Double-check any plans to visit coastal cities on the eastern shores of South Asia:
The world’s most powerful earthquake in 40 years rocked northern Indonesia on Sunday and launched tidal waves that swamped villages and seaside resorts across Asia, killing more than 700 people in five countries….Waves crashed into coastal villages over a wide area of Sri Lanka — some 1,000 miles west of the quake’s epicenter — killing some 300 people and displacing thousands of others, said military spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayake. Parts of the northeastern districts of Muttur and Trincomalee were inundated by waves as high as 20 feet, said D. Rodrigo, a Muttur district official.
In India, beaches were turned into virtual open mortuaries with bodies of people caught in the tidal wave being washed ashore. At least 150 were recovered around the coastal town of Cuddalore, said deputy Superintendent of police K. Panniselvan. Some 100 others were found around Madras, the capital of Tamil Nadu… Thirty-six were killed in neighboring Andhra Pradesh…
More at Reuters AlertNet.
eyewitness account from a reporter here.
I want to cry.
Also have not heard from my friends in Indonesia yet. I hope that they are allright.
thats so sad,some news websites are reporting more than 1500 deaths in indonesia and around 1000 deaths in south india.. specially coastal areas of south india are the areas where farmers rely on agriculture for their daily meals,their crops will be destroyed too along with loss of human lives..hope we all can donate money if they have storm relief fund raisers and help them out…so so sad.. If u are still in india take care Manish..
This is awful. It’s almost impossible to imagine something like this is real. Andrea, I hope you hear from you friends soon.
Please link to and pass around this URL: http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com/. It’s a blog where a few Indian bloggers are trying to put together information about aid efforts, donation methods, volunteer efforts and other information. If any of you would like to help us with this, please add comments on that blog, or send me mail (zigzackly AT gmail DOT com) and i will send you a blogger invitation.
Thank you for your time,
peter griffin