G'morning Mike, 

 MR> There seems to be no explanation why the major monitoring centers
 MR> failed to report the possibility of tsunami events after such a major
 MR> quake. It's as if everyone with such responsibility was off on
 MR> holidays all at the same time or something. The scientific community
 MR> has really failed us on this one.

Don't know about the scientific community (news coverage in New 
Zealand doesn't exist - they're >>on holiday until Jan 14<< - and 
its impossible to keep up with shortwave monitoring 24/7),  but 
the bureaucracies of the area certainly bumbled before, during, 
afterwards and beyond !!

Several sat on warnings in the hope they were false - and/or to 
protect tourist trading...   Others use local/neighbouring 
politics to suppress both warnings and aftermaths...  Some prefer 
protecting military installations to the detriment of survivors... 
and a few simply lack the infrastructure to do much useful anyway.

While the NZ government made early responses with both money and 
resources,  our PM was incommunicado and on holiday on the other 
side of the Earth;  the PM's party didnt get even a whiff of the 
event to her for 70 hours,  and the holiday was cut short finally 
in the face of public criticis to allow a return to this country 
and its concerns ... yesterday !

Although we in NZ were protected by the sheer physical bulk of 
Australia,  a 40cm echo of the tsunami reached the lower tip of NZ  
-  and was promptly pooh-poohed as being of no significance by the 
Civil Defence person left on duty here during our holiday season.

Meanwhile, a huge eathquake between NZ's Invercargill and Aussie's 
Tasmania of 8.1 Richters 3 or 4 days before Boxing Day shook the 
lower bits of NZ,  and would have wreaked the same sort of 
devastation on these two countries if it had not been buried 
hundreds of kms beneath the Tasman Sea.  This one-day wonder soon 
disappeared entirely behind the re-runs in our holiday media.

Worse,  our civil authorities are still asleep locally, 
regardless;  phoning the local Civil Defence gets you a recorded 
message that they're on holiday until the 14th....   please, hold 
all your really serious calamities until then ?  Or try phoning 
the lamentable 111 service - also on holiday rosters until the 
14th ?

Auckland is, of course, absolutely impervious !  Perched as we are 
on 350 volcanic cones (the youngest is only 800yrs old) stretched 
thinly between the Tasman Sea and the Pacific,  our residents 
prefer the coastal locations for housing and recreation.  A master 
plan or policy for evacuation has not been published  ...  but the 
views from the city, over the iconic volcano Rangitoto and up the 
Gulf to the broad Pacific  are lullingly beautiful....

So I look forward to some account of what warnings did surface 
from those agencies responsible for keeping watch,  but I'm not 
content with what is known of Civil Defence in any of the 
countries involved in this part of the world.  A last posting for 
retired military soothsayers and councellors starved of funds and 
resources, by and large...

It was therefore very pleasing to hear that Nigeria cleared its 
coastline successfully,  and to learn that French coastal defences 
built 300 years ago in southern India at Pondicherry saved 
villagers completely by repelling the waves also cheered me up.

But keeping emergency packs ready to go, plus a contingency plan 
for all obvious scenarios, in this Auckland household is the order 
of the day right here.  The next step is to secure automatic 
cellphone alerts, but I ain't holding my breath...

:-))
 
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