Jacelyn • Filed under: Thoughts • 9:19 pm •

A huge undersea quake triggered sea surges killing at least 26,000 people, with thousands more feared dead.
Millions of people are homeless, and the disaster zone is now threatened with outbreaks of disease.
Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India and Thailand were among the worst hit by Sunday’s 9.0 magnitude earthquake, which sent huge waves from Malaysia to Africa.
The extent of the disaster in some remote regions is not yet known but, as rescue workers discover more bodies, the true extent of the tsunami’s devastation is becoming clearer:

- The bodies of more than 700 mainly foreign tourists have been found in the Thai resort of Khao Lak - the government says the death toll in Thailand may rise to about 2,000.
- Sri Lanka’s government says it believes the number of dead there could rise to 20,000.
- Hundreds of bodies are still strewn around the devastated streets of Banda Aceh, capital of the Indonesian province of Aceh.

- Fears are growing for the 40,000 residents of Meulaboh town on Sumatra’s west coast, one of the areas closest to the quake’s epicentre. Aerial surveillance shows little sign of life there.
- About 7,000 people are feared dead in the low-lying Andaman and Nicobar islands, say Indian officials, with 20% of the population on one island, Car Nicobar, believed killed.
In Sri Lanka alone, more than one million people are displaced and aid workers are under pressure to ensure they have clean water and sanitation to prevent an outbreak of disease.

The local UN agency has opened up its relief stockpiles, but the BBC’s Roland Buerk says there is little sign as yet of aid supplies in the south-west town of Galle.
People in both Sri Lanka and in Indonesia have been scrambling through mud and ruins looking for food and water, correspondents report.
Mr Egeland said hundreds of planes carrying emergency aid would be airborne over the next couple of days.

Flights carrying emergency supplies from nine countries, including Britain, France and the US, were due to arrive in Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
Coastal communities across South Asia - and more than 4,000 km away in Africa - were swept away and homes engulfed by waves up to 10m high after the quake created a tsunami that sped across the ocean.

Many of the victims had no warning. Fishermen were swept off boats, and tourists were washed from the beaches.
Sunday’s tremor - the fourth strongest since 1900 - had a particularly widespread effect because it seems to have taken place just below the surface of the ocean, analysts say.
Tsunamis generated by earthquakes can travel at up to 500km/h.

Confirmed Death Toll
Sri Lanka: 13,000 dead
Indonesia: 7,000 dead
India: 4,371 dead
Thailand: 1,400 dead
Maldives: 52 dead
Malaysia: 44 dead
Burma: 30 dead
Bangladesh: 2 dead
Somalia: 100 dead
Kenya: 1 dead
Seychelles: 3 dead
Tanzania: 10 dead
Damn huge numbers
Shivers. Pity the victims
Heartbreaking…
Taken from BBC.