Re: [DDN] ARC system created: SMS to Email in Tsunami hit areas nowineffect

Mon, 24 Jan 2005 08:27:09 -0800

I certainly did not mean to talk in terms of predicting an earthquake. The problem is that I know so little about all of this. But I am getting the feeling that the following may be true: 1) the last eartquake that caused the tsunami was a big earthquake. 2) Many communities who got no warning could have gotten one. 3) a way to do this might involve sending out text messages on cellphones. 4) if someone tried to setup up such a system, they would be false positivites, because not every "big" eartquake will generate a tsunami. 5) that this is partly an issue of bridging the digital divide because so many of the people who had no warning also do not have ready access to the internet.
Steve Elster
[EMAIL PROTECTED]


----- Original Message ----- From: "Taran Rampersad" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "The Digital Divide Network discussion group" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2005 9:20 AM
Subject: Re: [DDN] ARC system created: SMS to Email in Tsunami hit areas nowineffect


John Hibbs wrote:

Steven Elster wrote:

I have written my friend in India, and he says: "there are plenty of
cell
phones around here, even in the tiniest villages." He further goes on to
say that a cell phone earthquake warning system "was in fact in place
in at least one village here on the southeast coast. They got notice;
everybody was evacuated in an orderly fashion and not one life was
lost."



Students of earthquakes know only a few things for absolute certain.
They include the fact that if a geographic area has never had an
earthquake, it never will. A good example is Korea.


Which hasn't had an earthquake yet that we know of? One never knows.


The experts also know that if any area has ever had a shake, it can be
unreservedly assured there will be more.

What nobody knows is....."when"?

While I salute, body and soul, the efforts to provide warnings that
can go instantly and affordably to everyone on the planet with a
radio, television, phone or computer, I suggest we be careful about
promises impossible to keep.

Predicting earthquakes - at least for now - is a fool's game. 

Umm. As far as I know, I wasn't talking about predicting earthquakes. I
leave that to seismologists (who 'didn't know who to call' about the
tsunami), but the system by which they warn people is something which
can be worked on... Such that it's not dependant on people 'not knowing
what phone number to call').


Preparing for their aftermath is not. 

And used in disaster relief when nobody is warned, or even when people
were warned. Earthquakes are not the only disasters. In fact, not
knowing who to call in an age of so much lauded technology is much more
of a disaster, IMHO. If we can't use all this knowledge and technology
to save lives, we're pretty much doomed anyway. That's part of what
happened, and what has been swept under the rug - conveniently.

We may as well go down kicking and screaming, right?

--
Taran Rampersad

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

http://www.linuxgazette.com
http://www.a42.com
http://www.worldchanging.com
http://www.knowprose.com
http://www.easylum.net

"Criticize by creating." — Michelangelo


_______________________________________________
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
[email protected]
http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.


_______________________________________________
DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list
[email protected]
http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide
To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE 
in the body of the message.

Reply via email to