Massive Asian earthquake - are we next?

[jolog1]

(CNN) -- 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 thousands across five countries.

The quake, near the Indonesian island of Sumatra, triggered giant waves -- or tsunami -- that swept across the region.

Over 1,700 people in Sri Lanka were killed after tidal waves battered the country's eastern coast, according to Colombo police. Authorities fear the death toll there could rise.

At least 1,000 Indians were killed in India as a result of tidal waves which flooded the southern coast, Interior Minister Shivraj Patil said.

Thai authorities say nearly 250 have been killed as a result of tsunamis.

Eyewitnesses in the eastern Sri Lankan port city of Trincomalee reported waves as high as 40 feet, hitting inland as far as half a mile (1 km).

In addition, up to 200 fishermen are missing at sea off the coast of India, officials have told reporters.

Flash flooding in Indonesia has claimed almost 100 lives, and many more deaths are feared in Thailand after huge waves hit the popular tourist resort of Phuket. Government officials say Thailand's toll is already above 50.

At least 14 people are missing in Phuket, where witnesses described "walls of water" as high as 30 feet (10 meters), flooding the streets, absorbing taxi cabs and other vehicles.

One witness said Laguna Beach, where many of the island's major resort hotels are located, was "completely gone."

Thailand's government has evacuated 10,000 people from southern Thailand and declared a state of emergency. The death toll

Six deaths were also reported from Malaysia's Penang island.

The reports suggest the likely total death toll in the region is likely to exceed 1,000.

The quake prompted a series of powerful aftershocks and tidal waves in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia's Sumatra Island, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center.

The death toll has reached 94 in Indonesia's Aceh province after flooding from the earthquake hit the region, hospital and local officials told AP.

Malaysia's official Bernama news agency said a tsunami that struck Penang island killed six people.

The initial quake, measuring 8.5 in magnitude, struck off the western coast of Sumatra around 7 a.m. local time (7 p.m. ET) and was followed by at least six moderate to strong aftershocks in the following hours.

The 8.5 quake is the strongest temblor to hit since 1965, according to geophysicist Julie Martinez with the NEIC, which monitors worldwide earthquakes.

In Indonesia's restive Aceh province, early radio reports said nine people died in a flash flood following the earthquake.

"I saw four bodies of kids and five bodies of adults," one resident identified as Mustofa told El Shinta radio, agencies reported. But the toll quickly rose during the day to be near 100.

CNN correspondent Aneesh Raman in Bangkok said eye-witnesses spoke of a "wall of water" bearing down on the beachfronts of the popular resort of Phuket as at least two waves struck.

Raman said Thai officials were evacuating 10,000 people from the area, and there reportedly was "untold devastation".

In India, dead and missing were reported from three coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh state, Chief Secretary Mohan Kanda told reporters.

Te Indian prime minister's office told CNN that the toll was at least 100, while Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran said the figure was at least 300.

He said the missing fishermen were out in the sea when the tidal wave hit the area. "I have alerted the administration in nine of Andhra Pradesh's 23 districts," Kanda said, AP reported.

Thousands of people fled their homes in the Aceh provincial capital Banda Aceh when the tremor struck, the official Antara news agency said.

Residents in North Sumatra's capital, Medan, reported a strong tremor that caused panic among residents.

"It was quite strong. We ran out of our houses but we're now back inside," said one resident.

The tremor could be felt as far away as India, 1,400 kilometers from the quake center.

An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale rattled Indonesia's eastern Papua province in November, killing 29 people in the coastal town of Nabire.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands, lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire where plate boundaries intersect and volcanoes regularly erupt.

[ILuvDetailing]

Wow... 8.9 magnitude according to CNN. Lets pray for all the victims.

[kingkaboodles]

hmm... sunod-sunod ah.. parang apocalypse.

sana naman di na tayo masunod at kakatapos lang nang nangyari sa quezon.

[squala]

Wag naman sana lumindol dito. What we need is a change in government.

[odell]

wag na muna.. nagkasunod sunod na ang calamities dito sa atin.. dahan dahan naman...

[theveed]

Umm... anong connection ng government sa natural disaster?

[woodfire]

oo nga naman, anong connection ng earthquake sa gobyerno? sounds "non-sequitur" to me, hehehe!

[Monseratto]

Buti walang tumama na tsunami sa Mindanao. Yung dating earthquake dun noong 70's also cost a lot of death due to tsunami. Usually pakalat yung tsunami galing epicenter.

[Monseratto]

Wag naman sana lumindol dito. What we need is a change in government.

Sobrang hangover sa libing ni FPJ

[bilog]

let's just pray that we be spared from calamities. not this soon.

[benchph1]

lets be thankful that we did not get hit by those tsunamis..

[fredds]

Nasa "jack-up" drilling rig ako nung lumindol kahapon 8am local time. Kahit nasa eastern side (120 mi offshore) kami ng thailand na feel pa rin namin at least intensity 5. The whole drilling rig was shaking for at least 5 minutes. Thank God at di nagkaron ng tidal waves dito, otherwise I could not emagine the devastating effect.

[Monseratto]

Indian Ocean side nangyari, paano kung sa South China Sea?

[fredds]

Kung sa south china sea nangyari yung ganon kalakas, the whole countries around it including our very own will be affected by the tremor and huge tidal waves. Imagine this, the 9.5 earthquake in Alaska (years back) sent huge tidal waves as far as japan and Hawaii.

[BlueBimmer]

thats so scary..mother nature is mad...

[van_wilder]

sana naman wag tayo...

[Quiller]

Ang taas na ng death toll... i'm sorry for the countries which were hit, pero buti na lang di tayo damay...

Death toll from Asian quake, tidal waves rises to 7,428 Updated 01:18am (Mla time) Dec 27, 2004
Agence France-Presse
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- The death toll from an earthquake off Indonesia Sunday and tsunamis that it unleashed reached 7,428 with officials reporting deaths in seven countries in southern and southeastern Asia.
Sri Lanka was hard hit with 3,225 people confirmed dead, 1,600 injured and many more missing, the military and Tamil Tiger rebels said.

Almost 2,000 people were killed in southern India, with the chief minister of Tamil Nadu announcing 1,567 in her state alone.

In Indonesia at least 1,878 people were confirmed dead when the quake and tidal waves hit the island of Sumatra, the health ministry told AFP.

In southern Thailand at least 279 people were killed, including foreign tourists at famous seaside resorts, and 5,000 injured, officials said.

In Malaysia at least 29 people were drowned and many others were missing, officials said.

A British tourist and 14 other people died in the low-lying Maldives, officials and residents said.

In Bangladesh a father and child were killed after a tourist boat capsized from large waves, local officials said.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake registered west of the Indonesian island of Sumatra measured 8.9 on the Richter scale.

Death toll:
Sri Lanka: 3,225
India: 2,000
Indonesia: 1,878
Thailand: 279
Malaysia: 29
Maldives: 15
Bangladesh: 2
Total: 7,428

[fredds]

Tumataas pa ang death toll. Let's pray to the Lord Almighty na sana wag mangyari sa atin ito.

Latest update on the BBC as of 02:50 GMT 27 December 04:

More than 12,000 people are known to have died after a massive underwater earthquake sent giant waves crashing into coastlines across southern Asia.
Global aid teams have joined the effort to find the thousands still missing and to bring help to the hurt and homeless.
The toll from the disaster is set to spiral in the worst-hit areas of Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and Thailand.
The 9.0 magnitude quake - the worst in the world for 40 years - struck under the Indian Ocean off western Indonesia.
It generated a wall of water that sped across thousands of kilometres of sea.
Earlier readings by the US Geological Survey had given a magnitude of 8.9 for the quake but this was raised after further tests.
More than 4,440 died in Indonesia, 4,500 in Sri Lanka and 3,200 in India.
Casualty figures are rising over a wide area, including resorts in Sri Lanka and Thailand packed with holidaymakers.

DISASTER TOLL
Sri Lanka: 4,500 dead
Indonesia: 4,440 dead
India: 3,200 dead
Thailand: 380 dead
Malaysia: 42 dead
Maldives: 32 dead
Bangladesh: 2 dead

Exact numbers of people killed, injured or missing in the countries hit, are impossible to confirm.
Hundreds are still thought to be missing from coastal regions. in Sri Lanka alone, officials say more than a million people have been forced from their homes.

[BlueBimmer]

so many tragedies this holiday season...we are so lucky we can enjoy christmas without problems..

[jojo_mouth2]

lets just pray it will not happen sa pinas! dagdag problema na naman ng gobyerno yan!!!