What may be an important story...Survival and Perception....
A little girl save 300 people
Read the discussion for what I am talking about.

Perception (when you're out of danger) & survival of other people: I was reading a news article at http://www.wtop.com/index.php?sid=379592&nid=385
where the "top" meteorologist in one of the affected countries knew about the earthquake, but wasn't "sure" how much damage was coming, so he didn't warn anyone. His department had AN HOUR WARNING of the impending disaster. But, because they weren't "sure", they didn't want to call a false alarm and "anger the government". I'm reasonably certain that protection of his job (which he has lost) also had something to do with his decision.

But how many others, worldwide, would do the same thing?

Sue

I believe he knew the quake happened an hour or so before. I'm much less sure that he knew a tsunami
was inbound. AFAIK, it's one thing to detect a quake, it's quite another to accurately model and predict
wave height at landfall. Crying wolf is a real problem in situations like this. And even if they'd known
what we know now, given the lousy infrastructure in much of the affected area, how far would the
warning have gone?

That's probably true. OTOH, why bother to determine when a quake happens at all? Unplug the machines, use the upkeep funds to buy a new limo, and just shrug & say it was the Will of Allah, or Buddah, or God, or I'm-Allright-Jack. Save money, time, space & cut the employee payroll.

But I'm sure you're right about how far the info would have gone. I guess they'll just have to depend on English tourist kids. One little girl probably saved more people than all the governments combined. Pretty pathetic, eh?

Susan

It's a no-win situation for the forecaster, especially with current tools. I think the guy was probably
fired as a scape-goat.


If there's a silver lining anywhere, maybe this is it. Millions (billions?) more people are now aware of
tsunamis. For the next decade or two, most people will probably run _away_ from the beach if
the tide goes out suddenly.