newslink- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6754820/?GT1=5936

So how is everyone feeling as far as 11,000 people (mostlye tourists) dying across asia(indonesia, china, etc.). I feel so bad to be happy right now. At such a time of the year too...just very ironic and dreadfully MELANCHOLy. I really would like everyone's opinion. I just hate to just ignore the news right now.

Agreed. Very sorry for those people who spend holidays grieving over lost ones. Ironic too.

I feel much sadder about the people who are making money off of their pain, CNN THIS MEANS YOU!!!

^^^^good point^^^^

Yeah that's incredibley said.

I found out when I first woke up. Not a great way to start the day.

Just found out toll is 23,000 now, not the original number you posted.
The eathquake that started it was so powerful that scientists say one of the islands moved 100 ft and that the earths tilt on the axis shifted.

Last I heard the toll is going to be over 60,000. However at the rate it keeps going up it'll probably end up being over 100,000.

Toll is now up to 80,000 and climbing.

thats 0.0012% of the world's population, which is a disturbingly high number. this disaster is so tragic.

I heard on the news that scientist are now predicting some unusual weather patterns due to the axis shift.
The effects aren't over yet.

It's all read sad, I wish Nature wasn't so cruel.

very sad. as a world, i think we should band together to assist the affected countries to fix up the situation.

I agree that the axis shift could cause some additional problems. Also, it is intimated that there could be as many people die from disease as from the wave/earthquake itself. Very scary and sad.

One news account said the 9.0 earthquake was equivalent to 1,000,000 atom bombs being exploded in the same place, at the same time.

The amazing power of nature.

It makes you think that the mind set of the U.S. is really pathetic. Now dont get me wrong 9-11 was very trakic and all but over 100,000 people dead is way more important than 1,200. I think that we shouold have a day of mourning for all of these people. They are fellow humans and we should show our respects for them. But we will still think that we had it so bad to loose 1,200 they lost every thing entire citys were destoyed. They dont even have families left.

I heard somewhere that St. Louis shifted an inch because of the earthquake. AN INCH! That is huge! I'm surprised that more earthquakes weren't triggered because of a shift like that. St. Louis has one of the biggest faultlines (or epicenters or something, i don't know. one of the two) in the country. If that thing had gone off as a result of this supposed one inch shift, who knows what could have happened.

Apocalypse anyone?

This website shows some before and after satellite photos of areas hit by the tsunami. Pretty sad - especially the first two. The entire island is wiped out.

http://www.digitalglobe.com/tsunami_gallery.html

The death toll is now something like 150,000. That's a hell of a lot higher than it was first predicted to be.

That's insane. Even teh water looks different in the aftermath.
On the news they said that no dead animals have been found. not one. Animals knew it was coming. I think it just goes to show how tuned out we as the human race have become. We need to start paying attention to our surroundings more and be less self centered.
Nature takes its course. We can't really say its been cruel. Its doing it was designed to do. Exist and move. We just happened to be in the way when it slipped.

I just think it's been sad that the biggest stories of the year has been stuff like the Scott Peterson, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jackson trials and so on... Maybe the media should spend some more time on more meaningful stories, instead of tabloids, as they obviously had no interest in Asia before this disaster, sad that it takes so many deaths for ppl to wake up to another part of the world

quote:

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Originally posted by Forsakenproductions:
The eathquake that started it was so powerful that scientists say one of the islands moved 100 ft and that the earths tilt on the axis shifted.

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Yeah, just to elaborate on this: The quake was one of the most powerful in history. It moved the island of Sumatra (about the size of the entire west coast, inland to central Nevada) about 100 feet to the southwest.

It also permanently accelerated the Earth's rotation, so the days are now shorter (by mere fractions of a second). The planet was also thrown about an inch out of orbit because it wobbled on the rotational axis.

I also read that the death toll could reach 400,000. This could be one of the worst natural disasters in history.