delhi, Indian Science Minister Kapil Sibal said the warning was incorrect and dismissed fears of a new strike.

But by that time, tens of thousands of people had made a desperate run for higher ground in southern Tamil Nadu state, where more than half of India's 7,300 deaths occurred on Sunday. Hundreds of refugees fled relief camps set up near the coastline, jostling to get into trucks and other vehicles, one police constable said.

"(They) ... claimed they have some sensors and equipment through which they suggest there was a possibility of an earthquake," Sibal said at a televised press conference. "So, on the basis of this communication, for anyone to reach a conclusion that a tsunami will hit the eastern coast of India is unscientific, hogwash and should be discarded."

Geologists in Oregon said they had not heard of Park or of his research and joined the Indian official in questioning its validity.

"I've never had any contact with this group," University of Oregon geology professor Ray Weldon said. "I assume if it was legitimate I would have heard of it."

Geologist Lou Clark, spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industry, said that she hears periodically from earthquake enthusiasts who claim to be able to predict impending disasters.

"One of the problems is that there are earthquakes all over the earth every day," she said, making it easy for someone to 'predict' a quake in a large area, especially in regions of the world, such as Indonesia, that lie near the boundary between two tectonic plates.

"The problem is because quakes are concentrated in a few areas it is very difficult to say that something is not chance unless you are completely specific about the quake," she said.

She said she had never heard of Park. "He is not someone we work with," she said.

Park, 46, said he detected signs of a major earthquake 22 hours and 31 minutes before the temblor that shook Sumatra over the weekend, unleashing giant waves or tsunamis that left more than 100,000 dead in a dozen Asian countries.

Park said he became interested in earthquakes while working for a computer company.

"The precursors would come through the power lines and zap the electronics," Park said. "I was put on it to study the failures. They couldn't figure out what was interfering with the computers."

Park said he received a two-year degree from Lower Columbia College in Longview, Wash., and then worked for 25 years as a computer engineer. He now earns a living as a computer consultant while pursuing his earthquake research.

Operating out of a truck loaded with electronic equipment, he said, he sometimes drives hundreds of miles a day monitoring "energy bursts" from the earth's crust. Before the Sumatra quake, he said, "everything quieted down."

Last spring, Park said, his organization sent letters to Asian governments detailing his research, and when he detected signs of a new earthquake, an associate contacted Asian governments and their embassies in the United States through phone calls and e-mails.