From: DKSIR@aol.com
To: Dermot.Killeen@esb.ie
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 18:45:10 EST
Subject: Tsunamis

Hello Der. While we were visiting home we were surprised at the number of people that told us they had never heard the word tsunami until the Boxing day event. I went to the web site that I once sent you and looked up some of the previous events that caused tsunamis in the past 50 years or so and posted a couple below. There were 13 earthquakes of 8.5 or greater since 1900 most of which generated tsunamis. I guess it is because of television and Internet that people worldwide are becoming aware of them. One of the sad things is that it is poverty that cause people in places such as Indonesia to build on or near the water. In the Philippines we saw thousands of homes (shacks) on stilts built in the mud flats. They wouldn't stand a chance without hours and hours of warning. The latest quake that happened while we were visiting makes 14. You can find them listed at the following web address: http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/10maps_world.html

I thought this might be of interest to you. ---------Ken