How long after the earthquake did it take the tsunamis to hit?
The worst-hit island was the popular northwestern holiday resort of Penang, where 21 people -- including at least two foreigners -- were killed and up to 30 fishing boats were missing, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and local officials said.
Further north, along the Kuala Muda coast of Kedah state bordering Thailand, seven people died when a tsunami roared through several villages, Najib told a news conference.
A police spokesman said a wave of four to six metres (12 to 18 feet) high destroyed about 1,000 houses and affected about 5,000 people, the official Bernama news agency reported.
Najib described the tidal waves as "a disaster never seen before in Malaysia's history."
He said he had ordered evacuations from high risk areas as a precautionary measure and would visit the affected areas on Monday.
Najib said he had heard unconfirmed "graphic reports" of jet ski riders being hurled into coffee houses by the tidal wave in Penang.
On the resort island of Langkawi off the Kedah coast, a 70-year-old man confined to a wheelchair drowned in his home when it flooded and he could not escape, district police chief Abdul Halim Abdullah told AFP.
The areas hit by the tidal waves are in northwestern Malaysia, separated by the Malacca Strait from Indonesia's Sumatra island where the quake hit early Sunday.
At least eight of the Penang deaths occurred at the popular Batu Ferringhi beach, which is lined by upscale tourist hotels, Penang Civil Defence Director Mohamad Johari Mohamad Taufik told AFP. Two of the dead were foreigners, Mohamad Johari said, without giving their nationalities.
Eight Malaysians living in a fishing village near Balik Pulau on the island also drowned, he said.
"Many more are still missing. Up to 30 fishing boats are at sea, with no communication. We are conducting search and rescue operations but we are expecting aftershocks from the earthquake to hit us again later this evening," he said." End excerpt. Link to rest of the story follows. Tidal waves kill at least 29 in Malaysia
It is also difficult to predict tsunamis after a very large quake.
It depends on what causes the tsunami. This one appears to be spawned by seafloor displacement at the time of the earthquakes. A recent tsunami (couple of years ago) which hit the south coast of Indonesia was caused by an underwater landslide which occurred several hours after the earthquake - which undoubtedly "loosened up" the land mass prior to the slide.
This is what I am wondering too. I checked the Tsunamis warnings after the quake hit. At first there was one for west coast and Alaska as well as other places. Then they took West Coast and Alaska off. I couldn't find a warning for the areas hit other than they said there is possibility of tsunamis near epicenter. I found this all very odd. I mean there is a giant earthquake in the ocean and nobody issues tsunamis warnings. Why were people on the beach?