Predicting a Tsunami (Part 2)

Tsunamis are not confined to sea & ocean. It can also occur in inland lakes caused by landslides. Most of the tsunamis that was caused by the sea are generated by earthquakes. Yesterday, there were 2 separate incidents of quake reported. They were both moderate in nature. The 1st incident of quake hit the coast of Philippines at a magnitude of 5.1, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. Certainly, no tsunamis triggered. The 2nd quake yesterday hit in Sulawesi province, Indonesia with a magnitude of 5.9.

Could there be another tsunami on July 22nd, 2009?Before we go on trying to speculate about the possibilty of another Tsunami, lets have a look at some facts about tsunami in the past. I have organised it in a question & answer format to stress some important points about this subject. It took me a few days to compile this and a few hours of sleep daily. It is finally out:-

1. Does all earthquakes lead to tsunami?Answer: No. This is too obvious a question with an obvious answer. Only quakes or landslides affecting the water such as the sea, lake or a water dam causes it.
2. Then, if an earthquake occurs in the coast will it then trigger a tsunami?Answer: Not necessarily so. Another simple question with an obvious answer known to many.
3. Does a tsunami occurs itself without any contributing cause?Answer: No. Tsunami is not a natural disaster that can trigger itself without a contributing agent such as landslides or quakes.
4. Are there records of tsunami in ancient days?Answer: Yes. In 373 BC, it has struck in Helike, a city in Greece. As a result, the city was permanently submerged by sea. This city was believed to be just 2km away from the sea. Many ancient writers have commented about this incident. The narration by these writers could have inspired Plato to the myth of the Atlantis.
5. Is there a co-relation between the manitude of an earthquake to the height of a tsunami?Answer: Not accurate. The height of a tsunami wave is not necessarily influenced by the magnitude of an earthquake. There are no corelation between the magnitude of the earthquake to the height of waves it creates.
Example: The Great Chilean earthquake in 1960 recorded a 9.5 in magnitude. The highest height of the wave recorded was only 25 meters (less than 100 feet) in the Pacific ocean. A total of 6000 people lost their lives in this tragedy.
6. What is the fastest triggering time of a tsunami from the onset of an earthquake?Answer: Within 2 ~ 5 minutes from the onset of 7.8 magnitude quake in Okushiri, Japan. This took place in 1993.
Many local wrongly underestimated that they had enough time judging from similar incident in 1983 that took 17 minutes to arrive. They were gravely mistaken when they choose to fled by car over the narrow lanes in the village. They NEVER did reach across.
7. What is the greatest height of a tsunami ever recorded?Answer: Interesting question.
The Highest Tsunami ever recorded till this day is the "Lituya Bay Tsunami" which occured in 1958 caused by an earthquake magnitude of 8.3 on Richter scale.
How it started: The earthquake rocked a small inlet in Alaska called the Lituya Bay. Then, what followed was a part of the mountain at the back of the bay collapsed creating a landslide which then caused a MEGATSUNAMI measuring 1 742 feet!!!
It only killed 2 people from 2 separate boats. The amazing thing that happened here is that a father & his son both in the same boat was carried above the forest & the waves later washed back to the bay, bringing them both alive.
8. Which country has experienced the highest number of tsunami?Answer: Japan. Records has it that a total number of 195 tsunamis have hit this country since it first occured at year 684 AD during the Great Hakuho Period.
9. Has there been any preventive walls built to protect against the tsunami?Answer: Yes. It was a successful attempt. It was built in the coastal village of Taro, now a part of Miyako City, Japan in 1958. The result: The wall saved this village from the Chilean tsunami 2 years later.
10. Has the tsunami ever occured on any prominent dates?Answer: Oh, yes it did.

i) On the April Fool's Day in 1946, it struck in Aleutian Islands, Hawaii which killed 159 people in Hawaii & 5 people in Alaska. It is known as the April Fools Day Tsunami in Hawaii due to people thinking the warnings were an April Fool joke.

ii) The Good Friday Tsunami ~ Occured on March 27, 1964 which hit Alaska, British Columbia, California & coastal Pacific Northwest towns. This was a "Biggie" with a quake magnitude of 9.2 with waves as high as 100 feet killing 132 people.
11. Has there been any tsunami on the same dates?Answer: Yes. April 2nd.
i) April 2nd, 1868: Hawaii
ii)April 2nd, 2007: Solomon Islands
12. Has there been any tsunami originating other than the sea/ocean?Answer: Yes. The Vajont Dam Megatsunami, in Italy.
On October 1963, an enormous landslide of approximately 260 million cubic metres of forest, earth & rock fell in the reservoir at the speed of 110 km/hour (68 mph). It caused 50 million cubic meters of water spillage from this highest dam in the world.
It created a 250 meter high tsunami wave killing almost 2000 people.
13. Which was the deadliest tsunami of them all?Answer: Indian ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004 which took approximately 300 000 lives. It was caused by 2nd largest earthquake in history recording 9 ~ 9.3 magnitude. The highest wave was approximately 108 feet/33 metres.
Now, after inspecting the details at the top, lets look at this prediction once again:

...............Start of prediction..................
Just a warning..!

"Hello there. I just wanted 2 let you know that please stay away from the beaches all around in the month of July. There is a prediction that there will be another tsunami hitting on July 22nd. It is also when there will be sun eclipse. Predicted that it is going 2 be really bad and countries like Malaysia (Sabah & Sarawak), Singapore, Maldives, Australia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Philippines are going 2 be badly hit.

Please try and stay away from the beaches in July. Better 2 be safe than sorry. Please pass the word around. Please also pray for all beings."

Please be more cautious as the warnings has been given.

cid:image001.jpg@01C9B6A9.0B499630.


...........End of Prediction.................

Not all predictions are correct no matter how evidence supports them. After the deadliest tsunami of all, the Indian ocean tsunami on 26th December 2004, it was followed by strong tremors right until March 2005. This prompted a lot of attention on warning detectors to avoid catching people off-guard.

In 2005, there was an article from the National Geographic warning of another tsunami soon. Well, it is now 4 years later and that soon never came soon enough. Thank God for that. In 2005, seismologists at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland cautioned "The earthquake- and tsunami-battered region of Sumatra, Indonesia, is at risk for more temblors and killer waves" on June 8th, 2005. They further said, ""We should assume it will happen in the near future and do as much as quickly as we can. For governments to take their eye off the ball of preparedness would be irresponsible."

For more details: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/0608_050608_sumatra.html


Now, do you think there will be another TSUNAMI on July 22nd, 2009?

Predicting a Tsunami...?

LOL. Here we go again. All we need now is another Tsunami prediction. Some people are going bonkers over this prediction.
Check this one out:

Just a warning..!
"Hello there. I just wanted 2 let you know that please stay away from the beaches all around in the month of July. There is a prediction that there will be another tsunami hitting on July 22nd. It is also when there will be Sun eclipse. Predicted that it is going 2 be really bad and countries like Malaysia (Sabah & Sarawak), Singapore, Maldives, Australia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Philippines are going 2 be badly hit.

Please try and stay away from the beaches in July. Better 2 be safe than sorry. Please pass the word around. Please also pray for all beings."
Please be more cautious as the warnings has been given.

cid:image001.jpg@01C9B6A9.0B499630.



.........End of Tsunami Warning............

However, the Hawaii based NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre's Geophysicist, Mr. Gerard Fryer says there is no scientific reason for big earthquake or a tsunami to occur in July. He further reiterates that great earthquakes do not correlate with eclipses, lunar phases or the moon's closest approach to Earth. This was his answer in response to the rumours that is going around like the one above.

He further states that:-

~there are about 10 earthquakes a day exceeding magnitude of 5.

~the usual argument is that eclipses impose an unusual gravitation attraction on the earth's crust. However, variations in gravity cannot influence earthquakes because in an earthquake, the 2 sides of a vault moves in opposite directions. Gravity, on the other hand, will pull both sides the same way. Therefore, pulling both sides in the same direction is neither going to increase or decrease the problem of an earthquake.

...............End of Gerard Fryer's comments........

This reminds me of the hoax prediction that was made about 3 months just after the worst tsunami on December 26th, 2004. Somewhere in March 2005, it was predicted that a Giant tsunami will sweep the shores (I can't really recall that date). Warnings were circulated vie e-mails. And, 5 years ago, YES, I went to the beach which is hardly a kilometer away from my house to witness it. What a sucker I was then?

Off the Tsunami topic to present Economic RecessionAnyway, if those of you who need something to worry, maybe the current economic recession will be worth it. Having trouble with inflated prices & limited purchase power? Maybe you can try this: If you are a smoker & drink beverages & snacks 3 times a day? You may want to do some calculation. A cigarette pack a day may cost $10 & 3 light drinks like Cola (beer is even more costlier if daily) say $6? (Approximate figure)

So, per day = $16
per month = $480
per Year = $5760.00

And THAT is a figure certainly is worth worrying about if you are one with very little control of the habit. The staggering amount above could be saved for a vacation trip or straight into your future saving if you QUIT SMOKING & replace your coffee with plain warm water. It's healthier lifestyle & caffeine FREE too ;)

Take care. And if you decide to quit smoking after reading this post....
My Best Wishes to You and Wish that You Will Succeed in Your Endeavour.
......May the Force be With You....;)

(In my next post, it is back to the subject of tsunami. In part 2, there will be some interesting facts about tsunamis)

The Unnoticeable Miracles Surrounding Us Daily.

I came across this piece of story from the net. I thought "how true" after going through it. We pass through each day, not noticing the slightest sprinkle of miracles that guide mankind daily. The awesome sunrise and the sunset, the rain, the weather, the wonderful nature ~ rivers, waterfalls, sea, hills and mountains, the goodness of mankind (forget the bad ones), the day & the nightfall each has it's role to play in this mystique filled earth.

The story goes as reported:-
A few years ago in downtown Denver, my friend, Scott, and I saw something tiny and insignificant that changed the world, but no one else even seemed to notice.

It was one of those beautiful Denver days.
Crystal clear, no humidity, not a cloud in the sky.
We decided to walk the ten blocks to an outdoor restaurant rather than take the shuttle bus that runs up and down the Sixteenth Street Mall.
The restaurant, in the shape of a baseball diamond, was called The Blake Street Baseball Club.

The tables were set appropriately on the grass infield.
Many Colorful pennants and flags hung limply overhead.
As we sat outside, the sun continued to beat down on us and it became increasingly hot.

There wasn't a hint of a breeze, and heat radiated up from the tabletop.
Nothing moved, except the waiters, of course.
And they didn't move very fast either.
After lunch, Scott and I started to walk back up the mall.

We both noticed a mother and her young daughter walking out of a card shop toward the street. She was holding her daughter by the hand while reading a greeting card. It was immediately apparent to us that she was so engrossed in the card that she did not notice a shuttle bus moving toward her at a good clip.
She and her daughter were one step away from disaster when Scott started to yell. He hadn't even gotten a word out when a breeze blew the card out of her hand and over her shoulder.

She spun around and grabbed at the card, nearly knocking her daughter over.
By the time she picked up the card from the ground and turned back around to cross the street, the shuttle bus had whizzed by her.

She never even knew what almost happened.

To this day, two things continue to perplex me about this event: Where did that one spurt of wind come from to blow the card out of that young mother's hand?
There had not been a whisper of wind at lunch or during our long walk back up the mall.

Secondly, if Scott had been able to get his words out, the young mother might have looked up at us as they continued to walk into the bus. It was the wind that made her turn back to the card in the one direction that saved her life and that of her daughter.

The passing bus did not create the wind.
On the contrary, the wind came from the opposite direction.
I have no doubt it was a breath from God protecting them both.
But the awesomeness of this miracle is that she never knew.
As we continued back to work, I wondered how God often acts in our lives without our being aware.
The difference between life and death can very well be a little thing.

~ Author Unknown ~

The Short Stay in Enlightenment-by Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda Swamiji

This incident was narrated 23 yrs ago by a Spiritual Master, Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda Swamiji. It was a message to the students who participated in the Kriya Yoga class at "The Centre of the Light" in Massachusetts, USA. It is about a man's journey towards Self-Realisation or some call it Moksha or Nirvana. The story has a message. The message is that with dilligent practice, perseverance and patience in anything, one can see improvement that leads to perfection in the due course of time. Perfection is not something that one can achieve in such short time, irrespective of whether the field is in Electronics, IT, habit breaking, improving one's attitude, sports or even moksha in this case.

The incident as narrated by Swamiji.
Some people ask Swamiji, "I am Swamiji's devotee for 10 years. I have been associated with Swamiji for 15 years. I WANT BLISS. I WANT ENLIGHTENMENT. But, Swamiji didn't give anything. I am following Swamiji for so many years. "Swamiji, you must give something!"

There is one particular devotee from Germany. I don't recall his name. He said,

The Devotee: " I have been following Swamiji for 10 to 12 years. I want enlightenment. I gave so much money to Swamiji. I gave so many things. I have done so much service. I want enlightenment. Swamiji promised that he would give me something. You didn't give me anything for the last 10 years. My life is wasted. My time is wasted. I don't go to any gurus (guru means Spiritual Master). I don't believe in any books. I BELIEVE ONLY IN SWAMIJI. I BELIEVE. I ADORE SWAMIJI,"

Swamiji: That is how he is thinking. After 10 years, he has become "crazy" (lost control of his emotions). He came up to Swamiji at a meeting. Everybody got upset. But, Swamiji was not upset. Swamiji asked, "OK. WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

The devotee: "I want enlightenment".

Swamiji: Your time has not come.

The devotee (complains): Every year, Swamiji says, "Not yet, not yet, not yet. When?

Swamiji: I don't know. Simply follow. Do meditation. Do your work and serve your mother.

The devotee (complains again): "Why are you always giving me this same advice? I don't believe in any other guru. I believe ONLY IN YOU.."

Then things started to happen....
At this point, Swamiji spontaneously acted by simply touching the devotee's forehead and said, "OK, I give enlightenment."

Upon getting the Swamiji's touch, the devotee left the place.
He took his mother and drove away in his car. He had hardly reached only a mile and strange things soon began to unravel. In that mile, he saw many Swamiji's with beard. Thousands and thousands and thousands of Swamiji's can be seen. And the car he is driving - that is also Swamiji's body. He then looked at his mother, and she too looked like Swamiji.

(A great pressure was building in his head. So, he decided to return to see the Swamiji)

The devotee (now): "I don't want this enlightenment. Such enlightenment....I don't want anymore."

(Swamiji then gave him some water and asked him to sleep. After one hour, he returned to his normal consciousness.)

Swamiji ends this story by telling, "Enlightenment is not easy, not easy. Be ready. That's the reason you practice all kinds of yoga. Be kind. Be generous. Be calm. Be peaceful. Follow one path. Believe. Have no room for confusion. Automatically, you will then get Enlightenment and Bliss. Guru is then not necessary. You will automatically get it. When the time is ripe, YOU will get it. He (GOD), will give it.

Swamiji: We are searching. We are very crazy (going haywire). We want physical evidence. Enlightenment is not like that. Enlightenment...."that blissful power is difficult to get. So practice. Control yourself. It will come. That is Swamiji's opinion.

Source: Heart to Heart - Kriya class 1986.

(Footnote: Swamiji picked up some simple English through his communication with foreign devotees. So, the communication is very simple and plain as he has not undergone formal education in this language.

In the present days, everyone is rushing on things at break neck speed. It is a mad rat race that has no end. There are instant noodles, instant photographs, instant this and instant that. Some may even question at the end of one's life journey if all the stress in life was worthwhile. The fruits of our pursuit sometimes bears little meaning towards the twilight years of the life. Therefore, patience, perseverance and practice do makes it perfect!

Living in a Grateful World

I received this Buddhist Teachings via net and I thought of sharing it here. It embraces truth with simplicity. I think if we can emulate even a partial of these sayings, we can rid off some amounts of undue stress in this stress filled earth. We do not need to embrace Buddhism to practice it. Good things are found in all religions, and this teachings below is one such example.

LIVING IN A GRATEFUL WORLD

BE GRATEFUL TO THOSE WHO HAVE HURT OR HARMED YOU,
FOR THEY HAVE REINFORCED YOUR DETERMINATION.

BE GRATEFUL TO THOSE WHO HAVE DECEIVED YOU,
FOR THEY HAVE DEEPENED YOUR INSIGHT.

BE GRATEFUL TO THOSE WHO HAVE HIT YOU,
FOR THEY HAVE REDUCED YOUR KARMIC OBSTACLES.

BE GRATEFUL TO THOSE WHO ABANDONED YOU,
FOR THEY HAVE TAUGHT YOU TO BE INDEPENDENT.

BE GRATEFUL TO THOSE WHO HAVE MADE YOU STUMBLE,
FOR THEY HAVE STRENGTHENED YOUR ABILITY.

BE GRATEFUL TO THOSE WHO HAVE DENOUNCED YOU,
FOR THEY HAVE INCREASED YOUR WISDOM AND CONCENTRATION.

(Source: Buddhist Teachings)

Angels of Mons saves British soldiers.

The Angel(s) that I am about to narrate is a little different than the norm. It is also known as "the bowmen of Mons." The story describes of a phantom bowmen from the Battle of Agincourt who was summoned by a British soldier calling on Saint George. It is a spiritually inspiring tale with a common theme to the needs of every living being. The angels rescuing mankind in times of trouble. Don't we all have problems? Anyway, this story ends with the destruction of the German forces much to the favour of the British soldiers.

The Angels of Mon-The story goes like this...
During the onset of the First World War, on 22nd August 1914,the British expeditionary forces were engaged in a place called Mons, in Belgium. The battle was also known as the "Battle of the Frontiers". During this battle, the Germans who outnumbered the British soldiers were rapidly advancing. The British who were suffering major casualties had to retreat the following day. The task of beating the Germans seemed almost impossible. New recruitment drive for the British army was needed in such short time due to the heavy loss.

Contribution of Arthur Machen to this story
There was no hope at all. Some of them bidding farewell to each other by shaking hands and saying "Good-bye". One man improvised a new version of the battlesong, "Good-bye, good-bye to Tipperary," ending with "And we shan't get there". And they all went on firing steadily. The officers pointed out that such an opportunity for high-class, fancy shooting might never occur again; the Germans dropped line after line; the Tipperary humorist asked, "What price Sidney Street?" And the few machine guns did their best. But everybody knew it was of no use. The dead grey bodies lay in companies and battalions, as others came on and on and on, and they swarmed and stirred and advanced from beyond and beyond.

The Soldier who summons "St' George"
This soldier happened to know Latin and other useless things, and now, as he fired at his man in the grey advancing mass - 300 yards away , he went on firing to the end. Finally, Bill on his right had to clout him cheerfully over the head to make him stop, pointing out as he did so that the King's ammunition cost money and was not lightly to be wasted in drilling funny patterns into dead Germans. "World without end. Amen," he said with some irrelevance as he took aim and fired.

And then he remembered-he says he cannot think why or wherefore - a queer vegetarian restaurant in London where he had once or twice eaten eccentric dishes of cutlets made of lentils and nuts that pretended to be steak. On all the plates in this restaurant there was printed a figure of St. George in blue, with the motto, Adsit Anglis Sanctus Geogius - May St. George be a present help to the English.

The sound of battle drowns...
For as the Latin scholar uttered his invocation he felt something between a shudder and an electric shock pass through his body. The roar of the battle died down in his ears to a gentle murmur; instead of it, he says, he heard a great voice and a shout louder than a thunder-peal crying, "Array, array, array!"

His heart grew hot as a burning coal, it grew cold as ice within him, as it seemed to him that a tumult of voices answered to his summons. He heard, or seemed to hear, thousands shouting:
"St. George! St. George!"
"Ha! messire; ha! sweet Saint, grant us good deliverance!"
"St. George for merry England!"
"Harow! Harow! Monseigneur St. George, succour us."
"Ha! St. George! Ha! St. George! a long bow and a strong bow."
"Heaven's Knight, aid us!"

And as the soldier heard these voices, he saw before him, beyond the trench, a long line of shapes, with a shining about them. They were like men who drew the bow, and with another shout their cloud of arrows flew singing and tingling through the air towards the German hosts.

The other men in the trench were firing all the while.They had no hope; but they aimed just as if they had been shooting at Bisley. Suddenly one of them lifted up his voice in the plainest English, "Gawd help us!" he bellowed to the man next to him, "but we're blooming marvels! Look at those grey ... gentlemen, look at them! D'ye see them? They're not going down in dozens, nor in 'undreds; it's thousands, it is. Look! look! there's a regiment gone while I'm talking to ye."

"Shut it!" the other soldier bellowed, taking aim, "what are ye gassing about!"
But he gulped with astonishment even as he spoke, for, indeed, the grey men were falling by the thousands. The English could hear the guttural scream of the German officers, the crackle of their revolvers as they shot the reluctant; and still line after line crashed to the earth.

All the while the Latin-bred soldier heard the cry: "Harow! Harow! Monseigneur, dear saint, quick to our aid! St. George help us!"
"High Chevalier, defend us!"
The singing arrows fled so swift and thick that they darkened the air; the heathen horde melted from before them.
"More machine guns!" Bill yelled to Tom.
"Don't hear them," Tom yelled back. "But, thank God, anyway; they've got it in the neck."

In fact, there were ten thousand dead German soldiers left before that salient of the English army, and consequently there was no Sedan. In Germany, a country ruled by scientific principles, the Great General Staff decided that the contemptible English must have employed shells containing an unknown gas of a poisonous nature, as no wounds were discernible on the bodies of the dead German soldiers. But the man who knew what nuts tasted like when they called themselves steak knew also that St. George had brought his Agincourt Bowmen to help the English."

End of the Story. And now for the moments of Truth.
That was quite an inspirational story, or was it? Actually the writings above was mostly written by a Welsh author, Arthur Machen on 29 September 1914. It was a short story called “The Bowmen” which appeared in the London newspaper, "the Evening News". He had read about the fighting in Mons, and soon enough was inspired to write a story about it.

The only problem that Arthur Machen, (the author) didn't foresee was the effect of the story on the people. Machen had previously wrote a number of factual articles about the conflict in the same paper.

Machen's story was not however labelled as fiction and the same edition of the Evening News ran a story by a different author under the heading "Our Short Story." Additionally, Machen's story was written from a first hand perspective and was a kind of false document, a technique Machen knew well.

The unintended result was that Machen (the author) had a number of requests to provide evidence for his sources for the story soon after its publication, from readers who thought it was true, to which he responded that it was completely imaginary, as he had no desire to create a hoax.

Arthur Machen tries to explain in vain...
But the way the "news" spread was another matter.

1. A month or two afterwards, Machen received requests from the editors of parish magazines to reprint the story, which were granted. A priest, the editor of one of these magazines, subsequently wrote to Machen asking if he would allow the story to be reprinted in pamphlet form, and would he write a short preface giving authorities for the story. Machen replied that they were welcome to reprint but he could not give any authorities for the story since he had none. The priest replied that Machen must be mistaken, that the "facts" of the story must be true, and that Machen had just elaborated on a true account.

2. And soon enough, variation of the story soon began to add colour to this fiction, which was narrated as though they were authentic histories, especially one which describes how dead German soldiers had been found on the battlefield with arrow wounds.

3. In "The Bowmen" Machen's soldier saw "a long line of shapes, with a shining about them." Mr. A.P. Sinnett, writing in the Occult Review mentioned that "those who could see said they saw 'a row of shining beings' between the two armies." This led Machen to suggest that the bowmen of his story had become the Angels of Mons.

As Machen later said with regret:
"It seemed that my light fiction had been accepted by the congregation of this particular church as the solidest of facts; and it was then that it began to dawn on me that if I had failed in the art of letters, I had succeeded, unwittingly, in the art of deceit. This happened, I should think, some time in April, and the snowball of rumour that was then set rolling has been rolling ever since, growing bigger and bigger, till it is now swollen to a monstrous size."

Machen tried to set the record straight, but any attempt to lessen the impact of such an inspiring story was seen as bordering on treason by some. It just goes to prove that from time immemorial, people of the faithful type will choose to believe no matter what evidence are brought upon to the contrary. On the other hand, we also have s-c-e-p-t-i-c-s who will not stop questioning no matter what evidence is presented to them. They prefer for a scientific explanation though not all of them are scientific by nature!