Wolfgang, thanks for the info.

We have an epochal situation here. If you'll forgive me dragging a phrase from the Presidential debates, we've got a true 'global test'. An international problem that calls for international help and cooperation.

I think there is already a lot of compassion. This is an unforeseen cataclysm and the victims are truly victims. If such a wave hit the East coast of the US I think all that wonderful infrastructure which insulates us from the raw natural world would've been swept away or rendered useless, and we would look no different from the folks we are seeing thanks to the immediacy of satellite transmission. And I think most of us know that.

So let's see if the UN is good for anything. Let's see if these growing South East Asian economic powerhouses are generating their own recuperative capabilities (Signs are they are).

Guest, I'd be able to take you a bit more seriously if you took on a name, even if only a temporary one. I distrust the un-named self-righteous who like to dump facts which might or might not be complete and figures which might or not be accurate. You seem to have a chip on your shoulder and I'm not interested in feeding your ego (although I just have by bringing up the subject of 'you'). Anyhow, I know people who were in the Alaskan quake and I don't know people who were in other quakes (except some minor ones I've been in). You want to remain not only anonymous but unidentifiable, I suggest you start a whole thread for yourself, called "No matter what happens, let's dump on someone and feel smug". I promise I'll show up and make you feel self-important, but no more in this thread.