168 W-N pages citing TSUNAMI | clusty | clusty | fact bits | Think Tanks

2008

Tuesday 04 March 2008 TORONTO: TSUNAMI RELIEF REPORTED LARGELY UNSPENT
The Toronto Star newspaper reports that more than one-half of the $360 million which Canadians donated three years to relieve the victims of the Asian tsunami in December 2003 is unspent by the Canadian Red Cross. However, the newspaper also says it was told by the Red Cross that the remaining $200 million has been invested and is making money that will be used to build homes iln Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Maldive Islands. The secretary general of the Red Cross, Pierre Duplessis, says it will take a decade to complete the tsunami relief effort. After the disaster struck 11 countries and killed 225,000 people, Canadians contributed generously, most of the $360 million being contributed in the following month.

Saturday 13 January 2007 Tsunami warning sends thousands fleeing
A powerful magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck off Japan's northern coast in the Pacific on Saturday, sparking tsunami warnings and sending thousands of residents along the archipelago's eastern coast fleeing to higher ground, officials said.

Tue 26/12/2006 RED CROSS CRITICIZED FOR RELIEF PACE Tuesday was the second anniversary of the Tsunami that killed 230,000 people across Southeast Asia and the Canadian Red Cross says it has only spent a fraction of the funds it raised for victims of the tsunami. The Red Cross says it has used only $103 million - or 27.8 per cent - of the $370 million it collected. Other aid agencies have criticized the slow spending pace, calling the Red Cross inexperienced in reconstruction. They have also said the Red Cross wasn't willing to partner with local agencies better placed to use the money effectively. A In an interview with the Toronto Star, a Red Cross spokesperson, Jenna Clark, said rampant inflation and chaos since the disaster have made it difficult to spend Canadians' donations any faster. She says over the past two years her organization has built 65 permanent and 1,800 transitional homes. Much of the money spent so far went to disaster relief immediately after the tsunami.

Monday 24 July 2006 INDONESIA A tsunami warning was issued on Sunday after a powerful earthquake struck near the coast of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Officials initially ordered a coastal evacuation but when the tremors failed to produce destructive waves, residents were told to return home. The earthquake came less than a week after a more powerful tremor triggered a deadly tsunami on the neighbouring island of Java. No warning was issued in that case and almost 700 people were killed. Hundreds of others are still missing.

Saturday May 27, 2006 Deadly quake
A powerful earthquake flattened buildings in central Indonesia early Saturday, killing at least 2,700 people and injuring thousands more in the country's worst disaster since the 2004 tsunami.

30 Mar 2006 Highlights of Clinton's speech on disaster reduction
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has urged the world to invest more in early warning systems to prevent the scale of death and destruction seen in the tsunami and other natural disasters. Here are highlights from the speech he gave to the Third International Early Warning Conference in Bonn in his capacity as the U.N. Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery.

Jim Domville and Pat Michel
write from Phuket two days after the Tsunami

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 Another Phuket Letter

BBC

MILNEWS more daily Military Links Archives by Tony Prudori

The term tsunami [pbs.org/newshour/]... was officially adopted for general use in 1963 during an international scientific conference. It is a Japanese word represented by two characters: "tsu" which means harbor and "nami" which means wave.

see Muslims [by WN] |
Engineers Without Borders Canada Parker Mitchell [mailto:parker@ewb.ca]
Cdn Military & DART

cbc Tsunami photos: » Eid al-Adha in Aceh | »(more photos)

2005

Eben Kaplan of the Council on Foreign Relations provides a Q&A for tsunami recovery efforts, looking at such issues as what has gone well, what has gone poorly, and what effect has US help had.

Thursday Dec 29, 2005 nyt One Year After the Tsunami
It is important that both the donor governments and the countries hit by the tsunami stay the course in reconstruction.

Sunday Dec 25, 2005 nyt Tsunami's Legacy: Extraordinary Giving and Unending Strife
By SOMINI SENGUPTA and SETH MYDANS
A range of contrasting and paradoxical effects are being felt a year after the tsunami killed 181,000 people.

Sunday Dec 25, 2005 rci People across Asia are marking the first anniversary of last year's deadly tsunami this weekend. On the Thai island of Phuket, where more than 5-thousand people were killed, relatives of the dead laid wreaths and prayed. Elsewhere, a ceremonial boat laden with incense and flowers was launched into the ocean to ward off evil spirits. And on Monday evening, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will join up to 10-thousand people in prayers in Banda Aceh, capital of the province of Aceh, which took the brunt of the tsunami. The disaster killed more than 200-thousand people. Over the past year, donors worldwide have pledged some 13 billion dollars U-S for recovery efforts. But many refugee camps are still full and residents count on handouts to survive.

Monday (Dec 26) is the anniversary of the tsunami
Two-thirds of tsunami donations unspent
A year after the Boxing Day tsunami ravaged south-east Asia, killing more than 220,000 people and laying waste coastlines from India to Indonesia, aid agencies have spent just a third of the money donated in Britain for reconstruction.... The UK shortfall highlights the variety of unanticipated problems encountered by aid agencies on the ground. It also reflects determination on the part of the relief workers to facilitate long-term rebuilding projects which will take years, rather than months, to complete, said a spokesperson for the DEC, the umbrella organisation representing 13 British aid agencies

iPhuket is booming again - but fears for the future remain

Saturday Dec 24, 2005 rci The Canadian Red Cross says that it has received sufficiently generous contributions from Canadians for tsunami aid as to be able to continue to work on relief projects in South Asia for 10 years. The Red Cross says it has the resources to work on such long-term projects as the rebuilding of schools and hospitals. The organization acknowledges that the victims of a disaster like the tsunami of Dec. 26 last year become frustrated because the rebuilding seems to take too long. The Red Cross didn't reveal how much Canadians have donated for tsunami aid.

Monday Oct 10, 2005 ts Much of tsunami aid went to waste: Report
LONDON—Poor communication hampered the Asian tsunami relief efforts and led to large amounts of aid going to waste, according to a report released yesterday by the British Red Cross.

Duelling agencies hurt tsunami relief
An excerpt from the World Disasters Report 2005, released yesterday by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. This section deals specifically with the relief effort in Indonesia's Aceh province:

Saturday Oct 1, 2005 bbc Tsunami auction raises thousands
An auction of celebrity postcard art has raised £49,000 for the tsunami-struck villages of Asia.
A sketch of two figures with skull and crossbone heads by artist brothers Jake and Dinos Chapman was sold for £4,800

Sunday Jun 26, 2005 ts Optics bad right from the start
In the first days after the Dec. 26 tsunami, it seemed the federal government was poised to massively botch Canada`s response to the catastrophe. As individual Canadians snapped into emergency relief mode, key federal leaders worked the phones from poolside.

DISASTER IN ASIA The aftermath, interactive maps, tsunami FAQ and more Tsunami warning The Lucky Ones A Flicker of Hope South Coast disaster

Sunday Jun 26, 2005 ts Six months after the Boxing Day tsunami, the biggest, swiftest and most successful humanitarian operation of modern times has saved countless lives.

Thursday Jun 23, 2005 nytSix Months After by By WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
IT has been nearly six months since the tsunami struck 11 nations surrounding the Indian Ocean, killing more than 200,000 people. The tragedy touched the chord of our common humanity. Forty countries committed military forces to provide food, water and shelter to the survivors. Millions of Americans contributed more than $1 billion to the relief effort. Millions of others across the world also sent contributions, and the United Nations and hundreds of charitable organizations rushed to the region.

Sunday Apr 24, 2005 globe John Lehmann's coverage of the tsunami

Friday Mar 11, 2005 rci VANCOUVER: CANADA ADVISED TO JOIN TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM An expert with Canada's department of oceans and fisheries says the country would be well-advised to take part in the U.S. plan to expand its tsunami early-warning system from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. Douglas Bancroft, the department's director of oceanography and climate science, says Canada would be more at risk from a seismic event in the Caribbean than one off the country's Atlantic coast. The U.S. has announced it will spend $37.5 million to lay down a network of offshore buoys and seabed sensors to provide extra protection against tsunamis, in reaction to the tsunami that killed some 170,000 people in East Asia on Dec. 26. Tsunamis although uncommon are not unknown in Canada. An earthquake off the Grand Banks in the Atlantic touched off a tsunami that killed 27 people in Newfoundland in 1929.

Friday Feb 11, 2005 UN news
Special UN page on Tsunami relief with map

Monday Jan 31, 2005 cbc TSUNAMI NATIONS DEBATE WARNING SYSTEM Plans are moving ahead for the development of a new tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean region, slowed by the debate over whether a single country should be in charge.

Tuesday 18 January 2005 dee GALLE, Sri Lanka - Asia's tsunami death toll soared past 175,000 while fears re-emerged over the safety of aid workers in Indonesia's shattered Aceh province. Denmark said it had information "imminent" terror attacks were planned against aid workers in Aceh, where US and other foreign troops have joined relief teams clearing rubble from the Dec. 26 disaster which killed 115,000 in that province alone. Indonesia's foreign minister dismissed the report as "unfounded rumour". But it reignited fears that aid workers might become political targets in Indonesia

Monday Jan 17, 2005 globe
Could this be our breakthrough? Today a world that has opened its heart to the victims of South Asia`s Boxing Day tsunamis, will be challenged to make smart, sustainable generosity a permanent part of globalization.

Saturday Jan 15, 2005 tsCBC TSUNAMI BENEFIT RAISES MORE THAN $4 MILLION
Canada For Asia, the CBC's tsunami benefit, has raised more than $4 million so far.

Sunday Jan 16, 2005 Prime Minister Paul Martin left Ottawa on Saturday on a 20-hour flight to Thailand, the first of five Asian nations that he will visit over the next nine days. He was expected to land in Phuket on Sunday morning. He will meet with members of the Canadian embassy as well as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who have been sent to help in the cleanup of the region, one of the worst-hit by the tsunamis last month. Mr. Martin will also meet with Canadian aid workers. On Monday he will be in Sri Lanka, another country that suffered in the tsunami disaster. Later, Mr. Martin will visit Japan and China to discuss trade.

Sunday Jan 16, 2005 PUTTUVIL: CANADIAN SOLDIERS BEGIN EMERGENCY FERRY SERVICE IN SRI LANKA
Canadian soldiers began a ferry service for stricken residents in south-east Sri Lanka on Saturday. Three five-metre inflatable boats, each capable of carrying 15 passengers, will be used to ferry people and goods across Arugam Bay. The boats were brought to Sri Lanka earlier this week by the Canadian emergency assistance force known as DART. The ferry is the only way from the city of Pottuvil to a resort area in Arugam across Arugam Bay. Tsunami waves last month destroyed a huge, concrete causeway across the Bay. "I sincerely doubt they'll repair the bridge to sustain any weight. It's just monstrous," said Canadian military engineer Ted Gombert. Canada's DART team of 200 members will remain in Sri Lnanka for at least another five weeks, creating fresh water, and offering medical assistance.

Saturday Jan 15, 2005 ts RCMP experts finish grisly task PHUKET—It was a simple sandal, sticking three-quarters out of the white sand on the Phi Phi Island beach.

BELGIUM: January 13, 2005 arc
EU May Send Old Fishing Boats to Tsunami States
BRUSSELS - The European Union may send old or redundant fishing boats to tsunami-hit Asian states, to replace vessels wrecked by the killer wave, the European Commission's president said on Wednesday.

Wednesday Jan 12, 2005 ts Girls `sold` in Sri Lanka
BATAPOLA, Sri Lanka—Police have arrested a 63-year-old Sri Lankan man on charges of trying to sell his two young granddaughters after their home was destroyed and their mother killed by the Asian tsunami — a case that highlights the vulnerability of children in the wake of the disaster.

Friday Jan 14, 2005 OTTAWA: MORE THAN ONE-HALF OF CANADIANS DONATED FOR TSUNAMIS
Two public opinion surveys indicate that more than one-half of all Canadians gave donations for the survivors on the South Asia disaster. The Decima Research polling firm says that 53 per cent of those asked had donated, and that one-half of the other respondents said they intended to do so. Only 17 per cent said they wouldn't give. Decima's CEO, Bruce Anderson, said the survey indicates that the decision to donate was equally spread across all of Canada's regions, ages and income groups. Another poll by the Léger Marketing firm yielded similar results.

Wednesday Jan 12, 2005 globe DReport travel or face expulsion, Indonesia orders aid workers Security concerns threaten relief efforts to deliver aid to Aceh where more than 100,000 people

Wednesday Jan 12, 2005 ts DART comes to rescue of devastated villages
KALMUNAI, Sri Lanka—Sea Beach Road is nothing like it used to be.

Wednesday Jan 12, 2005 ts Dallaire: Canada`s inaction in Darfur a `travesty`
GATINEAU, Que.—While we rush to assist tsunami victims in Asia, it is a "travesty" that Canada has failed to take a leadership role to help thousands of Africans being killed in the Darfur region of Sudan, says retired Gen. Roméo Dallaire.

Wednesday Jan 12, 2005 KALMUNAI: CANADIAN MILITARY COMMENCES SRI LANKA MISSION
Tuesday was the second day of a relief mission in Sri Lanka by a 200-member elite unit of the Canadian military. The Disaster Assistance Response Team arrived on Monday at Ampara on Sri Lanka's southeastern coast, an area that was ravaged by the tsunamis that smashed South Asia two-and-half-weeks ago. Medical members of the DART team travelled to the nearby district of Kalmunai, where almost 25,000 refugees are staying in 14 crude shelters. A doctor with the team met local leaders there and in three adjoining villages to discuss the creation of four teams of Canadian physicians, nurses and medical assistants to treat the refugees. The Canadians will have the capacity to treat as many as 10 patients an hour for wounds, infections and other medical problems. The DART team's chief task is to provide clean drinking water. The Canadians are setting up a water-purification apparatus that will treat water from an inland lake. Four such machines will eventually be operating and producing at least 200,000 litres of fresh water a day. The DART team's mission is scheduled to last for six weeks.

Tuesday Jan 11, 2005 msnbc UN eager to prove it will manage tsunami relief funds well The United Nations is taking steps to provide clear public insight into how it is using the tsunami relief money and to ensure the funds are managed well. The efforts include creating an accounting system that will let the public track how their tsunami recovery donations are used. MSNBC/Associated Press

Jan 4, 2005 it Tsunami relief effort puts technology to the test
CARE Canada and the Canadian Red Cross explain how they are using IT to support communications and mobilize field workers amid the greatest natural disaster in recent memory. Will solar power do the job?

Tuesday Jan 11, 2005 np Constructive criticism and suggestions from General Lewis MacKenzie "... The strategy behind the creation of DART was unsound then, and is even more questionable 10 years later."

Tuesday Jan 11, 2005 nyt For Honduras and Iran, World's Aid Evaporated Elder Nahum Cáceres said his entire community was swept off a hillside six years ago by Hurricane Mitch. In his wallet he keeps a handwritten list of the dozen international aid organizations that have come and gone since then.

Tuesday Jan 11, 2005 ts Canada boosts tsunami aid to $425-million over 5 years Six Canadians confirmed dead; Foreign Affairs lowers number of missing to 37 'for whom we have serious concerns'

Sunday Jan 9, 2005 ts Immigration applications fast-tracked, Sgro says
MONTREAL—The federal government says it`s moving to reunite tsunami-stricken orphans with their Canadian relatives by speeding up immigration applications for children from devastated South Asian countries.
Saturday Jan 8, 2005 Aeroplan announced a program yesterday to help Canadian doctors and engineers travel to administer aid to the Asian regions devastated by last week's earthquake and tsunamis.
The wholly owned subsidiary of ACE Aviation Holdings Inc., parent of Air Canada, is kicking off the program by donating one million air miles, and is asking Aeroplan members to contribute by donating air miles from their own accounts.
The account will be used initially by the Canadian chapter of Médecins sans frontieres/Doctors without Borders. After emergency relief work turns into infrastructure rebuilding, the account will be made available to Engineers without Borders.

Saturday Jan 8, 2005 This may have been what you tried to send, I don't know. but I can say 'WOW~!" Take a look and run your cursor over it. DM

Friday Jan 7, 2005 Ontario may waive tsunami orphans` adoption fees The Ontario government will likely waive fees as early as next week for international adoptions of children in south Asia orphaned by the tsunami disaster, Children`s Services Minister Marie Bountrogianni suggested today.

Friday Jan 7, 2005 gaz S Tsunami orphans are difficult to adopt After opening their hearts and wallets to tsunami survivors, Quebecers now want to open their homes, and have been bombarding adoption agencies with requests to patriate some of the thousands of children made orphans by the catastrophe.

Friday Jan 7, 2005 OECD Secretary-General Donald Johnston is saddened by the death and suffering in South Asia
The consequences of the catastrophic tsunami in South Asia touch all of us. Our thoughts go out to the victims of this unimaginable tragedy and their families and friends. For convenience, the link above provides access to a number of organisations to which you can contribute to help the victims of this disaster.Donald J. Johnston, will step down in May 2006

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 Doctors' group refuses more donations  

Médecins Sans Frontières has unleashed a storm of controversy through its decision to stop accepting donations for victims of the Asian tsunamis, adding a new dimension to the unprecedented generosity shown in wealthy countries in response to the disaster

The announcement highlighted the gulf between the charitable giving for the heavily mediatized Asian disaster compared with crises in areas devastated by chronic poverty and civil war that have gotten little attention and money over the years. It also drew criticism from other, less affluent, aid groups, who said it risked drying up funds vital to their own more long-term relief efforts. ...

If MSF collected €40 million in eight days for Asia, it took the organization two months to gather €650,000 for the victims of civil war in Darfur. After the earthquake in Bam, Iran, a year ago, they only collected €600,000. And when it comes to malnutrition that kills hundreds of thousands in places like Mongolia, Haiti and the Congo, donations only trickle in.

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 cbc Tsunami aid: by the numbers ..More than $4 billion US Total amount donated for relief efforts in South Asia by countries around the world according to the United Nations. UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said the amount exceeded donations promised for all other humanitarian appeals by the UN in 2004 combined.m .......$80 million Aid donated by Canada's federal. Sunan not on the list?

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 nyt Secretary General Kofi Annan of the United Nations made an urgent plea to world leaders ... to make immediate cash donations of $977 million to provide water, food, shelter and medicine to tsunami victims over the next six months. ... there is concern about a common pattern in major disasters, in which money that is pledged when the issue dominates the news is later not delivered in full. That was the case in the December 2003 earthquake in Bam, Iran, where only a small percentage of hundreds of millions of dollars in pledges has been paid out

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 ec as representatives from 26 countries met at an emergency summit in ... Jakarta, the total aid pledged by the world's governments reached $3.7 billion. Of course, all of this money is being pledged more quickly than it can be spent. Much of it is intended for longer-term reconstruction. [Meanwhile] Demand can outstrip supply; hard cash can run up against tight bottlenecks.... However much food, medicine and potable water is bought, it can be delivered only as fast as planes can be landed and offloaded.
Once the raw displays of generosity are over, the question will quickly switch from “How much aid?” to “How well is it spent?” ... looming calamity, argued the late Fred Cuny, a pioneer of disaster relief, can result from well-intentioned but ill-conceived aid.... Relief camps, for example, are convenient for aid providers, but can be disastrous for the recipients, separating them from the communities that can best support them and exposing them to communicable diseases. Food aid, while essential in the short term, can put local farmers out of business if dumped on the market for too long.

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 np Beware tsunami relief scams

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 cbc $1B IN TSUNAMI AID COMING FROM AUSTRALIA Australia boosted its pledge for tsunami relief to almost $1 billion Cdn on Wednesday, committing itself to the largest contribution from any single country to date.

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 ts Privacy law handcuffs government It is now grimly probable that the tsunami disaster in Asia 10 days ago has claimed the lives of some 150 Canadian tourists in Thailand. Today the Star is publishing the best information available to Ottawa about the missing Canadians. Handcuffed by privacy laws, the federal government is unable to release the list of names it has compiled from reports by worried friends and relatives.
We believe it is a matter of overwhelming public interest that the information should flow freely so relatives or friends in Canada can tell the authorities if they know someone on the missing list is, in fact, safe. — Giles Gherson Editor-in-Chief

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 cbc Canada`s tsunami toll
PHUKET, THAILAND—The Toronto Star today reveals the names of some 150 Canadian tourists missing and feared killed by the tsunami in Thailand.

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 cbc PRIME MINISTER SAYS CANADA'S AID COULD BE 'MUCH GREATER' THAN $80 MILLION Prime Minister Paul Martin congratulated individual Canadians Wednesday for donating more than $70 million to tsunami relief efforts, and said the government's contribution could be "much greater" than the $80 million already pledged.

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 cbc OTTAWA WILL KEEP NAMES OF CANADIAN TSUNAMI VICTIMS PRIVATE The federal government is refusing to release the names of Canadians confirmed killed in the tsunami in Asia, saying it will respect the privacy rights of the victims and their families.

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 cbc CAMPS NEEDED FOR 500,000 ON SUMATRA As many as half a million people on the tsunami-ravaged Indonesian island of Sumatra will have to be housed in camps, a United Nations official said Wednesday.

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 cbc B.C. BUDDHISTS SELLING TEMPLE TO RAISE TSUNAMI CASH A Vietnamese Buddhist group based in Burnaby, B.C., plans to raise $500,000 for the tsunami relief effort by selling its temple.

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 TORONTO: CREDIT CARD FIRMS PITCH IN TO HELP
Canada's three major credit card companies say they've acted to help the tsunami victims. The president of MasterCard Canada, Kevin Stanton, says Canadians have reacted with generosity to the crisis and his company wants to see the help maximized. Derek Fray, the president of Visa Canada, says that not only a personal response is needed but also an organizational one. MasterCard Canada and Visa Canada say they'll waive the processing fees which they normally charge the recipients of charity and donate the money instead. The money will go to such groups as the Canadian Red Cross, CARE Canada, Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam Canada and Oxfam Quebec. The arrangement will remain in effect until Jan. 31. American Express says it too will waive the fees which it charges charities officially raising money for tsunami relief on its cards until April 1, and dating back to Dec. 26.

Thursday Jan 6, 2005 Germany and Australia have considerably increased their contributions to aid for the victims of the South Asia disaster. Australia is the world'd biggest contributor at $765 million over five years for the reconstruction of Indonesia, where more than 94,000 were killed by the tsunamis on Dec. 26. Australia's Prime Minister John Howard announced the new aid in Jakarta after a meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. They will attend the conference in the Indonesian capital on Thursday. Leaders representing 26 nations, humanitarian groups and donors will be represented. Their chief task will be to co-ordinate the use of donations and relief operations. Indonesia also is hoping that participants will agree to create a tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean region, such as the one which exists for the Pacific. Canada will be represented at Thursday's relief conference by the foreign minister, Pierre Pettigrew.

Stephen S. Poloz VP EDC Economics Weekly Commentary
Tsunami Impact Still Growing - January 5, 2005
The relative tranquility of the closing weeks of 2004 was shattered by the Asian tsunami of December 26. Perhaps because the epicentre of the earthquake was close to the epicentre of world economic growth, the shock has attracted considerable economic analysis. Past issues

Wednesday Jan 5, 2005 EWB
Asia disaster: EWB's response and involvement ...Our work is focused on long-term development activities, and thus, we don't have the expertise to contribute effectively to disaster relief operations. For that reason, we are not taking part in disaster relief efforts.
We have been approached by a number of organizations to work on longer-term rebuilding efforts, however, the nature and scale of our involvement is not yet known.

Wednesday Jan 5, 2005 ark
BANGKOK - Thailand fired its chief meteorologist and opened an investigation into why his department failed to issue a tsunami warning last month which might have saved thousands of lives, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Tuesday.

Monday, January 03, 2005 globe
Limitations frustrate tsunami scientists
There were no instruments, such as tide gauges that measure sea levels, set up in region to let people know waves were on the way

Monday, January 03, 2005 np
DART criticized as 'paper tiger.' ....Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team has barely been used in the near-decade it has existed, even though the military touts it as a rapid-response unit capable of providing effective humanitarian aid. Critics say it's anything but dart-like. Formed in 1996 at the height of the Somalia scandal, the team's base is a 45-member headquarters in Kingston, Ont. Its full 200-member contingent of medics, engineering troops and a logistics platoon, is scattered across the country. ...with an annual budget only half a million dollars, DART has less money attached to it than any other Canadian military unit, and is described by one military expert as "a paper tiger." ....and the public was made to think the federal government had established a regiment of doctors ready at a moment's notice, says Taylor.

From: Judith Patterson HI Diana - I am sending some websites that I find particularly interesting - could we talk David into putting up some of them tomorrow night?

Here is the main NOAA website www.pmel.noaa.gov/tsunami/
Look at the left hand side of that site, and click on the NOAA animation of the Dec. 26 tsunami. It is an excellent animation, and shows the tsunami travelling to the African coast.

Now, from the U.S. Geological Survey: world earthquakes in the last 8 days neic.usgs.gov/neis/qed/ and if you scroll down you will come to the big event; click on that and you go to earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/2004/usslav/

The Sumatra earthquake was a megathrust; here is some info on those .pgc.nrcan.gc.ca/seismo/hist/mega.htm

This is the earthquake map of Canada seismo.nrcan.gc.ca/recent/index_e.php
We live in the second highest seismic risk zone in Canada.

This shows the plate boundaries vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/PlateTectonics/Maps/map_plate_tectonics_world2.html or just the map

Go about a quarter/a third of the way down the page and click on Island Arc volcanics vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/PlateTectonics/description_plate_tectonics.html or here for image

The USGS website says that if you don't read anything else, read this pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1187/

The Richter Scale www.seismo.unr.edu/ftp/pub/louie/class/100/magnitude.html

Jan 3, 2004 Ark
Tsunami Adds to Belief in Animals' "Sixth Sense"
JOHANNESBURG - Wild animals seem to have escaped the Indian Ocean tsunami, adding weight to notions they possess a "sixth sense" for disasters, experts said on Thursday.
Sri Lankan wildlife officials have said the giant waves that killed over 24,000 people along the Indian Ocean island's coast seemingly missed wild beasts, with no dead animals found.

Jan 3, 2004 nyt
Disaster's Damage to Economies May Be Minor
In the economies of Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Thailand and the other affected countries, the tsunami is likely to register more as a small wave, because the two industries most heavily hit - tourism and fishing - make up small percentages of the overall economy. ...
Even as it has destroyed the livelihoods of millions of families in South Asia, the tsunami will shave only a few points off the region's economic growth this year. Depending on the importance of tourism in each country, the decrease is expected to range from less than 1 percent for Thailand to 2 percent for Sri Lanka and 4 percent for the Maldives, according to estimates by Standard Chartered Bank.

Jan 3, 2004 m
THE WORLD ANSWERS A DISTRESS CALL [good read from maisonneuve.org]
After initial offerings of $4 million, then $40 million, the Big Six’s take on Ottawa’s latest aid package is that it is more a response to critics than to the tsunami.

Jan 2, 2004 ts
Government reacts in slow motion Totally inadequate. There is no other way to describe the Canadian government`s response to the disaster now befalling 5 million Asian people. Sure, there are explanations for our government`s passivity, parsimony, its stuck-in-study mode. These are called excuses.

Jan 2, 2004 ts
Canada must offer more help to Asia After a fumbling start, Prime Minister Paul Martin is back in Ottawa today, marking a sombre New Year by putting a more coherent face on Canada`s response to the Indian Ocean calamity. Our first reaction was hesitant, and inadequate, as was that of many countries.

Jan 2, 2004 np-cp
Aid volunteers urged to put in the effort at home
...Aid officials agree that it's unwise to get on a plane bound for the disaster area without making arrangements ahead of time.

Jan 2, 2004 ts
Disarming nature`s force
OTTAWA—Dr. Tad Murty is suddenly the centre of attention.

Jan 1, 2004 bbc
Overseas aid stumbles in final mile

Jan 1, 2004 ts
Has U.S. `lone cowboy` turned into white knight?
As the death toll from the devastating tsunami spiked toward 150,000, President George W. Bush boosted the U.S. aid pledge to $350 million from $35 million.

Thursday, 30 December, 2004 bbc UK charities' £25m in quake aid videos

Dec 30, 2004 ts
Bitter rivals set mistrust aside
COLOMBO—Sri Lanka`s legacy of bloody civil war has raised the spectre of a natural disaster burdened by man-made disputes.

Dec 30, 2004 ts
Firms join relief effort
NEW YORK—The Asian tsunami appears to have caused little damage to most major companies in the region, but that doesn`t mean they`ve ignored the devastating loss of life.

Dec 30, 2004 ts
Tourism industry crippled
200,000 expected to lose their jobs
Rebuilding area will take months With more than 1,200 casualties posted on the Tourism Thailand website and a death toll that could reach 3,000, the future of the industry that produces 6 per cent of Thailand`s gross domestic product looks grim.

Dec 30, 2004 ts
Animals may have sensed wall of water and fled
YALA NATIONAL PARK, Sri Lanka—Wildlife officials in Sri Lanka expressed surprise yesterday that they found no evidence of large-scale animal deaths from the tsunamis — indicating that animals may have sensed the wave coming and fled to higher ground.

Dec 30, 2004 ts
Moments of joy amid Thai horror
Phuket, Thailand—Consular officials and volunteers scoured seven hospitals in this beach resort area yesterday, searching for Canadian survivors in need of documents and help.

Sunday Jan 2, 2005 cbc
MILITARY TSUNAMI RELIEF EFFORT GROWS A huge military buildup continues in Indonesia's devastated Aceh province, as nations around the world send ships and aircraft to help deliver aid to the tens of thousands still without food.

Sunday Jan 2, 2005 cbc
TSUNAMI AID PLEDGES AT $2 BILLION US Worldwide donations to help those battered by the huge waves that slammed into Asian and African coastlines totalled $2 billion US Saturday.

Sunday Jan 2, 2005 cbc
AFTERSHOCKS, RAIN ADD TO MISERY IN TSUNAMI-RAVAGED AREAS Strong aftershocks rattled the Indonesian island of Sumatra Saturday, as flash flooding in Sri Lanka sent hundreds of people fleeing nearly a week after a devastating tsunami left at least 124,000 people dead in southern Asia.

Sunday Jan 2, 2005 cbc
CANADIANS TO SURVEY TSUNAMI DAMAGE As monsoon rains added to the gloom in eastern and southern Sri Lanka, a Canadian survey team arrived in the country Saturday to assess the damage from the Dec. 26 tsunami.

Sunday Jan 2, 2005 cbc
MARINES DELIVER AID TO INDONESIAN TSUNAMI SURVIVORS Thousands of U.S. marines and air force personnel arrived Saturday off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province to deliver emergency aid to tsunami victims.

Sunday Jan 2, 2005 ts
What causes killer wave?
A tsunami is a series of waves that start after there is a big disturbance in the ocean.

Sunday Jan 2, 2005 ts
World aid effort grows
Canadian aid teams — including a group of volunteers led by a Toronto doctor — have finally hit the ground in Sri Lanka as the biggest relief operation in human history struggles to get food, water and medicine to millions of tsunami refugees.

Sunday Jan 2, 2005 ts
The dead need names
One of the largest efforts in history to identify disaster victims through DNA is taking shape after the tsunami that killed thousands along coastlines of southern Asia.

Dec. 28, 2004
The worst things happen in the poorest places to people in the weakest circumstances.

Asia's Deadly Waves Interactive graphics and photos of the destruction in Asia. • Photos: ndia | Thailand | Sri Lanka | Indonesia
RELATED
	Donations: Agencies Accepting Aid Dollars (December 28, 2004)
	The Web of Grief: Immigrants Weep, Pray and Expect the Worst (December 29, 2004)

Dec 29, 2004 globe
Blogs become eyes and ears of disaster

Dec 29, 2004 nyt
The Year the Earth Fought Back

Dec 29, 2004 nyt
A Tragedy in Asia Affects All Corners of a Closer World

Friday Dec 31, 2004 ts Thailand in `fog of disaster`
Phuket, thailand—Some 45 Canadians are still missing from Thailand`s coastal resort towns three days after a tsunami devastated the area, Canada`s top diplomat here says.

Friday Dec 31, 2004 ts Couple torn apart in an instant
Phuket, thailand—The last time Canadian James Cox saw his wife she was hanging on to a tree trying desperately not to be pulled under by a massive wave of water.

Friday Dec 31, 2004 ts Hunger, disease target children most Thirst, hunger and disease have joined death and devastation as the newest threats to millions struggling to rebuild their lives in the wake of a destructive tsunami that tore across much of southern Asia Sunday.

Sunday Jan 2, 2005 Tsunami disaster cuts PM's holiday short
Prime Minister Paul Martin ended his African holiday Saturday and headed home for a hastily arranged meeting of senior cabinet ministers to discuss Canada's response to the tsunami tragedy in south Asia. [about time!]

Sunday Jan 2, 2005 INDONESIA Six days after tsunami waves devastated the coasts of several south Asian countries, a strong undersea earthquake was felt on Saturday near Indonesia's Sumatra Islands. It measured seven on the Richter scale. Its epicentre was about 400 kilometres from the epicentre of the region's disastrous earthquake last Sunday. Several strong aftershocks were also felt. There were no immediate reports of injuries. On New Year's Day, Sweden observed an official day of mourning. Sweden was one of several European countries fearing that their tourists died in large numbers as a result of the tsunami waves. Sweden's prime minister, Goeran Persson, declared that the number of Swedes who died could end up in the hundreds. Twenty-one European countries have reported deaths or missing citizens. At least 21 Norwegians died and about 430 are missing. Britain reports 34 dead. Germany fears that several hundred might have perished. On Saturday, Thailand reported that more than 4,500 people there died, including about 2,200 foreigners. The overall number of dead is approaching 150,000, but an exact number might never be known. Canadian officials have confirmed that five Canadians were killed and about 150 others are still unaccounted for, most of them in Thailand. Humanitarian workers are dealing with problems of distributing hundreds of tonnes of relief aid that's starting to pour into the affected regions around the Indian Ocean. Worldwide financial aid for the victims of the south Asia tsunami disaster has risen to almost US$2 billion dollars. On Saturday, the largest single contributor became Japan when it announced that it would donate US$500 million. Canada's government has pledged CDN$40 million, while Canadian citizens have so far donated CDN$32 million. Canadian companies are also making large donations both in cash and in the products that they make. On Saturday, the United States announced that it would send as many as 1,500 marines and a small aircraft carrier with 20 helicopters to assist in relief efforts in Sri Lanka. The first group of 200 marines would arrive on Monday.

Friday Dec 31, 2004 globe ANNAN 'SATISFIED' WITH WORLD RESPONSE TO DISASTER The world community has pledged more than half a billion dollars in aid to tsunami disaster victims, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said Thursday, adding that he is satisfied with the response so far.

Friday Dec 31, 2004 globe OTTAWA OPENS DOORS TO IMMIGRANTS FROM TSUNAMI-HIT AREAS Canada will speed up its handling of immigration requests from people in tsunami-stricken areas of Asia who have close relatives in this country, Immigration Minister Judy Sgro said Thursday.

Friday Dec 31, 2004 cbc TSUNAMI SURVIVORS AND ANXIOUS RELATIVES TURN TO WEB The disappearance of hundreds of Western tourists in Asia's tsunami disaster has demonstrated – in a tragic fashion – how interconnected the world has become.

Friday Dec 31, 2004 cbc PROVINCES CHIP IN AID FOR TSUNAMI RELIEF The Ontario and Alberta governments have each pledged $5 million in aid to Asia to help the region struggling to recover from last weekend's devastating tsunami and earthquake.

Friday Dec 31, 2004 cbc OTTAWA PLEDGING $40M FOR TSUNAMI RELIEF Ottawa pledged another $36 million to help the relief efforts in Southeast Asia in the wake of the deadly tsunami, Defence Minister Bill Graham announced Wednesday, bringing Canada's total to $40 million.

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