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JAKARTA (AFP) - As many as 11,460 people were killed and thousands more were missing after the most powerful earthquake for 40 years triggered giant tidal waves that slammed into coastal areas across Asia.
Sunday's quake, the fifth largest ever recorded measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale, struck in the Indian Ocean off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, unleashing tsunamis that hit Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar and Malaysia.
Terrifying walls of water up to 10 metres (33 feet) high were reported in many areas, roaring ashore with bewildering speed, sweeping people off beaches, flattening hotels and homes, uprooting trees and overturning cars.
In Indonesia at least 4,185 people were killed as the country took the full force of a huge earthquake and tidal waves that swallowed entire coastal villages, the health ministry said late Sunday.
Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared the earthquake a "national disaster", state media said, adding a relief effort would be co-ordinated from the Sumatran city of Medan.
Large numbers of children were reported to be among the victims in India and Sri Lanka, along with many foreign tourists who had flocked to idyllic resorts in Southeast Asia for the Christmas holidays.
South Asia was the worst hit region, with nearly 7,000 deaths reported across Sri Lanka and India and thousands missing.
The Sri Lankan government declared a state of disaster as at least 4,300 people, including many children and the elderly, were killed on the island.
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who is in London, was expected to cut short her holiday and return home, a spokesman for her office said, adding she was also appealing for international help.
Indian officials said at least 2,606 people were killed and hundreds more feared dead across south India and the Andaman Islands.
There were scenes of mayhem in Tamil Nadu state, where scores of villages were under water, local television footage showed bodies being loaded into ambulances. In Madras, the morgues at government hospitals were overflowing with bodies, witnesses told AFP.
Thai officials said meanwhile at least 310 people were killed and more than 5,000 injured in the south of the country.
The nation's top beach attractions were among the worst-hit as waves swept scores of people out to sea, drowned snorkellers, sank boats and shattered buildings along the coast.
The popular resort of Phuket and the idyllic island of Phi Phi were devastated by the huge waters.
Monster waves crashed down onto beaches and crushed holiday bungalows after the first of a series of waves hit just before 10:00am (0300 GMT), according to officials and rescuers.
Phuket's major beach town, Patong, was flooded and all shops, kiosks and hotels along the beach were damaged. Some were washed away by the waters that carried away debris and tourist "tuk-tuk" taxis.
A senior police official said up to 50 people were killed on Phi Phi 40 kilometres off the western Andaman coast, where huts on the exposed beach were swept away.
In Malaysia, 42 people, including many elderly and children, were drowned and many others were missing after tidal waves hit two resort islands, officials said.
The Maldivian government in a statement said there were several casualties, but gave no details.
Governments and aid organisations around the world offered messages of sympathy and scrambled to pledge aid to nations affected by the tragedy.
With the death toll rising inexorably, authorities offered immediate help in terms of food, shelter and medicines.
Echoing pleas by Asian leaders, Pope John Paul II urged the international community to rush aid to the affected populations.
The United States offered to provide aid to Asian nations hit by huge tidal waves that killed thousands of people as President George W. Bush extended his condolences on the "terrible loss of life and suffering."
Closest to the affected areas, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf called for "swift and concerted" international efforts, and the foreign ministry said it would send a consignment of relief goods comprising tents, medicines and water to Sri Lanka.
The European Commission said it was providing immediate emergency aid of three million euros (four million dollars) for victims to meet "initial vital needs," and that more substantial aid would be provided later.
"The needs are enormous," EU development and humanitarian aid commissioner Louis Michel said.
The international Red Cross and Red Crescent organisations launched a five million euro (6.7 million dollar) relief aid appeal.
Reports differed on the exact location and size of the quake.
The US Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center initially put the tremor at 8.5 but revised it upwards to 8.9, while the Strasbourg Observatory in France said the tremor hit 8.1 and was located north of Sumatra.
Jakarta's Meteorology and Geophysics Office put the quake at 6.8 saying it was centered in the Indian Ocean about 149 kilometres (92.38 miles) south of Meulaboh, a town on the western coast of Aceh.
The tremors were felt as far away as the Thai capital Bangkok, about 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) north of the epicenter, where buildings swayed but no serious damage was reported.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 18,000 islands, lies on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" noted for its volcanic and seismic activity, and is one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions.
Lying at the collision point of three tectonic plates results in frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions as pressure between the massive segments of the Earth's crust is released.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/041226/19/sc77.html
:o shit is all i can really say!!!