8.9 Quake, Tidal waves kill thousands across Asia Options

[aznxdarkricex]

Tidal waves kill thousands across Asia
Magnitude 8.9 quake in Indonesia triggers deadly flooding

MSNBC News Services
Updated: 10:02 a.m. ET Dec. 26, 2004

JAKARTA, Indonesia - The world’s most powerful earthquake in 40 years triggered massive tidal waves that slammed into villages and seaside resorts across Asia on Sunday, killing more than 7,000 people in six countries.

Tourists, fishermen, homes and cars were swept away by walls of water up to 20 feet high that swept across the Bay of Bengal, unleashed by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake centered off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Stunned Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called the tsunamis unprecedented.

“Nothing like this has ever happened in our country before,” he said.
In Sri Lanka, 1,000 miles west of the epicenter, more than 3,000 people were killed, the country’s top police official said. At least 1,870 died in Indonesia, and 1,900 along the southern coasts of India. At least 198 were confirmed dead in Thailand, 42 in Malaysia and two in Bangladesh.

But officials expected the death toll to rise dramatically, with hundreds reported missing and all communications cut off to Sumatran towns closest to the epicenter. Hundreds of bodies were found on various beaches along India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu, and more were expected to be washed in by the sea, officials said.

In Vatican City, Pope John Paul II appealed for swift international help to those afflicted by the earthquake and subsequent tidal waves.

“The Christmas feast has been made sad by the news that reaches us from Southeast Asia,” he told a crowd in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday blessing on the day after Christmas.

“We pray for the victims of this enormous tragedy and we assure our solidarity for those who are suffering, while we hope that the international community will get moving to bring help to the stricken populations,” the pope said.

The European Union has said it will send an initial $4 million in aid to the region, Reuters reported.

An 8.9 magnitude temblor
The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at a magnitude of 8.9. Geophysicist Julie Martinez said it was the world’s fifth largest since 1900 and the largest since a 9.2 quake hit Prince William Sound Alaska in 1964.

“The weather was fine with no clouds, there was no warning and suddenly the sea water just hit the city. In some parts the water was up to chest level,” Bustami, a resident of the Indonesian city of Lhokseumawe, told Reuters by telephone.

“People are panicking now. Some of us are walking by foot and others are on military trucks going to higher ground," Bustami said.

The effects of Sunday’s quake rippled across the region, as towns were crushed by floodwaters and fishermen were swept out to sea.

In Sri Lanka, the office of the prime minister said that more than 3,000 people were killed. Some 1 million others — 5 percent of the population — were displaced by the waters.

“The death toll is going up all the time,” said Lalith Weerathunga, secretary to the prime minister.

“The president has declared a state of national disaster due to the seriousness of the situation," President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s office said.

An Associated Press photographer near Colombo, Sri Lanka, counted 24 bodies in a stretch of four miles. Rows of men and women were standing on the road asking if anyone had seen their family members.
Beyond comprehension

In India, beaches were turned into virtual open-air mortuaries, with bodies of people caught in the tidal wave being washed ashore. The states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry were hit hardest, officials and rescue workers said.

Residents of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh states said 12-foot storm surges slammed into shore.

“I was shocked to see innumerable fishing boats flying on the shoulder of the waves, going back and forth into the sea, as if made of paper,” said P. Ramanamurthy, 40, who lives in Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada town. “I had never imagined anything like this could happen.”

Cabinet Secretary B. K. Chaturvedi told reporters that the Indian air force would drop food packets, medicines and diesel generating sets in the affected areas.

In Indonesia, hospital and local officials said the death toll had reached at least 1,870.

Communications were down in several coastal towns facing the epicenter of the undersea quake off the western coast of the island’s Aceh Province, raising fears of widespread and as yet unreported damage on the island.

“We have never seen anything like this. The waves just kept coming. We have fled to high areas for safety,” Kibaret Sarumaha, a resident on Nias, told Metro TV.

Nearly 200 people died in popular southern Thailand resorts, officials said. The Narenthorn Center of the Public Health Ministry said people were swept away in Phuket by a tsunami with 16-foot waves. More than 1,900 were injured and many others were missing.

Waves reported to be up to 30 feet high crashed into beaches, where thousands of tourists were lazing on the country’s renowned white sand beaches when the earthquake struck. Hundreds of bungalows, boats and cars were carried out to sea.

Police and rescue workers in Malaysia said 42 people were killed. More than 1,000 homes across numerous fishing villages were destroyed as waves roared into the coastline, leaving hundreds of families homeless, disaster officials said.

Two-thirds of the Maldives capital, Male, was flooded and officials voiced anxiety for the fate of dozens of low-lying, palm-ringed coral atolls crowded with international tourists for the holiday season.

'Ring of Fire'
Indonesia, a country of 17,000 islands, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the margins of tectonic plates that make up the so-called the “Ring of Fire” around the Pacific Ocean basin.

The Indonesian quake struck just three days after an 8.1 quake struck the ocean floor between Australia and Antarctica, causing buildings to shake hundreds of miles away but no serious damage or injury.

Quakes reaching a magnitude 8 are very rare. A quake registering magnitude 8 rocked Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido on Sept. 25, 2003, injuring nearly 600 people. An 8.4 magnitude tremor that stuck off the coast of Peru on June 23, 2001, killed 74.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6754820/

This is truly sad news for Christmas time, and the death toll is still rising above 7,000. Whole families were killed, lives were lost. Scientists even said that the Earth's rotation was affected.

[acidophilus]

Jesus, that is horrible.

[killua]

my mom was just talking bout that.. cause we were thinking of going to thailand... sad..

[xxruinedsoulxx]

that sucks.

[gelionie]

It's so sad. =(
Nature can be so disastrous that I don't even want to think about it.

[*wind&fire*]

MY FRIEND IS IN INDONESIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i wanna know if shes okay!!!!!!!!! ::cries::

[lilnatcat]

*GASP* I know AzNbUbZ!!! Oli's in Indo!!! I hope she's ok!!!! I was shocked when I heard it on the news!!!! God let her be safe!!!!!!!!

[nhj_2006]

mom tried calling home -malaysia-, guess the fone lines are down or something. hopefully my relatives are alright

[*wind&fire*]

what malaysia is effected too?!?!?!.. dammit all my relatives live there!!...

[jnukes]

that's kinda weird especially when i just finished watching The day after Tomorrow like 2 minutes ago. what a terrible event for the holidays

woah i watched that , too!.. like on christmas night.. wait.. no i didn't... i just watched some parts of it.. but i understood someo f it. heh.










... i pray for them...is this god's idea of a christmas present..?

[WildGriffin]

You guys are like..deep emo poets.

"That's sad man."

"Yeah, thats sad."

"man, thats sad."

"sure is man, sad sad sad."

Keep those heart felt emotions spilling out onto this forum!

[*salcha*]

... i pray for them...is this god's idea of a christmas present..?

God sometimes lets things happen, beacuse it's what He thinks is right.

wow yeah i was at reno for a trip,
and i saw it on the news
my parents and i were completely steunned
and 8.9, goodness...

[toodlepops.]

omg. i live in Malaysia and its supposed safe. (no volcanos, eartquacks and tidal waves etc. ) so when the tsunami hit us here, we were all freaked out. and the death toll is actually 10000-11000. very sad. =[

[jr0h]

ouch! sad ......... poor people

[Winter]

It's actually 9.0.

I'm just relieved I don't live on the coastal area here (Malaysia). It mainly effected the coastal area on West Malaysia and all the islands.

So to those who have relatives in Malaysia, I wouldn't worry too much if I were you - unless they live on Penang Island. Penang Island is seriously a wreck now. The roads flew right off.

[toodlepops.]

i have relatives in Penang Island. (penang is divided into 2, the island and the mainland) thank god my realtives live on the mainland so, they weren't effected.

my condolences to the families who lost their members.

[Jealousy]

Last I heard there were 14,000 people who have died :-(
It's really sad.

There has been coverage on the enws all day, I can't imagine my home being destroyed like that, I wouldn't know what to do.

My bf's dad lives in Phuket, so I hope everything is ok with him.

[Winter]

Death toll is currently 21 000 with half in Sri Lanka (Ceylon).

[ApunBindaas]

I read about this yesterday and it's really sad!

[*mona lisa*]

omg, wow. that's soo many people! =(

[runforfun529]

Thats so sad I hope everyone takes in what is left of the holiday spirit and helps them out

[cmgchica717]

I heard about that on CNN. That is so awful. especially around christmas time.

[glit_gal]

yeah i heard about that on yahoo. It's extremely sad, i hope all of you guys who have families out there are okay.

[*kryogenix*]

let's not forget, Eastern Africa was affected too.

[mirage]

god bless them all

[innovation]

yeah, i saw that on chinese television. nature is one of the things that man can't control.. so i think that we should focus on things that mankind can control that kill/hurt many more people.. such as inadequate health care, human trafficking, child labor, starvation, etc. it sounds corny, but whatever.