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To: LindyBill who wrote (92319)	12/26/2004 11:22:54 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793822

Good comment by Instapundit - This asteroid, 2004 MN, is still unlikely to strike -- and it's not big enough to produce a Lucifer's Hammer kind of situation. It's more of a Krakatoa-level threat, which is bad enough, but not a civilization-ender. The big lesson, though, is that this sort of threat isn't just theoretical. Though the probability of a big hit is low, even a hit of this level -- which at 1/42 can't be called very low-probability at this point -- is serious. We're fortunate that nothing like this happened during the Cold War, when it might have triggered a nuclear exchange. But as nuclear weapons proliferate, there's more reason to try to ensure that we're not caught by surprise even by these smaller impacts.

To: LindyBill who wrote (92319)	12/26/2004 12:22:54 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793822

My thoughts about the earthquake - we'll simply never know how many were killed. So many of those thousands and thousands of islands are not very far above sea level. Many of the dead will be wealthy people staying at seaside resorts on holiday. Those, we'll hear about. What would a 15-20 meter tall tsunami do to the Hawaiian islands? Tsunamis make hurricanes look benign.

To: LindyBill who wrote (92319)	12/26/2004 5:18:02 PM
From: Bill Ulrich	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793822

The geographical scope of the affected area is phenomenal, from Thailand to Somalia. That covers a lot of mileage. Mother Nature, within a fleeting moment (a few seconds of earthquake duration), makes humans look so laughably puny in comparison when one gets into these "world destruction" arguments about global warming, etc... ... this event brings forth absolute jaw-dropping awe. I've been through some "sixes and sevens" here in CA (which stained my shorts!). Can't imagine an 8.9.