2/24    If you were on the beach, would you have underestimated the power
        of the tsunami as well?  Be honest.
        http://tinyurl.com/64vfb (sfgate.com)
        \_ I think it depends on whether you think about tsunamis as being
           a real posibility or not.  I've worked where they were a pretty
           serious threat(on the Aleutian chain), and they had tsunami warning
           alarms and expected people to have "tsunami bags" which they would
           bring with them into the hills if the alarm went off.  I think
           the idea was that they would warn you long before you saw a wave,
           though.  Of course, for me it was all theoretical, since I worked
           on a boat and wouln't have had much of a chance unless we were
           either in deep water or tied up at a dock. In my line of work
           being flexible enough to kiss my ass goodbye was more usefull
           than a tsunami bag.
        \_ Since there were no warnings, and since they wouldn't have felt
           the earthquake, yeah, i would not have known what i was looking at.
        \_ To be honest, yeah, I probably would have.  This reminds me of
           rant by a black guy saying the white people are so sheltered
           that they never expect anything bad to happen to them; so they
           don't run in situations like this.
           \_ I think another issue is that a lot of these people were visitors
              and might just mistake the water going away for a normal tidal
              occurrence... whereas if it happened at the beach where you grew
              up you'd know to beat a path for high ground.
           \_ yeah, all those white people in phuket and sri lanka
              \_ You didn't read the article, did you?
           \_ Yeah, in Jackass, when they dropped from ceiling dressed
              as masked robbers, the black dude in the room ran out
              immediately and continued running far far away.  The
              white guys in the room just stayed, curious to see
              what's going on.
        \_ This is depressing. It reminds me of The Far Side where the big
           python just ate something really huge, and the parrot keeps saying
           "Molly wants a cracker. Don't eat me, don't eat me, ahhhhh!
            Molly wants a cracker."
        \_ I've been camping on a beach when a tsunami warning was issued.
           We stuck around and drank beers. Fortunately for us, we only got
           a two inch swell. We really lucked out.
        \_ were most deaths from the initial impact?  Drowning?  being swept
           to sea?  Disease?
        \_ No.  I know that if the water goes out that fast to run like hell.
           \_ which direction? toward the newly formed shore to find
                seashells you cannot normally get?
           \_ Well, I know now.
              \_ If I survive a tsunami because of this, the motd will have
                 saved my life.  That's really scary.
                 \_ never read _Childhood's End_?
           \_ Isn't it the case that if you're around to see the water
              rush out, you're pretty much fucked?
              \_ Well, you certainly won't outrun the water, but you still
                 might have time to get to a rooftop or something.
                 \_ Wave speed was much faster in Sri Lanka (deep water)
                    than Thailand (shallow water).
                    There is a story that several minutes warning by a little
                    girl who learned about tsunamis in sk00l saved several
                    rich white people on one Thailand resort beach.
                    \_ WHat heppened to the rigch black people?
        \_ I think I would have noticed the water going out, would have
           gotten freaked out and started to leave, nervously scanning
           the horizon. When I saw the big wave coming, I would have run
           like hell. I wouldn't have known to run at the first warning sign,
           because I never knew that before, but I am naturally a skeptical
           and somewhat paranoid person by nature. I don't know if this
           would have been enough, but I would have had a chance.