Maldives flooded after tidal waves, reports of casualties but no figures

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2004/December/theworld_December685.xml&section=theworld ^

[Truth666]

However, the government said two thirds of the capital was under about four feet (1.2 meters) of water in some areas. About a third of the country’s 330,000 population live in the highly congested capital island.

Maldives is a cluster of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered some 800 kilometres (500 miles) across the equator and is vulnerable to any rise in sea levels.

The fate of tens of thousands of tourists in the Maldives was not immediately known.

[MEG33]

DO NOT CHANGE HEADLINES..Editorialize in parentheses..or clarify your position in your first post to your article.

[MEG33]

Do you consider the fact communications have been cut off because of damage a blackout?

[BurbankKarl]

The BBC guy said 500 dead in Maldives....but a lot un accounted for....

I didnt hear the whole report.

[MEG33]

Not knowing isn't censorship. Lack of information isn't censorship.

[Truth666]

The german mass media and the government know that there thousands of germans in the Madives

[Petronski]

Deutsche Welle: Hundreds die after earthquake

It's feared hundreds may have died after an earthquake struck southern and eastern Asia. Most of the deaths have occurred as a result of huge waves that followed the quake. High waves along the east coast of Sri Lanka killed at least 1000 people, local officials say. While massive tides striking India's coast are said to have killed at least 500. Deaths have also been reported in coastal Thailand and on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, believed to be near the centre of the powerful earthquake, which the US Geological Survey measured at 8.9 magnitude.

[MEG33]

I guess you are the only person in the know.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308556/posts

[MEG33]

Not knowing the magnitude of losses isn't censorship. Lack of information about who was killed isn't censorship...

[Petronski]

Monster waves tear over thousand humans into death

By the world-wide heaviest earthquake for nearly 40 years in Southeast Asia more than thousand humans died. Altogether victims of the natural catastrophe became in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India and Malaysia over 500.000 humans. Concerned are also many vacation regions. In the morning it came into Bangladesh to a further heavy earthquake.

Colombo - The earth impact under the sea-bottom before the island Sumatra released an enormous flutwelle, which tore humans from Indonesia to Sri Lanka into death. Up to six inhabitant of coastal regions, Fischer and Touristen with itself drew meters high waves away. Several thousand humans were still missed.

Quake at 2 o'clock (MEZ) the US earthquake control room in Colorado a strength of 8,9 had and was thereby the world-wide heaviest for 40 years after recent measurements. Its center was 40 kilometers under the bottom of the sea before the northwest coast of Sumatra. Several Nachbeben reached the strength of 7,0. The tide released by the enormous vibration at the sea-bottom reached 1,600 kilometers of far west their largest extents.

However in Sri Lanka 1000 inhabitants of the coastal regions died, approximately 100,000 became shelterless to data of the authorities. Up to six meters high flutwellen broke after the quake on Sunday over the coast in the districts Muttur and Trincomalee in here. "we are in a very tragic situation", said the police speaker in Muttur, Rienzie Perera. Some hospitals of the region are not any more able, wounded to take up.

The port of the capital Colombo was closed, after the port building had been flooded. In India at least 286 humans lost their life according to official data. At the beaches of WAD-RACE, to the capital of the union state Tamil Nadu, at least 100 corpses were saved; from the coastal town Cuddalore were announced 150 dead ones. Concerned also the neighbouring Indian union state was Andhra Pradesh. Next the Indonesian province Aceh was appropriate for the center of the earthquake, where to data of the local authorities at least 94 humans died. Width of parts of the region were flooded. However from the district Bireun at the north coast of Aceh were announced 50 dead ones. After the quake before the west coast of the province numerous localities of the external world were cut off, so that the whole extent of the disaster was not to be measured yet. Seismologen registered at least ten Nachbeben after the first earth impact.

In Thailand the flutwelle broke in over several tourist regions in the south. At least 61 humans died to data of the government. On a beach to the holidays island Phuket at least four tourists drowned. The flutwelle was there high up to four meters. In Phang Nga with Phuket looked for humans on building roofs refuge before the wassermassen. Under the numerous hurt ones in the hospital Watcharat of Phuket were according to data of a hospital speaker also many foreign tourists from the hotels at the popular beaches Kamala and Patong. The air traffic with Phuket was stopped. At the time of the flutwelle according to eye-witnesses also at least 30 boats with tourists on the sea were.

From Malaysia ten dead ones, among them also several foreigners were announced. Here the tide broke in here over the holidays island Penang. Also the international airport of the Maldives lain west of Sri Lanka had to be closed because of the flutwelle.

Earthquake also in Bangladesh

In the morning then an earthquake of the strength 7.3 shook the south of Bangladesh. The coasts were inundated by an enormous flutwelle. The epizentrum of the quake was appropriate for the port Chittagong according to official data approximately 1000 kilometers south in the gulf of Bengalen. Over damage and the number of the possible victims there was no information.

[Petronski]

AP via Der Spiegel

[MEG33]

May God comfort those who mourn..

[mfccinsd]

http://www.nbr.co.nz/home/column_article.asp?id=10995&cid=8&cname=News

(snip)

The waves caused deaths and serious damage in Indonesia, India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and the Maldives, among other countries.

Because of the season, beach resorts throughout the affected region were jammed with holiday tourists, many in dwellings on or very near the beach.

Eyewitness reports say that in most places, the tsunamis struck without warning.

[Petronski]

Indeed. This event almost defies superlatives. God help them all.

[rrrod]

I have the news on now..nothing yet to speak of. I wonder if there is a rescue op in the works? US military? or maybe a debate in the UN so this can all be blamed on Bush/USA?

[MEG33]

Diego Garcia, Chagos Islands, Indian Ocean..wonder how our base fared?

[mfccinsd]

CNN Int'l hadn't mentioned the Maldives for about an hour and they just did briefly...(basically with the quote from the foreign minister also above in one of the articles posted about halfway down)...I've not even seen much beyond a one minute or so 'summary' on the other stations I can get (on TV)...

Other countries (and some impacted) are saying they are sending in military resources (esp. boats it sounds like)...not having heard any real US coverage I've not heard anything said about the response....but now that it's 6 on the east coast maybe we'll start hearing more?

There certainly are a lot of Americans there (for various reasons) I'm sure our news will be talking about evacuating shortly...but I can't imagine that that's not just the beginning of what the US will do (among all the other countries that will inevitably respond in some form). Especially if this grows on the scale it quite possibly can.

[rrrod]

I wonder too, hope all is well. Fox news just had a brief alert on this disaster.

[mfccinsd]

From ABC News online http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1272452.htm

Last Update: Sunday, December 26, 2004. 7:33pm (AEDT)

Tsunami floods Maldives

Two-thirds of the Maldives capital was flooded today after a series of tsunami waves triggered by an earthquake swamped the low-lying Indian Ocean archipelago, a popular tourist destination.

"The damage is considerable," chief government spokesman Ahmed Shaheed told Reuters.

"The island is only about three feet (one metre) above sea level and a wave of water four feet (1.3 metres) high swept over us."

Male, which is 2 kilometres long and 800 metres wide and home to 75,000 people, is bursting at the seams.

The streets of white-washed houses are heavily built up, living conditions often cramped and areas of communal open space sparse for the country's 300,000 people - most of whom are involved in the tourist industry, the Maldives' economic backbone.

"It is a very bad situation. It is terrible," Mr Shaheed told Reuters by telephone after a tour of the capital.

"As you know it is the peak tourist season. We are trying to get reports from those areas. The whole of the Maldives is a tourist area so we are just hoping and praying."

He said the international airport was unusable, adding that President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom would shortly declare a national disaster and appeal for international assistance.

President Gayoom has spent much of his 26 years in power warning of the dangers that global warming, erosion and shifting weather patterns pose to low-lying island nations like his own.

"We still face the threat of sea level rise," he told Reuters in a recent interview.

"There is encroachment of the sea on many islands, there is erosion of our beaches."

-Reuters

[MEG33]

Thanks..It just sounds terrible.

[mfccinsd]

Unbelievably brief! I thought the military issue might finally occur to someone at a news desk here and that they'd be covering the story more for that reason alone (although the international event this is should be reason enough, IMO! This is going to be huge losses...human loss of life with numbers climbing quickly, the property loss, and the economic loss this is to many of these regions that survive on tourism...and that was wiped away due to the above to issues). The US media may go from one minute updates to at least a handful of countries likely in complete states of emergency!