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Deaths Tolls Mount After Quakes, Tsunami 32 minutes ago,  World - AP Asia, By The Associated Press:

More than 7,000 people were reported dead across southern Asia, most killed by massive tidal waves that smashed coastlines after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake off the Indonesian coast Sunday morning, followed by reports of a 7.3 magnitude jolt in India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean.

Here is a breakdown of the toll so far:
_ Sri Lanka: About 3,000 are reported dead, and as many as 1 million displaced, police said. Massive tidal waves smash coastal villages.

_ India: Nearly 1,900 are reported dead, according to government officials. Huge waves left southern beaches strewn with bodies and flipped-over fishing boats and cars. Some flooding was reported.

_ Indonesia: At least 1,902 are reported dead, according to a health ministry officials. Towns were leveled and bodies wedged in trees by walls of water. Aceh province on Sumatra island — torn by separatist violence for years — was near the Indonesian quake's epicenter and was the hardest-hit part of the vast archipelago.

_ Thailand: Officials said 289 people died, 3,675 were injured and thousands were missing, mostly in idyllic southern islands packed with holiday revelers from around the world at the height of the tourist season. Swimmers were battered on coral reefs and sunbathers were swept out to sea.

_ Malaysia: At least 42 people, including an unknown number of foreign tourists, were dead, according to official reports. Tens of thousands were temporarily evacuated from hotels and apartments after the Indonesian quake was felt throughout peninsular Malaysia. No major damage was reported.

_ Bangladesh: After the Indonesian quake, a magnitude 7.36 temblor struck the southern port city of Chittagong. Tidal surges killed at least two children as a boat with about 15 tourists capsized. Reports said the quake was felt in the central, southern and western parts of the country, including the capital Dhaka.

_ Maldives: No deaths were confirmed, but much of this low-lying country of coral atolls off India's southwestern coast, a popular and expensive tourist destination, is reportedly inundated. The country's only international airport is closed.

The biggest humanitarian relief operation ever mounted was underway along Asia's devastated shores as the death toll from a massive earthquake and the tidal waves it unleashed was predicted to hit 45,000. With the scale of the catastrophe still unfolding the confirmed death toll passed 27,000 in nine countries -- but Indonesia warned that it alone could have suffered up to 20,000 more fatalities on top of its official figure of 4,725 deaths. Indonesia's Vice President Yusuf Kalla, who is in charge of coordinating relief efforts, said he estimated that "21,000 to 25,000 people" had been killed in Sunday's disaster.

The quake, the biggest in 40 years at 9.0 on the Richter scale, ruptured the Indian Ocean seabed off Indonesia's Sumatra island, sending huge waves thousands of kilometres (miles) to kill and destroy in countries around southern and southeast Asia and even in Africa.

savethehumans wrote:I often wonder if humans actually believed it when they thought they could control geological/geographic nature....

What fools these mortals be.

savethehumans wrote:I often wonder if humans actually believed it when they thought they could control geological/geographic nature....

smiley wrote:Put's 9/11 back into perspective, doesn't it.

In what way? The over-reaction of the American public?

smiley wrote:That makes me wonder whether we've got our priorities straight.