More than 11Â 000 people were killed and thousands more are missing after a powerful earthquake on Sunday triggered giant tidal waves that slammed into coasts across southern Asia, swallowing villages and wreaking death and devastation on seaside resorts.
The quake, the fifth largest recorded to date and measuring 8,9 on the Richter scale, struck off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, unleashing tsunamis that hit Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar and Malaysia.
Terrifying walls of water up to 10m high were reported in many areas, roaring ashore with bewildering speed, sweeping people off beaches, flattening hotels and homes, uprooting trees and overturning cars.
Indonesia
In Indonesia, at least 4Â 185 people were killed as the country took the full force of a huge earthquake and tidal waves that swallowed entire coastal villages.
Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared the earthquake a “national disaster”, adding that a relief effort will be coordinated from the Sumatran city of Medan.
The quake, the most powerful for 40 years, came a year to the day after a temblor in the Iranian city of Bam killed more than 30Â 000 people.
Large numbers of children were reported to be among the victims in India and Sri Lanka, along with many foreign tourists who had flocked to idyllic resorts in south-east Asia for the Christmas holidays.
Sri Lanka
South Asia was the worst hit region, with nearly 5Â 700 deaths reported across Sri Lanka and India and thousands missing.
The Sri Lankan government also declared a state of disaster as at least 3Â 225 people, including many children and the elderly, were killed on the island.
Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who is in London, is expected to cut short her holiday and return home, a spokesperson for her office said, adding she is also appealing for international help.
India
At least 2Â 447 people were killed in southern India, with the chief minister of Tamil Nadu announcing 1Â 567 deaths in her state alone and at least 300 people killed on the country’s Andaman islands, where 700 are missing.
Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam appealed for calm on Sunday.
“I request the people to remain calm and cooperate with relief teams so that relief reaches the needy,” said Kalam.
“This is the time that one billion people must face this tragedy as one nation,” said Kalam, calling on private organisations to assist.
He described the events as a “national tragedy” and said he is closely following the relief work.
“I have talked to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the PM has already activated the crisis management group,” said Kalam, adding that the armed forces are helping in the worst-hit states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
There were scenes of mayhem in Tamil Nadu state, where scores of villages were under water, local television footage showed bodies being loaded into ambulances. In Madras, the morgues at government hospitals were overflowing with bodies, witnesses said.
Thailand
In southern Thailand, at least 310 people were killed, including foreign tourists at famous seaside resorts, and 5Â 000 injured, officials said.
“As of now Phuket has 117 dead,” the island’s governor, Udomsak Aswarangkul, said in a live interview with broadcaster iTV, adding to official casualty figures of 193 for the rest of the nation.
He said the popular resort island was also reporting 214 people missing, including 162 foreign tourists.
The nation’s top beach attractions were among the worst hit as waves triggered by the underwater quake swept scores of people out to sea, drowned snorkellers, sank boats and shattered buildings along the coast.
Phuket and the idyllic island of Phi Phi were devastated by the huge waters. Ten-metre-high waves crashed down on to beaches and crushed holiday bungalows after the first of a series of waves hit just before 10am, according to officials and rescuers.
British tourists on the tiny island of Ngai said holidaymakers were given no chance when the tsunamis struck.
“Suddenly this huge wave came, rushing down the beach, destroying everything in its wake,” Londoner Simon Clark said.
“People that were snorkelling were dragged along the coral and washed up on the beach, and people that were sunbathing got washed into the sea.”
Malaysia
In Malaysia, 42 people, including many elderly and children, were drowned and many others were missing after tidal waves hit two resort islands, officials said.
Maldives
A British tourist and 14 other people died in the low-lying Maldives, officials and residents said.
The unidentified British tourist died of a heart attack as the tidal waves hit his resort, an official said, adding that 50 “water cabanas” built on stilts had been washed away.
Residents contacted said at least 14 people, including two children, had been killed on three central atolls that were the worst affected.
The Maldivian government said there were several casualties, but gave no details.
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, a father and child were killed after a tourist boat capsized from large waves, local officials said.
Africa
Several African nations cleared their coasts as huge waves slammed into Mauritius, Somalia and other areas. See our story Tidal waves hit Africa.
Help streaming in
Governments and aid organisations around the world offered messages of sympathy and scrambled to pledge aid to nations affected by the tragedy.
With the death toll rising inexorably, authorities offered immediate help in terms of food, shelter and medicines.
Echoing pleas by Asian leaders, Pope John Paul II urged the international community to rush aid to the affected populations.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf called for “swift and concerted” international efforts, and the Foreign Ministry said it will send a consignment of relief goods comprising tents, medicines and water to Sri Lanka.
The European Commission said it is providing immediate emergency aid of three million euros for victims to meet “initial vital needs”, and that more substantial aid will be provided later.
“The needs are enormous,” EU development and humanitarian aid commissioner Louis Michel said.
The international Red Cross and Red Crescent organisations launched a five million euro relief aid appeal.
The US is ready to send assistance, with the White House on Sunday calling it a “terrible tragedy”.
“On behalf of the American people, the president expresses his sincere condolences for the terrible loss of life and suffering caused by the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis in the region of the Bay of Bengal,” the White House said in a statement. — Sapa-AFP
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