# Tsunami Coverage **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 27, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693 "2010-02-27T22:14:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/1 "2010-02-27T22:14:45Z")
Reporters really are the dumbest profession. In the morning they couldn’t figure out if Chile was ahead or behind EST and by how much, then they ask what is “meters” in English, they show tape recorded hours earlier while displaying **Live** on the screen, and then a reporter wanted to know what time low tides happen at Waikiki beach. The confused person on the other end of the phone said: “eh, well it’s different every day”. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/2 "2010-02-27T22:54:50Z")
It’s like none of these dolts have even the most basic scientific or geologic education. Not surprising, but still pathetic. ETA: Someone asked what “meters” translated to in english, like it’s a foreign word, or that they wanted to know what the metric conversion was in feet? (about 3, btw). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/3 "2010-02-27T22:55:24Z")
Watch television news much? Media is about hype, looks, ratings and ego. It long ago ceased to be about anything substantial where reporters were hired for their intelligence, news-gathering expertise, fact checking, and the ability to write a coherent and grammatically correct sentence or three. And all of that under pressure much of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/4 "2010-02-27T22:59:24Z")
And did anybody catch the hours of live footage of a perfectly still shoreline in Hawaii? Just cut to it when the wave actually arrives, for christ’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/5 "2010-02-27T23:00:37Z")
Of course, the media also needs to talk to tourists on the phone to ask if there are bathrooms at the golf course where they are drinking. And if they anticipated there would be a tsunami on their vacation. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/6 "2010-02-27T23:06:02Z")
CNN had fourth-stringers up earlier this morning, who probably couldn’t believe their good fortune to be on-air for a breaking story. The woman was a dimwit who couldn’t stop herself from grinning at every opportunity. The guy had the tsunami ‘expert’ draw a line from Chile to Hawaii and to Mexico. I guess that’s for the benefit of viewers (and newsreaders) who think that Hawaii (and Alaska) reside just off the coast of Baja, CA. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/7 "2010-02-27T23:11:04Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Watch television news much? > > Media is about hype, looks, ratings and ego. It long ago ceased to be about anything substantial where reporters were hired for their intelligence, news-gathering expertise, fact checking, and the ability to write a coherent and grammatically correct sentence or three. And all of that under pressure much of the time. And scaring the shit out of people. It doesn’t even have to be true. Just so long as it’s a “good” sound bite. Just last night, the so called “History” channel had hour after hour, about how we are all doomed - hypercanes, caldera supervolcanoes, simultaneous global super quakes, gamma ray bursts, global red tides, all signals of a coming apocalypse of Godly wrath. All “verified” by people I’ve never heard of (except for one “expert”, the guy who wrote the Left Behind nonsense). ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/8 "2010-02-27T23:40:49Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > It’s like none of these dolts have even the most basic scientific or geologic education. Not surprising, but still pathetic. They almost certainly have taken none. The Journalism majors I knew in University were not just proud, they were God-damned proud that they were able to skip having to take any math past Intro to Algebra and any science past the 3-hour remedial course (called “Physics for Poets”, it covered science that I pretty much had down pat in 6th grade). But they’re only a reflection of the Average American Dumbass, a scientific ignoramus of breathtaking proportions. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/9 "2010-02-27T23:45:11Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > ETA: Someone asked what “meters” translated to in english, like it’s a foreign word, or that they wanted to know what the metric conversion was in feet? (about 3, btw). 😉 Direct quote: “what’s 9 meters in English”. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/10 "2010-02-27T23:48:24Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Direct quote: “what’s 9 meters in English”. It’s 9 meters? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/11 "2010-02-27T23:49:54Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I guess that’s for the benefit of viewers (and newsreaders) who think that Hawaii (and Alaska) reside just off the coast of Baja, CA. Of course, if they read your sentence, those people might also think that Baja is in the US state of California. It’s not Baja, CA. It’s Baja California (no comma). ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/12 "2010-02-28T00:21:17Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > CNN had fourth-stringers up earlier this morning, who probably couldn’t believe their good fortune to be on-air for a breaking story. The woman was a dimwit who couldn’t stop herself from grinning at every opportunity. The guy had the tsunami ‘expert’ draw a line from Chile to Hawaii and to Mexico. I guess that’s for the benefit of viewers (and newsreaders) who think that Hawaii (and Alaska) reside just off the coast of Baja, CA. I had the unfortunate luck of turning on CNN at that very moment…“now draw a line to Costa Rica.” I turned it off about 5 seconds later… ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/13 "2010-02-28T00:21:25Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Of course, if they read your sentence, those people might also think that Baja is in the US state of California. > > It’s not Baja, CA. > > It’s Baja California (no comma). Right. In English: > [@](#): > > **Baja** _f_ fall; casualty; _ **dar de ~** _ _mil_ to discharge; _ **~da** _ _f_ descent Which doesn’t really make sense, but if someone asks, now you can tell them. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/14 "2010-02-28T00:29:23Z")
How long before they try to blame global warming for it? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/15 "2010-02-28T00:40:42Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Direct quote: “what’s 9 meters in English”. Since it’s quite common to refer to yard/feet/inches as the ‘English’ system of weights & Measures, that’s a perfectly reasonable question. You didn’t really have any difficulty understanding what was being asked, did you? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/16 "2010-02-28T00:41:01Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Which doesn’t really make sense, but if someone asks, now you can tell them. It makes sense when you realize that, when talking about geographical location, bajo/baja also means “lower.” ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/17 "2010-02-28T00:41:30Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > How long before they try to blame global warming for it? No no no, it’s the other way around. See, the moment magnitude scale describes the amount of _energy_ released by the quake, right? And that energy is dissipated in vibrations and waves, some of which are racing across the Pacific as we speak. If I remember my thermodynamics correctly, dissipating energy within the system invariably results in waste heat. Ergo, global warming is _caused_ by all of these big earthquakes we’ve been having lately. If I’m right, the water off my beachfront property in Hokkaido should be like a hot spring in \*checks watch \* a couple of hours, so I’m going to go make some lemonade and soak in the geothermal heat. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/18 "2010-02-28T00:44:13Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > You didn’t really have any difficulty understanding what was being asked, did you? None at all. Just having some fun with it. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/19 "2010-02-28T00:52:34Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Of course, if they read your sentence, those people might also think that Baja is in the US state of California. > > It’s not Baja, CA. > > It’s Baja California (no comma). Don’t be ridiciulous! Baja, California, is west-southwest of New, Mexico! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693/20 "2010-02-28T01:07:17Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > How long before they try to blame global warming for it? Anybody who attempts to ascribe any **particular** major earthquake **specifically** to climate-change influences is an ignoramus (and I’m looking right at [Danny Glover](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/15/danny-glover-haiti-earthq_n_425160.html) here, much as I may admire his acting talent). However, last September’s [Conference on Climate Forcing of Geological and Geomorphological Hazards](http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327273.800-climate-change-may-trigger-earthquakes-and-volcanoes.html?full=true) suggested that it may be true that climate change, by changing the relative weight of, e.g., ocean water and ice sheets on the earth’s crust, could affect the “fine controlling” of seismic activity and lead to more seismic events. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsunami-coverage/530693.md?page=2)