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Massive tsunami kills 150,000+ in Asia

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8.9 on the richter scale, worlds largest in 40 years, 5th largest since 1900.
Story from CTV.ca

Tidal waves kill more than 3,300 in Asia
Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia â ” The world's most powerful earthquake in 40 years triggered massive waves that slammed into villages and seaside resorts across Asia on Sunday, killing more than 3,200 people in five countries.

Tourists, fishermen, homes and cars were swept away by walls of water up to six metres high unleashed by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake, centred off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

A police spokesman in Sri Lanka said 1,677 people were killed in that country. Officials in India reported 1,000 dead. More than 400 were reported killed in Indonesia, 158 in Thailand and 25 in Malaysia. Hundreds were reported missing, and the death toll was expected to rise.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at a magnitude of 8.9. Geophysicist Julie Martinez said it was the world's fifth-largest since 1900 and the largest since a 9.2 temblor hit Prince William Sound Alaska in 1964.

The effects of Sunday's quake rippled across the region, as towns were crushed by floodwater from tsunamis -- seismic waves that are commonly known as tidal waves -- and helpless fishermen were swept out to sea.

In Sri Lanka -- some 1,600 kilometres west of the quake's epicentre -- police spokesman Rienzie Perera said 1,677 had died. Some one million others were displaced by the waters.

"The death toll is going up all the time. Two hours back it was 1,000, one hour back it was 1,300 and now I am told it is climbing to 1,500,'' said Lalith Weerathunga, secretary to the prime minister.

An Associated Press photographer near Colombo, Sri Lanka, counted 24 bodies in a stretch of six kilometres. Rows of men and women stood on the road asking whether anyone had seen their family members.

Monster waves in southern India killed about 1,000 people, mostly in Tamil Nadu state, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said. Beaches were turned into virtual open-air mortuaries, with bodies of people caught in the waves being washed ashore.

"I was shocked to see innumerable fishing boats flying on the shoulder of the waves, going back and forth into the sea, as if made of paper,'' said P. Ramanamurthy, 40, who lives in Andra Pradesh's Kakinada town. "I had never imagined anything like this could happen.''

Cabinet Secretary B. K. Chaturvedi told reporters that the Indian air force would drop food packets, medicines and diesel generating sets in the affected areas.

Near the quake's epicentre, in Indonesia, officials said the death toll was 400.

Communications were down in several coastal towns nearest to the undersea quake off the western coast of the island's Aceh Province, raising fears of widespread and as yet unreported damage.

"The ground was shaking for a long time,'' resident Yayan Zamzani told Jakarta's el-Shinta radio station.

Thousands of people abandoned their homes and headed for higher ground after the earthquake. At least one Indonesian village, Lancuk, was nearly destroyed, witnesses said. An Associated Press reporter in the village saw several bodies wedged in trees.

Some 158 people died in popular southern Thailand resorts, the Narenthorn Centre of the Public Health Ministry reported. The centre said people were swept away in Phuket by a tsunami with five-metre waves.

More than 1,900 were injured and many others were missing.

Huge waves crashed into beaches, where thousands of tourists were lazing on the country's renowned white sand beaches when the earthquake struck. Hundreds of bungalows, boats and cars were carried out to sea.

Police and rescue workers in Malaysia said 15 people were killed. Tens of thousands of people were temporarily evacuated from high-rise hotels and apartments in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and other cities after most of peninsular Malaysia felt tremors caused by the quake.

Foreign Affairs officials in Ottawa said they have not received any word of Canadian casualties, but added Canadian diplomats in the region were still trying to gather information on the disaster.

Indonesia, a country of 17,000 islands, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the margins of tectonic plates that make up the so-called the "Ring of Fire'' around the Pacific Ocean basin.

The Indonesian quake struck just three days after an 8.1 quake struck the ocean floor between Australia and Antarctica, causing buildings to shake hundreds of kilometres away but no serious damage or injury.

Quakes reaching a magnitude 8 are very rare. A quake registering magnitude 8 rocked Japan's northern island of Hokkaido on Sept. 25, 2003, injuring nearly 600 people. An 8.4 magnitude tremor that stuck off the coast of Peru on June 23, 2001, killed 74.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1104066217280_57/?hub=TopStories
 
unfortunately the death toll was just raised to 5600 with notes saying it is expected to raise again,
sad day,
 
From the CBC News site:

8.9 magnitude quake, massive waves kill thousands in Asia
Last Updated Sun, 26 Dec 2004 10:11:20 EST

COLOMBO - About 7,000 people are reported dead after a strong Indian Ocean earthquake triggered massive tidal waves in Sri Lanka, southern India, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
 
eerie that it was a year ago today that the Iranian city of Bam was devistated by a huge earthquake... what was the death toll from that one?  I think it was up around 10,000 people.

I have a feeling this disaster will easily double it.

Sad day. 
 
This is the link for anybody who wants to read it for themselves: http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2004/12/26/quake041226.html
 
Just watched some of the very disturbing video of the death and destruction, unbelievable.
Death toll now at 12,000 confirmed with thousands more expected.
Lets hope the world can get together and help out as much as humanly possible.
 
when i was watching a news show ( i think it was BBC, i may be wrong) an expert in earthquakes was being interviewed and noted some facts on Tsunamis:

-it takes an earthquake of over 7.0 richter to initiate one (the initial quake was 8.9, the first aftershock was 7.0/7.2)
-3 signs to an oncoming tsunami: Shaking of the earth, fast withdrawl of the water from the coast/beaches (kinda like somebody pulled the plug at the bottom of the ocean),and finally an extremely loud blast sound,
-from that point you have 5-10 minutes to get the heck out of there,
-swells today were reported from 6-15 meters high (from what ive heard so far, could be more, 100m waives were said to be able to occur)


also
-Largest Earthquake in 40 years
-5th largest Earthquake since 1900

 
Quote,
-from that point you have 5-10 minutes to get the heck out of there,

..the fact it can travel at 800 Km per hour and can go more than a Km inland means......no time.
 
sorry, that should read 5-10 mins from the time of the shaking,

im just drawing from the news report, if hes wrong hes wrong

i found the "Fact Sheet: Tsunamis" from the Federal Emergency Management Agency http://www.fema.gov/hazards/tsunamis/tsunamif.shtm

Quote from article:
"Stay away from the beach.
Never go down to the beach to watch a tsunami come in. If you can see the wave you are too close to escape it.
"
 
Terrible news to hear considering that its Christmas time. Supposedly the waves were 12 meters high and swept inland for a kilometer in certain areas.
 
>
BREAKING NEWS

Tsunami death toll climbs to 20,000 as fear of disease grows in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Details soon.

News ticker on CNN  :'(
 
23,000 plus now. :(  Hopefully the international aid arrives quickly, so they can save as many people as possible.

Just a note to Sheerin's statement about the earthquake in Iran last year.  The deathtoll was actually closer to 50,000 rather then 10,000

rip
 
I stand corrected - thanks for pointing that out.

I wonder what, or more accurately, if the CF will deploy to help?  I also saw that Martin has pledged a generous 1 million dollars to help... they didn't say if that was in money or supplies...

 
We have a friend who is visiting Sri Lanka over Christmas. Her brother moved his clothing factory from Australia to Sri Lanka a few years back. No one has heard from her yet.

The surge was so big, it also reached the Cocos Islands, and as far as Perth WA, Australia.

The RAAF has disptached some C130J's from Sydney, full of bottled water and other aid, and our govt has pleged $10,000,000 in relief.

Fox now says 24,000 killed. 6 Australians now confirmed killed in Thailand. This includes a 6 month old baby girl from WA, who was swept from her dad's arms by the water, a 3 yr old girl from WA, an 81 yr old woman from WA, and a 15 yr old handicapped boy from Melbourne. At least 10 others are missing.


Wes
 
Toll from killer waves nears 24,000
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2004/12/27/newer-tsunami041226.html

This article also contains information on how many Canadians are dead/missing or hospitilized in each affected country.
 
Another 3 million dollars has been pledged by Canada, total is 4million now, with more said to come

from CTV.ca article
Defence Minister Bill Graham says Canada is donating an additional $3 million in tsunami and earthquake relief as Canadians scrambled to make contact with their friends and family in the affected regions.

This brings Canada's donation to a total of $4 million. The money is going to the International Red Cross and Canadian NGOs.

"This is an immediate response, it's not the last," Graham said during a Monday news conference.

full article can be found here: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1104182657868_18/?hub=TopStories
 
I guess Graham hasn't completely left foreign affairs yet... can't imagine why else the defence minister would be talking about foreign aid spending.

This is the kind of thing you wish would never happen. I truly hope the number stops climbing.   :'(
 
I know this is a horrible thread to bring it up over, but I can't help but notice that Canada can somehow just "throw" 4 million out to help other nations but won't and apparently CAN'T increase our defense budget by even $1 million...  >:(

 
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