Chuck, please check in

Indonesia Earthquake Sparks Tidal Waves Across Asia, Killing More Than 3,900 People in 6 Nations

Update7:30 pm :

Asian Tsunami Kills 12,300, Many More Homeless

More than 12,300 people were killed and tens of thousands left homeless after a powerful undersea earthquake unleashed giant tsunami waves that crashed into the coasts of south and southeast Asia.

[...]

In Los Angeles, the head of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said U.S. officials who detected the undersea quake tried frantically to get a warning out about the tsunami.

[...]

"It took an hour and a half for the wave to get from the earthquake to Sri Lanka and an hour for it to get ... to the west coast of Thailand and Malaysia," he said. "You can walk inland for 15 minutes to get to a safe area."

"We tried to do what we could," he said. "We don't have contacts in our address book for anybody in that part of the world."

It's called "the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center", and it doesn't have contacts in that part of the world?

The Geneva-based International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it was seeking 7.5 million Swiss francs ($6.5 million) for emergency aid funding.

The United States said it would offer "all appropriate assistance," while the European Union pledged an initial three million euros ($4 million).

I guess we'll have to wait and see what "appropriate assistance" is. You might have thought it would be a warning in that hour during which the "Warning Center" knew about the quake.

Update 8:00 am Dec 27: The latest figure for death toll is 22,000+. Thanks for checking in, Chuck.