Tidal waves and tremors hit Asia

[CHIMO]

Significant casualties are being reported following tidal waves and earth tremors in countries across southern and eastern Asia.
Large tidal waves striking coastal parts of Sri Lanka have reportedly killed at least 150 people.

Earlier, a massive earthquake, said to measure 8.5, hit Indonesia's Sumatra island at roughly 0800 local time.

Earth tremors have also been reported in Bangladesh, while tourist resorts in Thailand have been hit by high tides.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4125481.stm

[Maple]

1. India has been hit too

This is a bad one.

[Mike Niendorff]

2. yikes.

You know it's bad when the aftershocks hit 7.3

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Maps/region/Asia.html


MDN

[pacifictiger]

3. Wow, there's a lot of shaking going on -

just a couple of days ago there was a 8.0 earthquake in the southern ocean south of New Zealand. No damage because it was far away from land, but still,it was felt in NZ's South Island and Australia's Tasmania.

[starroute]

4. Absolutely humongous

Either magnitude 8.5 or 8.9, depending on which figure you believe.

By contrast, the largest of the New Madrid earthquakes in 1811-12 is only estimated as 8.1. (There have been a few larger ones in Alaska.)

[cliss]

5. Wow, that's massive.

An earthquake of 8.5 is huge. I believe that when the Richter magnitude goes up one point, it's 10 times stronger. So going from a 7 to 8, means it's 10 times as massive.

That's bad.

[slutticus]

6. That's correct. It's a logarithmic scale.

This is the largest earthquake to strike the planet in about 40 years.

[htuttle]

7. UPDATE: AP says 700 dead + eyewitness reports on BBC

AKARTA, Indonesia - The world's most powerful earthquake in 40 years rocked northern Indonesia on Sunday and launched tidal waves that swamped villages and seaside resorts across Asia, killing more than 700 people in five countries.

Some 300 were reported killed in Sri Lanka, 286 in India, 94 in Indonesia, 61 in Thailand and seven in Malaysia. Hundreds were reported missing, and the death toll was expected to rise.
(more)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=1&u=/ap/20041226/ap_on_re_as/indonesia_earthquake

Eyewitness reports from BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/4125619.stm
We were anchored in Patong beach , where the beach area basically drained of water, then after five minutes the water filled back in and large waves approximately 8m high crashed onto the main road in Patong.

Small boats dragged anchors. The beaches along the west side of Phuket were basically washed away.

All boats are standing by for more after reports of a quake in the Nicobar islands.
Mike Ryniker, Phuket

A friend of mine, who is on holiday with her husband and children in Phuket, called and said that there was a disaster. Their hotel was ruined and they are now standing on a mountain, waiting for the next wave, terrified.
Victoria, Sweden

It's terrible. The rain and the wall of water and the horrific shaking. In so many years of living here I have not ever seen anything as terrible as this. God is angry. God is telling us he is angry.
Kareemoff Sumyun Gy, Jakarta

I live in Ao-Nang Krabi . The scene is quite bad here - with upturned boats lying broken and strewn across the street. Many tourists and locals are missing - they were leaving on tours as the wave hit. Army and police are arriving in their masses.
Rob Bysouth, Krabi, Thailand

The whole of Male and all islands are under knee-deep water after huge waves washed the islands.
Mohamed latheef, Male', Maldives

This morning my brother called me to say that he is alive. He lives on the small tourist island, Koh Phi Phi near Phuket in south Thailand. He reported that: "The whole island is smashed, there are dead people all over!" He was trying to find his Thai girlfriend and a Danish friend.
Stinus, Copenhagen, Denmark

People living in the costal areas have been struck by panic. Huge tidal waves hit the coast. Rescue efforts are under way. Exact damages are largely unknown.
Sriram Srinivasan, Chennai, India

Waves never seen before hit the island of Penang, Malaysia, devastating coastal areas. Waves of more than 10ft high swept away wooden stilt houses at coastal areas. Ambulances are seen rushing to affected areas.
Victor Tan, Penang, Malaysia

(posted this in earlier thread as well)

[aikido15]

9. Whoa..

8.5? Earthquakes scare the hell out of me. The biggest one I ever felt was 6.5 and THAT to me was huge...I can't even imagine 8.5..those poor people.

[htuttle]

8. Times of India: Tremors rock India, over 286 feared killed

NEW DELHI: A huge earthquake rocked Southeast Asia on Sunday morning, slammed into several parts of southern India, killing at least 286 people, most of them in Tamil Nadu state, officials said.

Among all major cities, the maximum panic and damage was reported in Chennai, where the toll has risen to 100. Thousands fled their homes along the coast after cars were hurled up, boats were washed inland and water seeped into major buildings, including the police headquarters and the nuclear power plant at nearby Kalpakkam.

Tidal waves caused flooding in the city's central areas, with waters entering the police headquarters and causing a breakdown at a power station, causing power outage across the north part of the city.

At least 100 bodies have been recovered from the coastal town of Cuddalore and its outlying areas, said deputy Superintendent of police K Panniselvan. Another 100 bodies were found on various beaches in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, said R Nataraj, the city police chief.

(more at link)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/971292.cms

Lanka declares national disaster, over 531 killed
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka declared a national disaster on Sunday as officials said the first tsunami to hit the Indian Ocean island in 16 years may have killed as many as 500 people.

"The President has declared a state of national disaster due to the seriousness of the situation," President Chandrika
Kumaratunga's office said in a statement.

(more at link)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/971307.cms


400 fishermen feared missing in south India
About 400 fishermen were feared missing after a tsunami, following a massive earthquake in Indonesia, hit the coastal southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, the chief secretary of the state, Mohan Kanda, told Reuters.

At least 390 people have been confirmed dead, police and government officials said.

"The bodies in the hospital are mostly young women and children," Madras's police commissioner, K Natarajan, told reporters.

There are at least 350 deaths in Tamil Nadu. There are requests from the Tamil Nadu government for helicopters to drop food," Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, deputed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to oversee rescue work, told Reuters.

(more at link)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/400-fishermen-feared-missing-in-south-India/2004/12/26/1103996428720.html?oneclick=true


Indonesia 8.9-Magnitude Quake Causes Asia Tidal Waves (Update4)
Dec. 26 (Bloomberg) -- An 8.9-magnitude earthquake, the fifth strongest in a century, struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra, unleashing giant tidal waves that killed hundreds of people across India and Southeast Asia.

The quake's magnitude was raised to 8.9 from 8.5 by the U.S. Geological Survey on its Web site. Nine aftershocks measuring between 5.8 and 7.3 spread across a zone from Sumatra to India's Andaman Island within four hours of the initial jolt, it said.

The earthquake and flash floods in Sumatra killed at least 60 people, the National Earthquake Center in Jakarta said. Tsunami waves killed at least 523 people in Sri Lanka, 100 in the Andamans and six in Malaysia, Agence France-Presse said. Other news agencies reported more than 200 people dead in southern India and 26 dead at beach resorts in southern Thailand. Thousands of people were reported missing across Southeast Asia.

(snip)

``I'm afraid the number is going to increase,'' Budi Waluyo, an official at the National Earthquake Center said of the death toll in Indonesia. ``We are having problems communicating with people there.''

(more at link)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aGlkf7Q9bYkA&refer=top_world_news

[htuttle]

10. Quake, Tsunami Hit South Asia, 1,500 Feared Dead

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20041226/wl_nm/quake_dc

COLOMBO (Reuters) - The world's fifth-largest quake in a century hit southern Asia on Sunday, triggering a speeding tsunami that crashed into Sri Lanka and India, drowning hundreds, and swamped tourist islands in Thailand and the Maldives.

A wall of water up to 10 meters (30 feet) high set off by the 8.9 magnitude earthquake swept into Indonesia, over the coast of Sri Lanka and India and along the southern Thai tourist island of Phuket, leaving at least 1,500 feared dead, officials said.

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

Sri Lanka, where officials feared the death toll would rise to 1,000, appealed for emergency international assistance, President Chandrika Kumaratunga's office said in a statement.

[htuttle]

11. More on the Maldives

(from the article linked above)

In the low-lying Maldives, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was to declare a national disaster in the archipelago whose coral atolls are a magnet for tourists from around the world, said chief government spokesman Ahmed Shaheed.

"The damage is considerable," Shaheed said. "The island is only about three feet (one meter) above sea level and a wave of water four feet high swept over us."

The international airport was unusable, he said.

"It is a very bad situation. It is terrible," Shaheed said.

"As you know it is the peak tourist season. We are trying to get reports from those areas. The whole of the Maldives is a tourist area so we are just hoping and praying."

[latteromden]

12. Yeah, CNN is now saying over 1,000. Wow. Last time I checked, they said

500. Now it's 1,000. Absolutely incredible. There's no stopping nature, I suppose.

[JCMach1]

13. Watching BBC coverage... the is REALLY BAD

Too early to say the number of dead... definitely well into the thousands before all is said and done.

They have already had massive aftershocks too (all the way to 7.1).

[malaise]

14. Disaster

thousands are dead in South East Asia. How sad.

[Moderator]

15. duplicate topic

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1098957