USGS: Warnings could have saved thousands

U.S. officials tried to warn countries that the deadly wall of water was coming, but no official system is in place.

The story "USGS: Warnings could have saved thousands" published December 27, 2004 at 5:45 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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Oh, you tried...sigh

Oh, so they sent out an alert to "subscribers", and they didn't have any addresses to anyone in the region, now, who's fault is that ?

I'm sorry but this is BS, if they had something actually to alert about they could have alerted the authorities in the region very easily, it seems it was just not that important since they wanted them to "learn the lesson".

What nonsense !!!

If these guys knew that a tsunami was happening, what were they waiting for ??? Were they waiting for these countries to "subscribe" to their services before they dish out this "knowledge" ? We are talking of about the lives of around 15,000 people here !!! Were their lives any less precious than those running the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The news could have easily been passed onto Television and other media which could have alerted these organisations. Consulates could have been informed. I find this information that these guys knowing about the tsunami and not being able to tell the world in time a boastful attempt with a weak excuse !!!



Moses

[Andrew J Glina]

I told you so

..."And I think this will be a lesson to them,"...

I am surprised that someone could attach their name to that comment. Thousands dead, thousands missing, thousands diplaced and all these people can do is talk of what might of been. These guys just want to get interview so they can say "I told you so". Pathetic.

Disaster Management or Mismanagement?

An organization of this stature and a person like the Director of such body should not be talking irresponibly.

I can understand that he is ignorant of the contacts in these third world contries, but dont they know what to do in emergency?

Did they not have atleast contact numbers of CNN or BBC which are being watched throughout the world? A simple alert to them would have done the job. They do know whom to contact in India.

Let them realize that what they have done is a grave mistake and justification of that only adds wound to woe.

Is it not that US wants the entire world to co-operate in fight against terrorism? If you dont help others how you expect them to help you?

Please pass on these comments ( along with mine)to that gentleman and let him appologize for his acts!

No warning system?or no $ to waste on unreliable prediction techniques

No Warning system, someone over there's gotta have a phone. The truth is that The real time tsunami prediction system sucks, and is not accurate enough to issue a Tsunami warning. The truth is that there is behind the cause of a Tsunami than a large magnitude quake. Different governments worldwide have issued Tsunami warnings, but the Tsunami doesn't always deliver. These false warnings are extremely costly

No warning system?or no $ to waste on a unreliable prediction system?

No Warning system, someone over there's gotta have a phone, or a T.V.? The truth is that The real time tsunami prediction system does not consistently have the techniques or capabilities to reliably predict anything about a possible Tsunami in the making. The truth is that there is more than sizemic activity alone to build a Tsunami. Of course for some reason we still haven't figured out exactly how to fund new research techniques. Different governments worldwide have issued Tsunami warnings, for Tsunami's that did never came. These false warnings are extremely costly and in certain areas that cannot afford to waste finances on possible dangers as we have seen do not get the phone calls of the catastrophy that might or might not be heading right for them. Unfortunatly the effected areas will have the ability to fund this research.

[cpudrewfl]

hopefully it took down some call centers

Hopefully it wrecked some call centers. Maybe the US can get some of those jobs back that went over there.

Countries can afford Nukes

Some of these countries have nukes, But cannot afford a warning system!!! These countries are at fault they are in an earthquake and volcano area, They get Billions in vacation dollars, Yes they can afford an warning system.
You cannot go behind these goverments backs that would be a total insult to these peoples. You have to go threw proper protocol.

[Tex Murphy PI]

Precisely!

Someone who actually understands the situation - and hits the nail right on the head.

the monstrous tides

well..it certainly feels guilt to see countless souls washed away for no deal.its easy to put up a blame n call it indifference but i would more appropriately call it "ignorance of foresight"

Typical U.S big talk !!!

All these eloquency about US doing the right thing by not warning these countries , about these countries getting what they deserve,etc. etc. is so typical of American talk. They could not stop their own twin tower disaster, HOW THE HECK CAN THEY HELP ANYONE ELSE?
Anyway, USA has only attacked thirld World countries on some pretext or the other, they will be the last jokers who will volunteer any help. All they care is their own selfish interests.One joker is thinking of call centres when 50,000 have died; another talks of billions of vacation dollars....
Not even God can help these claybrains who think they are alive...........

No contact info in ur address books ? WOW WOW WOW

"We tried to do what we could," McCreery said. "We don't have contacts in our address book for anybody in that part of the world."

WOW, I would like to give a standing ovation to this very statement alone.

I was wondering about a different scenario than the tsunami disaster.

Let's see, there's just a, JUST A news about the possibilities of business worth, say $ 5 bn with a business group.

Then you wud have the contact information of even the officeboy of the concerned business entity, wouldn't you ?

[Kelson]

We tried. Stop blaming us.

I cannot believe the arrogance of these people accusing the US of not even trying to warn the affected regions, when the entire article is about how we DID try, and how circumstances prevented the warning from getting out.

The agency interviewed was the *Pacific* Tsunami Warning System. You wouldn't expect India or Sri Lanka to be on this list any more than you'd expect Germany to be on a hurricane warning list. So they sent out a bulletin through normal channels (the one to their "subscribers" in the Pacific), and they tried to find someone in the area that they *could* call, or at least someone who would know who to call -- Australia, US embassies, etc.

I don't know where the communication broke down, but it seems to me that it wasn't the USGS. It sounds like they did everything they could.

Is this what Mother Nature intended?

Quote of the Day:
"And I think this will be a lesson to them" ? Waverly Person, U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information

A lot of people have been responding to this one and I have to admit, it sounded really bad given the context of the article. One person referred to it as a form of "I told you so." In a way it is, and Person forgets how fortunate he is to be living in a place like the United States where the technology not only exists but is readily available.
Places like Thailand and Sri Lanka don't have the financial resources to instate a "what if" system. Many sites give you all kinds of data on tsunamis - some hit every decade, some every century, some never at all. This so-called system that Person refers to is, in layman?s terms, a form of fire insurance you buy "just in case" something happens. So let?s be realistic here ? is Thailand or Malaysia or Sri Lanka going to invest millions of dollars into a system that may or not become useful someday, or are they going to invest in luxury hotels and entertainment for willing and paying foreign patrons to visit year after year? As foreigners, we are these people?s livelihood in many cases. I read one article about a native who had lost not only members of his family but his fishing boat as well. He went on to say ?he has nothing.? There aren?t exactly a lot of job opportunities in Malaysia save for the ones provided through tourism. And for Person to turn the blame onto a country that barely struggles by is a shame in itself.
And let?s face it, finances are always an issue. Beside the senseless deaths of thousands of people killed by the tsunami, it?s prudent to mention the futility of what an advanced world we live in. We have the power and technology to save the lives of millions of people everyday. We possess the means to end hunger and the suffering for people everyday. But, (and there always a ?but?) there is no profit in charity. In most instances, we?re a civilization of takers, not givers. Let?s be honest here ? there just isn?t enough humanity to go around ? it?s strained beyond redemption and people die as a result.
Now tell me:
Is this what Mother Nature intended?

[cpudrewfl]

God is mad at all the offshoring

God is mad on hbow these cockaroches take our jobs and he stepped on then with one big 9.0 shoe and washed them away and there islam practicing ways. If I was god I would be mad at the greedy ceos as well and did this during an offshoring conference but at least it happened

Unfortunate response!

Not making an attempt to save quarter million life (including that of hundreds of Americans, and thousands more of other westerners) is a not crime that one should think of defending. Even if one were to give the benefit of doubt to USGS, what kind of a moron or scum bag would make such statements like "let this be a lesson"?

I have no doubt in my mind that US is the greatest nation on earth by virtue of its power and its natural resources, and undoubtedly it is the biggest donor country to world cause, whether it is good enough is arguable. However, it is people like these though who contribute to diminishing its greatness. Statement like these help Osama instigate rest of the world against US to pursue his own cause.

United States is a blessed country with all its wealth and has unique adavantage of not having the baggage and problems rest of the countries have, simply because they are tens of thousands of years older than US. It is easier to start from scratch and achive greatness, not every body is so fortunate. If by virtue of ones birth here, if he/she think they are any superior than people in rest of the world, god save them, they are thinking so only at thier own peril.

No matter how powerful US is it cannot survive without world co-operation, recent history is a strong testimony to it and there will be several such occasions in the future where US would like world help. I am sure majority of the country understands it, which is the only reason why this country remains to be the greatest on earth.

One cannot underestimate the will of human time and again we human beings have demonstrated the ability to withstand and survive the worst of crisis, help or no help. So it is OK not to help others, it is even OK not to reach out but it is definitely not OK to think you can teach others a lesson. As someone aptly said, what goes around comes around. It is in ones best interest to keep such attitude to oneself.