Turkish Earthquake, Bangkok Floods

[ramjambunath]

A 7.2 earthquake struck the eastern Turkish city of Van yesterday, the repercussions are only being felt now. The BBC reports that 200 people have been killed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15421633

The Hurriyet daily news reports that 1000 are feared dead
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n....stern-city-of-van-1000-feared-dead-2011-10-23

In 1999, twenty thousand were killed when two earthquakes struck Turkey.

It's not been a good month at all with the floods in Bangkok also particularly fierce and 800,000 displaced there and floods expected for the next 6 weeks.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-...inue-to-displace-people/3596908?section=world

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-new...oods-now-bangkok-governor-20111024-1meyb.html

Burma said heavy rains and flash floods killed 106 as several villages were inundated in the country's northwest last week.

Cambodia, Thailand's eastern neighbour, has also suffered from flooding, with more than 240 people killed.

 

[Spare Tyre]

Last year I spent some time in Thailand in October. There were floods then too, and although we didn't spend time in any of the most affected areas, it was clear they had been disastrous. The news was filled with flood related stories. We saw flooded countryside. It was a big topic with the Thai people we met. The Chao Phraya river was high, and there was a lot of talk about whether Bangkok would be flooded. It seems that this year is worse.

I suppose this level of flooding is going to become more common in future, which is going to be difficult for much of southern Thailand.


/edit: I don't mean to suggest the other situations aren't also tragic and disastrous.

 

[ramjambunath]

Last year I spent some time in Thailand in October. There were floods then too, and although we didn't spend time in any of the most affected areas, it was clear they had been disastrous. The news was filled with flood related stories. We saw flooded countryside. It was a big topic with the Thai people we met. The Chao Phraya river was high, and there was a lot of talk about whether Bangkok would be flooded. It seems that this year is worse.

I suppose this level of flooding is going to become more common in future, which is going to be difficult for much of southern Thailand.


/edit: I don't mean to suggest the other situations aren't also tragic and disastrous.

Scary stuff, it can really easily destroy the agriculture in the region, not to mention the long term problems.
I was living in Mumbai when there were 99.4cm (in July 2005) of rain in a day. The next day, I opened the tap to brush and the water was brown. It remains the only time that I used packaged water for brushing my teeth.

Never been in an earthquake zone though and I've only ever felt tremors of big quakes elsewhere and that was 10 years ago.

 

[ramjambunath]

432 People confirmed dead, 2 week old baby rescued

Rescuers pulled a two-week-old baby girl alive from the wreckage of a collapsed apartment block Tuesday as they battled to find survivors from a earthquake in eastern Turkey that killed at least 432 people and left thousands homeless.

The baby's mother and a grandmother were also brought out alive on stretchers to jubilant cries from onlookers who followed the dramatic rescue under cold, pouring rain.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/25/us-turkey-quake-idUSTRE79M10Z20111025

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xlx942_survivor-2-week-old-baby-found-in-turkey-quake-rubble_news

Bangkok's Don Mueang airport closed, more evacuations

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/loc...ares-oct-27-28-31-holidays-to-combat-flooding

Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said the water level in the Chao Praya River next week may rise beyond 2.60 metres above mean sea level, and Bangkok's flood prevention dyke is only 2.50m above MSL.

MR Sukhumbhand based his grim forecast on the high level of water in the Chao Phraya River during the past two days.

Today's water level in the Chao Phraya was expected to reach 2.35m, he said.

It was true that about 4,000 million cubic metres of water has invaded Bangkok North, but this did not mean that Bangkok will be immediately under water 1-2 metres deep. Water will come down slowly and in one day it may rise only 2-3 cm.

It will take the whole month for this mass of water to be completely drained off to the sea via the Chao Phraya River (which can drain about 300 million cubic metres a day) and to the east and west of Bangkok from various diversion measures being implemented by the department and the BMA.

Another encouraging thought is that not all 4,000 million cubic metres will be drained off. Only 60-70% needs to be drained off while the rest can be left in low-lying areas to gradually dry up naturally.

 

[ramjambunath]

Another quake in eastern Turkey

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake has killed at least five people in eastern Turkey, and trapped many more under collapsed buildings.

About 20 buildings have collapsed, including a six-storey hotel in the city of Van, where dozens of aid workers and journalists were staying.

The quake late on Wednesday was centred 16km (10 miles) south of Van.

The same region was struck last month by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake which killed more than 600 people.

That earthquake struck a little north of Van but the city became the headquarters of the relief effort and has been flooded by aid workers and journalists, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15668071

Later reports suggest 7 are dead.

 

[nofloods]

I feel sad about the people living there. Hopefully they can recover after the traumatic experience. Anyway, there are certain things that everyone should know about. We cannot 100% prevent natural disasters/calamities but we can control them for our own safety. There are flood control equipments that are available in the market now a days maybe you should check them out to help yourself and your environment.