Science - AFP
Over 4,000 dead as huge earthquake triggers destruction across Asia
COLOMBO (AFP) - Over 4,000 people were killed and thousands more were missing after the most powerful earthquake in 40 years rocked Indonesia, triggering giant tidal waves that slammed into coastlines across Asia.
The quake, the fifth largest ever recorded measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale, struck in the Indian Ocean off Aceh province on Sumatra island, unleashing tsunamis that hit Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar and Malaysia.
The huge quake struck a year to the day after a quake in the Iranian city of Bam killed over 30,000 people.
Terrifying walls of water up to 10 metres (33 feet) high were reported in many areas, roaring ashore with bewildering speed, sweeping people off beaches, flattening hotels and homes, uprooting trees and overturning cars.
Children playing beach cricket were reported to be among the victims in India, along with many foreign tourists who had flocked to idyllic resorts in Southeast Asia for the Christmas holidays.
South Asia was the worst hit region, with more than 3,100 deaths reported across Sri Lanka and India, a figure that was expected to rise sharply as communications are restored to areas isolated by the catastrophe.
The Sri Lankan government declared a state of disaster as at least 2,134 people were killed after huge waves that battered the country's eastern and southern coastlines.
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who is in London, was expected to cut short her holiday and return home, a spokesman for her office said, adding she was also appealing for international help.
Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil told the Press Trust of India around 1,000 people were dead in south India.
There were scenes of mayhem in India's 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 told AFP.
In Indonesia, government officials said 721 people had been killed but warned they expected the death toll to rise substantially.
Thailand officials said meanwhile at least 168 people were killed and 2,008 were injured in the south of the country.
"As of 6pm (1100 GMT) the figure compiled from the state hospitals show that 168 are dead, both Thai and foreigners and 2,008 injured," Surachet Satitniramai, head of the ministry's emergency operations centre, said.
A police officer in Phuket said at least six of the dead were foreigners who drowned on Karon beach on the island's west coast.
In Malaysia, 29 people were drowned and many others were missing after tidal waves hit two resort islands Sunday, officials said.
The Indian Ocean tourist paradise of the Maldives was hit by tidal waves, inundating low-lying islands. A British tourist died of a heart attack as the waves hit his resort, washing away 50 "water cabanas" built on stilts.
The Maldivian government in a statement said there were several casualties, but gave no details. The situation of tens of thousands of other tourists in the Maldives was not immediately known.
In Indonesia, authorities said they expected the death toll to rise as villagers scoured the coast for others missing since the giant waves swept along northern Aceh province.
"According to villagers whom I talked to, the waves were up to 10 meters in height," Mustofa Gelanggang, the head of Aceh's Bireuen district told AFP.
"The wave swept all settlements on the coast, and most houses, on stilts and made of wood, were either swept away or destroyed."
Aceh, a region currently closed off to foreign media and aid agencies due to a long-running separatist conflict, saw unconfirmed reports of casualties, with buildings including a mosque and a hotel collapsing.
A police spokesman in the Sumatran region of Aceh, said in his district there were 378 dead, while other parts of the province reported updated fatality figures.
The tragedy prompted swift offers of relief assistance from the international community.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf called for a "swift and concerted" international effort to deal with the disaster.
Musharraf expressed his profound shock over the severity and destruction of the earthquakes and offered Pakistan's help in "containing and mitigating the widespread suffering."
Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II meanwhile said he was "saddened" by the "huge tragedy".
"The Christmas festival is marred by sadness over news from Southeast Asia which was hit by a massive earthquake that struck Indonesia with consequences for Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and the Maldives," the pontiff said.
"We pray for the victims of this huge tragedy and we hope that the world community will mobilize to rush aid to the affected populations," he added.
Reports differed on the the exact location and size of the quake.
The US Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center initially put the tremor at 8.5 but revised it upwards to 8.9, while the Strasbourg Observatory in France said the tremor hit 8.0 and was located north of Sumatra.
Jakarta's Meteorology and Geophysics Office put the quake at 6.8 saying it was centered in the Indian Ocean some 149 kilometer (92.38 miles) south of Meulaboh, a town on the western coast of Aceh.
The tremors were felt as far away as the Thai capital Bangkok, some 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) north of the epicenter, where buildings swayed but no serious damage was reported.
Guests of a high-rise hotel reported chandeliers swinging, according to a manager of the city's Conrad Hotel, while the Charoen Krung Pracha Rak Hospital evacuated all 400 of its patients as a precaution.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 18,000 islands, lies on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" noted for its volcanic and seismic activity, and is one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions.
Lying at the collision point of three tectonic plates results in frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions as pressure between the massive segments of the Earth's crust is released.
Over 4,000 dead as huge earthquake triggers destruction across Asia
COLOMBO (AFP) - Over 4,000 people were killed and thousands more were missing after the most powerful earthquake in 40 years rocked Indonesia, triggering giant tidal waves that slammed into coastlines across Asia.
The quake, the fifth largest ever recorded measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale, struck in the Indian Ocean off Aceh province on Sumatra island, unleashing tsunamis that hit Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar and Malaysia.
The huge quake struck a year to the day after a quake in the Iranian city of Bam killed over 30,000 people.
Terrifying walls of water up to 10 metres (33 feet) high were reported in many areas, roaring ashore with bewildering speed, sweeping people off beaches, flattening hotels and homes, uprooting trees and overturning cars.
Children playing beach cricket were reported to be among the victims in India, along with many foreign tourists who had flocked to idyllic resorts in Southeast Asia for the Christmas holidays.
South Asia was the worst hit region, with more than 3,100 deaths reported across Sri Lanka and India, a figure that was expected to rise sharply as communications are restored to areas isolated by the catastrophe.
The Sri Lankan government declared a state of disaster as at least 2,134 people were killed after huge waves that battered the country's eastern and southern coastlines.
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who is in London, was expected to cut short her holiday and return home, a spokesman for her office said, adding she was also appealing for international help.
Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil told the Press Trust of India around 1,000 people were dead in south India.
There were scenes of mayhem in India's 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 told AFP.
In Indonesia, government officials said 721 people had been killed but warned they expected the death toll to rise substantially.
Thailand officials said meanwhile at least 168 people were killed and 2,008 were injured in the south of the country.
"As of 6pm (1100 GMT) the figure compiled from the state hospitals show that 168 are dead, both Thai and foreigners and 2,008 injured," Surachet Satitniramai, head of the ministry's emergency operations centre, said.
A police officer in Phuket said at least six of the dead were foreigners who drowned on Karon beach on the island's west coast.
In Malaysia, 29 people were drowned and many others were missing after tidal waves hit two resort islands Sunday, officials said.
The Indian Ocean tourist paradise of the Maldives was hit by tidal waves, inundating low-lying islands. A British tourist died of a heart attack as the waves hit his resort, washing away 50 "water cabanas" built on stilts.
The Maldivian government in a statement said there were several casualties, but gave no details. The situation of tens of thousands of other tourists in the Maldives was not immediately known.
In Indonesia, authorities said they expected the death toll to rise as villagers scoured the coast for others missing since the giant waves swept along northern Aceh province.
"According to villagers whom I talked to, the waves were up to 10 meters in height," Mustofa Gelanggang, the head of Aceh's Bireuen district told AFP.
"The wave swept all settlements on the coast, and most houses, on stilts and made of wood, were either swept away or destroyed."
Aceh, a region currently closed off to foreign media and aid agencies due to a long-running separatist conflict, saw unconfirmed reports of casualties, with buildings including a mosque and a hotel collapsing.
A police spokesman in the Sumatran region of Aceh, said in his district there were 378 dead, while other parts of the province reported updated fatality figures.
The tragedy prompted swift offers of relief assistance from the international community.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf called for a "swift and concerted" international effort to deal with the disaster.
Musharraf expressed his profound shock over the severity and destruction of the earthquakes and offered Pakistan's help in "containing and mitigating the widespread suffering."
Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II meanwhile said he was "saddened" by the "huge tragedy".
"The Christmas festival is marred by sadness over news from Southeast Asia which was hit by a massive earthquake that struck Indonesia with consequences for Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and the Maldives," the pontiff said.
"We pray for the victims of this huge tragedy and we hope that the world community will mobilize to rush aid to the affected populations," he added.
Reports differed on the the exact location and size of the quake.
The US Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center initially put the tremor at 8.5 but revised it upwards to 8.9, while the Strasbourg Observatory in France said the tremor hit 8.0 and was located north of Sumatra.
Jakarta's Meteorology and Geophysics Office put the quake at 6.8 saying it was centered in the Indian Ocean some 149 kilometer (92.38 miles) south of Meulaboh, a town on the western coast of Aceh.
The tremors were felt as far away as the Thai capital Bangkok, some 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) north of the epicenter, where buildings swayed but no serious damage was reported.
Guests of a high-rise hotel reported chandeliers swinging, according to a manager of the city's Conrad Hotel, while the Charoen Krung Pracha Rak Hospital evacuated all 400 of its patients as a precaution.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 18,000 islands, lies on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" noted for its volcanic and seismic activity, and is one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions.
Lying at the collision point of three tectonic plates results in frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions as pressure between the massive segments of the Earth's crust is released.
