Heavy Earthquake in Asia

[kavoven 4]

There was a heavy earthquake in south Asia. 8.9 on the Richter scale.

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CNN) -- The world's most powerful earthquake in 40 years triggered massive tidal waves that slammed into villages and seaside resorts across Asia on Sunday, killing thousands across five countries.

The quake, near the Indonesian island of Sumatra, triggered giant waves -- or tsunami -- that swept across the region.

More than 1,700 people in Sri Lanka were killed after tidal waves battered the country's eastern coast, according to Colombo police. Authorities fear the death toll there could rise.

At least 1,000 were killed in India as a result of tidal waves which flooded the southern coast, Interior Minister Shivraj Patil said.

Thai authorities say nearly 250 have been killed as a result of tsunamis.

In addition, up to 200 fishermen are missing at sea off the coast of India, officials have told reporters.

Around 250 people were killed Indonesia -- many of them in Aceh, in northern Sumatra, about 100 miles from the quake's epicenter, according to journalist John Aglionby in Jakarta.

More than 200 prisoners escaped from a jail in Aceh province after waves knocked down the prison walls, a police official told Reuters news agency.

Thai authorities say about 248 were killed -- 200 deaths were reported on the island of Phiphi, between Thailand's coastal area and the resort island of Phuket, where at least 48 were killed, according to the deputy governor.

One witness said Laguna Beach, where many of the island's major resort hotels are located, was "completely gone."

Thailand's government has evacuated 10,000 people from southern Thailand and declared a state of emergency. The death toll

On the Maldives, at least three children were killed in the high waters on an island north of the capital, Male. An accurate death toll has not been assessed because communications to the outlying islands have been cut off, Foreign Minister Fathulla Jamil said.

The earthquake which hit off Indonesia's Sumatra Island registered a magnitude of 8.9 -- the fifth strongest in recorded history, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center.

It is the strongest earthquake to hit since 1952.

It was followed by at least six moderate to strong aftershocks in the following hours.

CNN correspondent Aneesh Raman in Bangkok said eye-witnesses spoke of a "wall of water" bearing down on the beachfronts of the popular resort of Phuket as at least two waves struck.

Raman said Thai officials were evacuating 10,000 people from the area, and there reportedly was "untold devastation".

In India, dead and missing were reported from three coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh state, Chief Secretary Mohan Kanda told reporters.

The Indian prime minister's office told CNN that the toll was at least 100, while Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran said the figure was at least 300.

He said the missing fishermen were out in the sea when the tidal wave hit the area. "I have alerted the administration in nine of Andhra Pradesh's 23 districts," Kanda said, AP reported.

Thousands of people fled their homes in the Aceh provincial capital Banda Aceh when the tremor struck, the official Antara news agency said.

Residents in North Sumatra's capital, Medan, reported a strong tremor that caused panic among residents.

"It was quite strong. We ran out of our houses but we're now back inside," said one resident.

The tremor could be felt as far away as India, 1,400 kilometers from the quake center.

An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale rattled Indonesia's eastern Papua province in November, killing 29 people in the coastal town of Nabire.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands, lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire where plate boundaries intersect and volcanoes regularly erupt.

There was just a speacial report in the german TV on ZDF, they said that there're already more then 2500 dead and they're expecting much more.

And they're ecpecting a second wave, or tsunami.

The wave hit nearly everthing at the coast of India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and so on...BBC Audio and Video report

[brgnorway 0]

This is nothing less than terrible! I've got a feeling the consequences will only grow the next days. Noone would give a damn of course if it hadn't been for all the tourists from the richer part of the world being there right now. A modest estimate suggest there are around 3000 norwegian tourists in that area now - some bound to be dead as Phuket is among the most populare destinations.

Not a lot of money left to rebuilding and humanitarian help nowadays though - as most western nations are spending themselves through "the war on terror" !

[Monkey Lib Front 10]

Not a lot of money left to rebuilding and humanitarian help nowadays though - as most western nations are spending themselves through "the war on terror" !

Just keep jibbing, iirc the humanitarian aid has not been affected by the "War on terror". why not just say Iraq, your just a little pathetic to use a thread where 3,000 people have died so you can have a dig at other countries forign policy, why not be a little constructive eh.

[brgnorway 0]

Quote[/b] ]Just keep jibbing, iirc the humanitarian aid has not been affected by the "War on terror". why not just say Iraq..........

Really? So humanitarian aid has not been affected by the war in Iraq? Why don't you tell that to the hunger victims of africa screaming desperately for attention and aid when all we do is watching fights in Iraq during prime time! Maybe you haven't been following the news the last two years because there has been a lot of focus not on hunger catastrophies in africa but the lack of attention given to it!

Quote[/b] ]your just a little pathetic to use a thread where 3,000 people have died so you can have a dig at other countries forign policy, why not be a little constructive eh.

Yes, pathetic maybe - and also feeling a little bit guilty - as most people should in western europe and north america. Because it is a fact that natural disasters and hunger catastrophies don't get the propper attention these days!

[Monkey Lib Front 10]

Quote[/b] ]Just keep jibbing, iirc the humanitarian aid has not been affected by the "War on terror". why not just say Iraq..........

Really? So humanitarian aid has not been affected by the war in Iraq? Why don't you tell that to the hunger victims of africa screaming desperately for attention and aid when all we do is watching fights in Iraq during prime time! Maybe you haven't been following the news the last two years because there has been a lot of focus not on hunger catastrophies in africa but the lack of attention given to it!

Quote[/b] ]your just a little pathetic to use a thread where 3,000 people have died so you can have a dig at other countries forign policy, why not be a little constructive eh.

Yes, pathetic maybe - and also feeling a little bit guilty - as most people should in western europe and north america. Because it is a fact that natural disasters and hunger catastrophies don't get the propper attention these days!

Thats all true, but one thing, Iraq has nothing to do with that, the western Media has always paid lip service to Asia and Africa when it comes to humanitarian issues it's nothing new, that does not mean governments are doing nothing or other NGO's, it has nothing to do with Iraq. Sudan anyone? unless the Iraq war was going on back then there was little on it tbh, the media will always find alternate news because who want's to hear about africans starving when you hear about small children having a good crimbo or a rail crash?

[brgnorway 0]

Quote[/b] ]Thats all true, but one thing, Iraq has nothing to do with that, the western Media has always paid lip service to Asia and Africa when it comes to humanitarian issues it's nothing new, that does not mean governments are doing nothing or other NGO's, it has nothing to do with Iraq.

Of course not - I must have been so wrong to remember so well that this has been mentioned in the media several times!

Here's only a few though, but it's still interesting to read:

Quote[/b] ]

The forgotten famine

While the western humanitarian focus is on Iraq, millions are starving in Africa in what is becoming a permanent continent-wide crisis ...............

The Guardian

Quote[/b] ]

Fight poverty not wars, says Williams

Archbishop of Canterbury joined by other senior clerics in attack on Western priorities

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, used his Christmas sermon yesterday to deliver a searing attack on the West's neglect of poverty, and accused politicians of 'massaging' the threat of terrorism.

He also expressed concern that the principles of 'justice and liberty' were being sacrificed in favour of security.

The leader of 70 million Anglicans worldwide, Dr Williams - who was a leading opponent of the war in Iraq - attacked the developed world for failing to make progress on the United Nations' millennium development goals, and singled out politicians for encouraging fear over the threat of terror.

Williams's critical comments followed an equally blunt address by Britain's leading Roman Catholic, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, who demanded to know why so much money was being spent on armed conflict in the Middle East rather than on global poverty.

It also followed an unusually sombre annual 'Urbi et Orbi' ('The City and the World') address by Pope John Paul II, who talked of his concern over violence in the Middle East and Iraq.

Speaking at Canterbury Cathedral, Williams said: 'The likelihood of a reduction by half of people living in abject poverty by the year 2015 is not noticeably greater than it was four years ago,' he said in reference to one of the key UN goals. 'Some developed nations appear deeply indifferent to the goals agreed.'

The Observer

Quote[/b] ]Sudan anyone?

The only reason why Sudan has USA's attention is because it "legitimizes" USA's claim that: we have not forgotten about Africa! "

Anyway, back to topic! For the norwegian forum members I can tell you there will be hourly updates on NRK.

[Monkey Lib Front 10]

The Observer

April 2003 :rolleyes:

Quote[/b] ]The strongest earthquake for 40 years has claimed 6,300 lives across South Asia - with the death toll still rising.

Click Me

[brgnorway 0]

Quote[/b] ]April 2003 :rolleyes:

In case you didn't know - people died in April 2003 - and they still do, because of famine and malnutrition.

Quote[/b] ]The strongest earthquake for 40 years has claimed 6,300 lives across South Asia - with the death toll still rising.

This is only the start........  

The area affected:

[Billabong81 0]

This is terrible . It hits closer to me because I have been to Phuket and some other areas around the quake. I could never imagine something like this happening there. Other countries are certainly going to need to help with this one . I have a feeling the death toll will soon be above 10,000 .

[ravendk 25]

any ofp ppl missing ?

[Waterman 0]

BBC News 24 now reporting more than 8,000 dead...

[blackdog~ 0]

It will be interesting to see if any Tsunamis really do spring up because of this earthquake...

[kavoven 4]

By now with have around 11.000 dead, this morning I thought that there'll be around 3000-5000 dead, but this number is so high, horrible...

[Llauma 0]

It will be interesting to see if any Tsunamis really do spring up because of this earthquake...

That's what killed most of the people.. It wasn't a hollywood 100ft wave but a wave enough to kill 11000 people and propably even more.

[TakanoFukada 0]

This is terrible .  It hits closer to me because I have been to Phuket and some other areas around the quake.  I could never imagine something like this happening there.  Other countries are certainly going to need to help with this one .  I have a feeling the death toll will soon be above 10,000 .

I'm in South-East Asia now btw... somewhere between Malaysia and Indonesia.

Please pray hard for the people.. 8,500 dead and counting.

[billybob2002 0]

It is now a 9.0 earthquake... ( http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/2004/usslav/ )

 

@brgnowary: stop taking jabs at the US..  

[denoir 0]

11,000+ dead

There will be loads of tourists dead as well. Just from Sweden, there are some 20,000 tourists in the region.

They're saying it's the biggest earthquake to hit Earth in the last 40 years.

[BraTTy 0]

Why all the complaining about how much we are helping other countries? Other countries that just end up attacking us in the end.We have starving people in our own country.How are we able to keep helping others?

Should look bad on the other countries that AREN'T helping.Why are we always the bad ones?

[-ZG-BUZZARD 0]

Current toll is 12,300...

May they rest in peace.

[Donnervogel 0]

Why all the complaining about how much we are helping other countries? Other countries that just end up attacking us in the end.We have starving people in our own country.How are we able to keep helping others?

Should look bad on the other countries that AREN'T helping.Why are we always the bad ones?

I seriously hope I misunderstood that....

[Billabong81 0]

Why all the complaining about how much we are helping other countries? Other countries that just end up attacking us in the end.We have starving people in our own country.How are we able to keep helping others?

Should look bad on the other countries that AREN'T helping.Why are we always the bad ones?

I seriously hope I misunderstood that....

Even though I strongly feel this is the wrong place to do it, I feel the urge to say something. I think BraTTy is right. Everyone is always pressing the United States to help everyone else. Every time soemthing happens wrong all eyes immeadiately turn to us for help. Then we take the initiative on one incident and all of the sudden everyone is pointing fingers saying how horrible we are. As I said, I am truely sorry I had to convey my thoughts in this particular thread, but I could not resist. Any replies to mine I will not reply to, as this is not the appropriate place.

[Guest]

Yes of course. Think of all the humanitarian aid the US is sending to Iraq. Isn't the US wonderful...helping all those orphaned children? Come off it....

You can be sure that any aid sent to Indonesia will come with a few conditions attached. Indonesia being the site of a couple of terrorist attacks over the last couple of years. The Aust. government is sending $10M and I can guarrantee you that the Aust government will want something in return.

And if you think that's not how international politics works.....grow up. Something for nothing only happens in fairy tales.

Back on topic....the Tsunami was estinmated to be around 5m high.....quite terrifying. I hope that (as usual) the news services are over-estimating the casuality figures.

[ralphwiggum 6]

If ANYONE talks about politics or something even REMOTELY close to it instead of tragedy itself, Christmas is over and I WILL BAN YOU!

[billybob2002 0]

death toll at 14,425...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm....uake_dc

What a crappy sunday with this tragedy and Reggie White death...

[ralphwiggum 6]

I heard that Taiwanese news agencies are reporting that Jet Li is also missing? Can anyone confirm or deny?