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USELESS INFORMATION
The International Herald Tribune reports:
Early on Sunday morning, powerful computers in a Vienna office building received seismic data on the earthquake that spawned the devastating tsunamis across south Asia - information that might have saved lives in the hours between the quake and the waves hitting the coasts of Sri Lanka, India and several other countries.
But the data streaming into the computers of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization served no purpose Sunday.
The 300 staff are on vacation until Jan. 4.
There were other barriers to using that information, as you’ll find if you read the entire piece. Nevertheless, it’s a little surprising to read of such a large organisation - with an annual budget of $100 million, by the way - closing down entirely over Christmas/New Year.
In addition to Geoscience Aust. and JAERI, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, in Honolulu, Hawaii was also open, and staffed by 3 earthquake monitors—on Christmas Day, no less.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,18690-1419258,00.html
Posted by David Crawford on 2004 12 30 at 03:36 PM • permalinkThe office was not “closed down entirely” as it still received data that could have indicated a test ban violation, if the computers had been switched off then maybe that’s a case to argue (no sneaky nuke testing during Xmas please).
To say that the information may have saved lives is pure conjecture, considering the random nature of earthquakes and their result, I doubt it very much that anything could have been done.
So make a note, fellow Evil Masterminds: The perfect time for testing your prototype Nukular Weapon (or, Earthquake Generator, whatever), is at the end of the Calendar Year.
Posted by Carl in N.H. on 2004 12 31 at 01:18 AM • permalinkWhat horrifies me is the idea that all many of them had to do was go ten kilometers inland. That takes, what, two hours on the outside, walking?
Posted by John Nowak on 2004 12 31 at 10:43 PM • permalink
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G’day Tim,
The Vienna International Centre (VIC) which houses the IAEA, the CTBTO and UNOV shuts down completely during the Christmas/New Year period - building management says that they save a fortune shutting down the lights, heating and lifts when the place is basically empty anyway. But when I went in during that period I found that the lights, heating and lifts were working anyway.
The “International Data Centres” at Geoscience Australia in Canberra and at JAERI in Tokai Mura in Japan are manned during the period and had access to the Asia-Pacific portions of the data.