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May 25th Asteroid

sorry, am absolutely knackered so this is gonna be vague, but didnt pat robertson reckon God told him that the east coast of the usa was gonna be hit by something huge soon?

my head hurts. now back to work...
 
This thread gives me the opportunity to ask a question I've been meaning to ask here for a long time - how far CAN tsunamis of various sizes - 50 feet, 100 feet, 600 feet - penetrate inland?

I would assume that even on a planet with billiard ball-smooth continents the distance would be limited by gravity pulling downward on the wave.

Old Time Radio (George Wagner) sitting at about 600 feet above sea level
 
Well according to Tsunami.org:

When a tsunami finally reaches the shore, it may appear as a rapidly rising or falling tide, a series of breaking waves, or even a bore. Reefs, bays, entrances to rivers, undersea features and the slope of the beach all help to modify the tsunami as it approaches the shore. Tsunamis rarely become great, towering breaking waves. Sometimes the tsunami may break far offshore. Or it may form into a bore: a step-like wave with a steep breaking front. A bore can happen if the tsunami moves from deep water into a shallow bay or river. The water level on shore can rise many feet. In extreme cases, water level can rise to more than 50 feet (15 m) for tsunamis of distant origin and over 100 feet (30 m) for tsunami generated near the earthquake's epicenter. The first wave may not be the largest in the series of waves. One coastal area may see no damaging wave activity while in another area destructive waves can be large and violent. The flooding of an area can extend inland by 1000 feet (305 m) or more, covering large expanses of land with water and debris. Flooding tsunami waves tend to carry loose objects and people out to sea when they retreat. Tsunamis may reach a maximum vertical height onshore above sea level, called a runup height, of 30 meters (98 ft). A notable exception is the landslide-generated tsunami in Lituya Bay, Alaska in 1958, which produced a 525 meter (1722 ft) wave.
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I'm not sure how an asteroid hit would compare in magnitude the the usual earthquake generated tsunamis though...
 
Well, if by any chance the comet doesn't strike, I expect Mr Julien will reveal that it was diverted from its path by friendly extraterrestrials, or ritual magic, or some such malarkey.
 
Ah yes...the friendly extra terrestrials. Didn't Ian Banks use that as an amusing aside in one of his later sci fi books?
 
I expect Mr Julien will reveal that it was diverted from its path by friendly extraterrestrials, or ritual magic, or some such malarkey.
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Or maybe a result of the FTMB sigil experiment, which has an unintended secondardy effect has diverted the asteroid in order to prevent the experiment itself being ended prematurely :shock:
 
Damn it has future echoes (the sigil experiment) - we've not even written them up yet! Bloody clever this magic, and those ET's (natch) ;)
 
That puts paid to that then.

:)


On the off chance that it should think "damn, I missed, I shall have to turn back and try again..." and then do some serious backpeddling, does anybody have any last words / thoughts?
 
And now....the end is near...

Oh wait a sec...Nah; best not say what I'd like to say....
 
Jerry_B said:
Latest news from APOD, with a nice animated sequence:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060523.html

Apparently the comet has already made its closest pass.
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Forgive me for asking, but didn't this thread start off as discussion of an asteroid chunk heading for us? Not a comet? Or is the asteroid hiding behind the comet, and is even now plunging slowly but inexorably down to Earth...... aaaargghhh! Run to the hills!
 
Peripart said:
Forgive me for asking, but didn't this thread start off as discussion of an asteroid chunk heading for us? Not a comet? Or is the asteroid hiding behind the comet, and is even now plunging slowly but inexorably down to Earth...... aaaargghhh! Run to the hills!
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The idea seems to be that a fragment of P73 Schwassmann-Wachmann comet is going to hit the Earth on the 25th. Whether it managed to lob a small of itself at us as it passed by is thus currently up for discussion. Until the 25th, of course ;)
 
What if the comet/meteorite/marshmallow object possibly heading towards us is the result of aliens acting like humans?

"I wonder what will happen if I give this a colossal prod with my ship?"


"oh....."


*sneaks off,guiltily looking over shoulder*
 
I'm waiting for the face-saving re-computations on Friday, May 26th.

"Silly us! The comet wasn't scheduled for May 25th after all. The impact's actually due on May 52nd!"
 
"The flooding of an area can extend inland by 1000 feet (305 m) or more, covering large expanses of land with water and debris."
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Thank you very much, BRF.

There's also a personal account somewhere on the FTMBs concerning a party of beach picnickers sitting a quarter-mile from the sea (1320 feet) who suddenly if briefly discovered themselves victims of a tidal surge, sitting in water up to their necks. No major damage done, though one rather hopes that the meal was towards its end..
 
On the 26th, I shall download a copy of asteroids and pretend it is the 1980's again :lol:
 
Perhaps the message was wrongly interpreted and it should have read :

'We will all be stuck with hemorrhoids on the 25th'
 
Well, tomorrow's the big day.
On the plus side, it'll get me out of a lot of boring paperwork.
On the down side, I did rather have plans for the weekend. So close to payday too.

Still, to quote Tom Lehrer...
We will all go together when we go.
All suffuse with an incandescent glow.
No one will have the endurance
To collect on his insurance,
Lloyds of london will be loaded when they go.

Oh we will all fry together when we fry.
Well be french fried potatoes by and by.
There will be no more misery
When the world is our rotisserie,
Yes, we will all fry together when we fry.

Down by the old maelstrom,
Therell be a storm before the calm.

And we will all bake together when we bake.
Therell be nobody present at the wake.
With complete participation
In that grand incineration,
Nearly three billion hunks of well-done steak.

Oh we will all char together when we char.
And let there be no moaning of the bar.
Just sing out a te deum
When you see that i.c.b.m.,
And the party will be come as you are.

Oh we will all burn together when we burn.
Therell be no need to stand and wait your turn.
When its time for the fallout
And saint peter calls us all out,
Well just drop our agendas and adjourn.
Click to expand...
 
GadaffiDuck said:
"On the 26th...."
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You seem rather certain that there's going to BE a May 26th.

Didn't anybody inform you that tomorrow's DOOMSDAY? <g>
 
I did some further checking and the figure BRF so kindly provided for the maximum distance tsunamis can penetrate inland seems to be the widely-accepted one - 300 meters (1000 feet).

The two exceptions I found gave estimates of 1/4th and 7/10ths of a mile.

All this answers my original question, that even the largest imaginable tsunamis are purely coastal phenomenon and can't penetrate more than a mile or so inland even in low-lying areas.

Gravity, our friend when we need it the most.
 
I've got my towel (I'm going to the gym you see)...

Right asteroid - I'm waiting, and no flying off on a wild tangent whilst I'm not looking ok? :no-no:
 
can anyone tell me at what time I'm likely to see the greatest sight of my life as it smashes into us, and in that nanosecond before I'm vaporised I see all that energy??
 
I hope it doesn't come while i'm watching X-men 3. I hate not knowing what happens at the end of a movie... :D
 
Well chaps and chapettes it's the big day and I've brought my umbrella.
However, I did feel it was only right to face possible species annihilation with clean underwear and I even shaved!

I didn't bother washing my bike though, that would just be silly.

T+14:26 and counting.

LD
 
I guess it must be the 26th already in Oz and NZ so does that mean that we are the only ones going to be blasted? Maybe they have been hit already and the effects havn't reached us yet, though they are keeping it very quiet. Hey Anome whats the word for the far side of the world seen anything?
 
They didn't say it would be May 25th this year, did they? Oh, wait, they did.
 
feen5 said:
Hey Anome whats the word for the far side of the world seen anything?
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The word for the far side of the world is Antipodes..

..oh, I see what you mean! ;)
 
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