JustSkye
Gatinha
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2003
- Posts
- 45,535
Asian Quake, Tsunami Death Toll Approaches 9,500
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - One of the most powerful earthquakes in history hit southern Asia Sunday, unleashing a tsunami on Sri Lanka and India and swamping tourist isles in Thailand and the Maldives to kill almost 9,500 people.
The tsunami -- a menacing wall of water -- caused death, chaos and devastation across southern Asia. The tsunami, up to 30 feet high, was triggered by an 8.9 magnitude underwater earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Emergency services were stretched throughout the region popular with Western tourists flying east for Christmas sunshine. Some areas were totally unprepared and the tourists found themselves flung into the jaws of disaster.
In Sri Lanka, where the death toll was nearly 2,500, corpses floated in floodwaters, while thousands fled their homes and cars floated out to sea. Idyllic beaches were turned into fields of debris and destruction.
"I think this is the worst-ever natural disaster in Sri Lanka," N.D. Hettiarachchi, director of the National Disaster Management Center, said.
The worst-hit area appeared to be the tourist region of the south and east where beach hotels were inundated or swept away.
In Indonesia, where 2,437 people were listed as killed, raging waters dragged villagers out to sea and tore children from their parents' arms.
Officials and local media said the death toll from the quake and water was nearly 9,500.
Wailing relatives gathered around bodies in the south of India, where the death toll was more than 1,870. Beaches were littered with submerged cars and wrecked boats. Shanties on the coast of Madras, where 100 died, were under water.
"The whole area has been turned into a cemetery," Chellappa, a 55-year-old fisherman in Madras, said.
"This is one of the largest earthquakes ever on record," Peter Rees, of the International Federation of the Red Cross in Geneva, told CNN television, adding: "The situation in Sri Lanka ... is extremely serious."
"I just couldn't believe what was happening before my eyes," Boree Carlsson told Reuters from a hotel 500 meters (yards) from Phuket's Patong beach in Thailand. "As I was standing there, a car actually floated into the lobby and overturned because the current was so strong," said the 45-year-old Swede.
"Nothing like this has ever happened in our country before," said Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand where the death toll was 257.
The earthquake of magnitude 8.9 as measured by the U.S. Geological Survey (news - web sites) struck at 7:59 a.m. off Sumatra and swung north with multiple tremors into the Andaman islands.
Pope John Paul (news - web sites) said the enormous tragedy made for a sad Christmas.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20041226/ts_nm/quake_dc
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - One of the most powerful earthquakes in history hit southern Asia Sunday, unleashing a tsunami on Sri Lanka and India and swamping tourist isles in Thailand and the Maldives to kill almost 9,500 people.
The tsunami -- a menacing wall of water -- caused death, chaos and devastation across southern Asia. The tsunami, up to 30 feet high, was triggered by an 8.9 magnitude underwater earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Emergency services were stretched throughout the region popular with Western tourists flying east for Christmas sunshine. Some areas were totally unprepared and the tourists found themselves flung into the jaws of disaster.
In Sri Lanka, where the death toll was nearly 2,500, corpses floated in floodwaters, while thousands fled their homes and cars floated out to sea. Idyllic beaches were turned into fields of debris and destruction.
"I think this is the worst-ever natural disaster in Sri Lanka," N.D. Hettiarachchi, director of the National Disaster Management Center, said.
The worst-hit area appeared to be the tourist region of the south and east where beach hotels were inundated or swept away.
In Indonesia, where 2,437 people were listed as killed, raging waters dragged villagers out to sea and tore children from their parents' arms.
Officials and local media said the death toll from the quake and water was nearly 9,500.
Wailing relatives gathered around bodies in the south of India, where the death toll was more than 1,870. Beaches were littered with submerged cars and wrecked boats. Shanties on the coast of Madras, where 100 died, were under water.
"The whole area has been turned into a cemetery," Chellappa, a 55-year-old fisherman in Madras, said.
"This is one of the largest earthquakes ever on record," Peter Rees, of the International Federation of the Red Cross in Geneva, told CNN television, adding: "The situation in Sri Lanka ... is extremely serious."
"I just couldn't believe what was happening before my eyes," Boree Carlsson told Reuters from a hotel 500 meters (yards) from Phuket's Patong beach in Thailand. "As I was standing there, a car actually floated into the lobby and overturned because the current was so strong," said the 45-year-old Swede.
"Nothing like this has ever happened in our country before," said Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand where the death toll was 257.
The earthquake of magnitude 8.9 as measured by the U.S. Geological Survey (news - web sites) struck at 7:59 a.m. off Sumatra and swung north with multiple tremors into the Andaman islands.
Pope John Paul (news - web sites) said the enormous tragedy made for a sad Christmas.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20041226/ts_nm/quake_dc
