Asian Tsunamis Surge Against East African Coast

NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) - Powerful tsunamis that roared across southern Asia into the Indian Ocean Sunday smashed fishing boats and flooded low-lying areas along the east African coast, 3,728 miles to the west.

At least one person was killed and others feared missing on Kenya's coast, where thousands of tourists are visiting for the Christmas holidays.

The surge of water also destroyed dozens of boats and forced authorities to close the beaches, police said.

The biggest earthquake in 40 years hit southern Asia and triggered a massive wall of water that raced across the Indian Ocean, bringing devastation and death to Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Indonesia. Nearly 8,000 were believed killed.

In countries stretching from the Horn of Africa, down to Tanzania and out into the Indian Ocean, lowland flooding and irregularly fast tidal changes were reported. Tourists and residents were told to stay away from the beaches.

In the Kenyan resort town of Malindi, at least one swimmer died and three others were believed drowned, District Commissioner Mobeya Mogaka said. It was not immediately clear whether the swimmer was Kenyan or a foreign visitor.

Dozens of fishing boats were smashed when the tidal surge struck Malindi, Mogaka said.

"We have had four high tides and four low tides in the last six hours," a spokesman for the Turtle Bay resort in Malindi told Reuters.

On the semi-autonomous Tanzanian island archipelago of Zanzibar, guests at two beach hotels were moved to hotels further inland, officials said. Asian Quake, Tsunami Death Toll Approaches 9,500

In the Seychelles, at least nine people were reported missing after a 2-meter (6-foot) surge flooded low roads and knocked out power in hundreds of homes. At the airport, fire brigades were forced to wash dozens of fish off of the runway each time high tides sent water crashing onto the airfield.

"I do not know what to expect from the ocean," said a Somali fisherman in the coastal town of Adale, 35 miles north of Mogadishu.

Mauritius seemed largely untouched by the post-quake surge, although minor flooding struck one of the outlying islands in the archipelago, Rodrigues. On Madagascar and the Comoros Islands, residents had seen no ill effects.

I live on the 18th floor of an apartment block in Bangkok, which is far away from the epi center. But I woke up this morning seeing my curtains swaying. Sure, I thought... Must be the air conditioning. But then I noticed the wardrobe door oscillating in the same way. I jumped out of bed and told my family to wake up to feel it. By the time they got out of bed, the quake was over. At first we didn't think anything of it, but now hearing the news, we believe we are very lucky to not be severely affected.
Frank (Tha-An) Lin, Bangkok, Thailand

Has anybody considered that there may be tidal waves heading to the South and Southwest? Has any warning gone out to other continents with shorelines? Is there any effort to determine if there might be trouble flowing across the sea to the south - maybe to Australia's NW coast, or Africa's Eastern Coast or Madagascar?
Steve, Istanbul

The impact was also experienced in some costal areas of Bangladesh. My father is now in Potuakhali, which is on south of the country, close to the Bay of Bengal. He called me around 7:00 am local time and said that there was a weak earthquake which shook the furniturs of the house. After that quake, he went outside and saw that huge body of water was coming out of the lakes and the river beside it. People were saying that large amount fishes from the bay were found on the streets and parks near the river. Some low lands there were submerged in water for a long time.
Shiblee Imtiaz Hasan (Sumit), Dhaka, Bangladesh

I went to the closest fishing harbour here, and fortunately there isn't much damage here. I live in the west coast (Chennai is in the east) the only concern here is the rising water level. 8 fishing boats were washed away into the sea from the harbour. The harbour has ony one entrance and suddenly when all the water came through the 100 meter gate, there was an imbalance and boats were washed ashore, some hitting huge boulders and etting damaged in the process. Water level is rising at a rate of about 2.5 to 3 feet an hour.
Sudeep, Calicut, INDIA

Land tremor felt in the morning. Fierce sea tides swamped coast area along shores of Bay of Bengal. Numerous huts were destroyed. They belong to poor fishermen. The fate of them is unknown. In the swamp about 60 are reported dead. More damages in another coastal town Nagai where hundreds of people reported dead and in another coastal hamlet a church collapsed killing 40 people.
Shiva Prakash, Chennai, India

We were swimming in the sea, when the first wave hit us, and so we sprinted out of the water
Maddy Scragg and Serena Starr, Kerela, India
We were swimming in the sea, when the first wave hit us, and so we sprinted out of the water. We went back in a few minutes and started swimming again. All of a sudden, we were yelled at to get out quickly as the waves were getting too strong. Our clothes were lost in the sea!
Maddy Scragg and Serena Starr, Kerela, India

My son Alan is in the Holiday Inn hotel right on the beach in Phuket. They are without power and therefore radio and TV, hence no outside contact. There is a shark washed up in the hotel swimming pool. He saw a couple of bodies and a mother being separated from one of two children whose hands she was holding as the water swept one of them away.
Alan Burr, Bromley, UK

Waves were so high, never seen before, hit the sea front of Gurney Drive by tidal waves till cars and motorbikes parked along the road were swept away. Understand from a friend the costal beach of Batu Ferringhi was also hit by tidal waves till wooden houses on stilt were also swept away by the waves.
Daphne Cheah, Penang, Malaysia

Tidal surges on Mahe, Praslin and La Dique causing flooding to Capital Victoria and low lying areas inlcuding my beachside home.
Miriam Hoareau, Mahe Island, Seychelles

I felt the bed wobble from side to side at 6.40am this morning! I didn't realise what it was until my boyfriend called to see if I was okay - then I saw it all on BBC World. First day in India and I come when there's an earthquake! I feel very lucky to not be affected where I am.
Sarah, Chennai, India

We're not affected directly here in Australia but I wonder whether there's a connection between this massive quake and the one which hit in between New Zealand, Tasmania and Macquarie Island to our south two days ago. It was the then biggest quake anywhere in the world so far this year. It seems more than a coincidence that this catastrophe comes so soon afterwards. Commiserations to everyone in the affected area.
Steven Cinquegrana, Melbourne, Australia

My partner and I were 700 metres above sea level having just taken the cable car ride. We saw the waves rounding the tip of Langkawi and round the west coast, but as we were so high up we were not aware of the size until we saw the aftermath during our journey by road back to lower land. The picture taken from the top of the mountain clearly shows the main wave. The pictures of the devestation to small fishing villages and the like are hard to comprehend.
Jamie Hancock, Langkawi Island, NW Malaysia

We were on the beach, when suddenly a three meter high surge surprised us. Big waves surges of very long period came in for about two more hours before they died down. Fortunately Sumatra shielded us from the 8.9 earthquake, but we could felt it at 9:20 in the morning here.
Ivar Marthinusen, Pangkor Laut, Malaysia

It was scary, since I don't think our houses are built to stand any shaking like that
Jasdev , Penang, Malaysia
Over here in Malaysia we never had any earthquakes. But today around 8am or so my bed was shaking and the walls started swaying. It continued for about 5 or so minutes. I knew we could be feeling tremors off Sumatra or something like that. It was scary, since I don't think our houses are built to stand any shaking like that.
Jasdev , Penang, Malaysia

We are badly affected, numbers of low lying islands are almost submerged, the local people are seeking refuge in small dhonis, most of the islands are out of electricity, food & water, also the sewage systems totally distroyed. Government is totally disabled to send help to these small islands. Many islanders have to spent their night outside since many houses are destroyed.
Ayya, Male', Maldives

Many houses on the coastal village of Kuala Teriang were badly affected. There is one confirmed death in this village. There are 4 death reported in Rebak Marina, an island resort on a small Rebak Island, just off the coast of the main Langkawi Island
Isa Zakaria, Langkawi Island, Malaysia

Our daughter Maddie and boyfriend Viktor are currently at Koh Raya in Thailand. They and guests managed to run to a higher place, one tourist at their hotel reported missing.
Voi-Ping and Lars Thor, Stockholm, Sweden

Some places further south of Chennai are being evacuated for fear of more waves striking the coast.
Dynesh Raghavan, Chennai, India

Terrifying.I live on the 22nd floor and the movement and sounds of the building moving went on for what seemed a long time. We all ran outside thinking the building was collapsing not realising it was an earthquake. Made us all aware of our feeble mortality.
Scott Hemming, Bangkok Thailand

Just got a call from my partner who was on a tourist boat off the coast of Krabi, Thailand. The felt the tsunami and washed as it struck the mainland destroying coastal buildings. They finally made it ashore and to a resort mountain hotel in Kuraburi. The hotel is full of evacuated tourists all scared and unable to get any information. My friend's brother-in-law is missing, he was on a diving expedition.
Dave Mitchelhill, London, UK

The government is still unable to send assistance
Abdulla, Male',Maldives
Many islanders are badly affected,most of the islands are underwater,small boats used for transportation is as well underwater. The government is still unable to send assistance to poor islanders.
Abdulla, Male', Maldives

We saw a wall of water approaching us. When it hit us, it was only about 10 feet high and the boat rose and then dipped. It was a bit rocky but we were all fine. Several more similar waves followed. Then a lull, and the boat man drove us a small distance to shelter behind a small island. We could see the tsunami breaking on the shore behind us in enormous sprays of water. The waves crashed onto the shores on the small islands ahead of us with devesting force - the beach disappearing before our very eyes. Thank goodness we were in relatively deep water. If we had got underway 10 minutes earlier or later, we may not have been so fortunate.
Sumy Menon, off Krabi coast

My wife and I live in Batticaloa, East Sri Lanka, a bit inland from the coast. Tis morning, suddenly people were talking that water was coming into the town. as we are on the land-side of town, we missed the initial flood wave, and we didn't believe it, so decided to go out and look. My wife is presently co-ordinating operations for Save the CHildren in Batticaloa, and I am helping out with driving around and helping where possible. Lots of people who have vehicles immediately responded, and quickly brought injured to the hospital. Really impressive to see civilians start arranging the traffic, to make the traffic to the hospital smoother. I used to live on the beach, that house will now probably not exist anymore.
Timmo Gaasbeek, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka

There is a lot of damage in Kamala Beach, many cars are up against the buildings
Tyson Schroeder, Surin Beach, Phuket, Thailand
We were on our way down through Patong Beach to Kata Beach from Surin Beach to meet up with family when they called to say the water was rushing out and that we should seek high ground. We were able to watch the whole thing from about 30 meters up the hill. When we finally were able to go through, the road was heavily damaged, there was a 5 foot crack in the road apparently we had been waiting for them to fix. There is a lot of damage in Kamala Beach, many cars are up against the buildings.
Tyson Schroeder, Surin Beach, Phuket, Thailand

Here in Kata Beach on the coastal roads a big mess, with motorbikes, lanterns, roofs etc floating around. There were lots of people on the beach this morning, I have seen two bodies myself, plus quite some people are still missing.

The damage is considerable, some of the major hotels here are flooded. Patong Beach, the main tourist destination on Phuket, has been hit a lot harder, more than half the town has been flooded.
Steven van Leeuwarden, Phuket

Suddenly I felt a dizziness in my head and I was feeling the shake of the land. My parents immediately responded and every one of us shot out of the home. Since it was Sunday the people were still sleeping unknown of the quake. We immediately shouted and asked everyone to get out. Our house was 1km exactly from the shore in span of no minutes the sea water was flooding inside our places, and around 8:50am it was waist high. We asked everyone to lock the doors and go to higher levels. We left the place immediately by 9:30am when the neck-level water started draining.
K S Saran, Saravanan, Chennai

I live on the 25th floor of a seemingly well constructed 31 floor building, next to the British embassy. But the shaking was tremendous. All staff ran out immediately of the building My first thought was, that someone came into my room, because I heard some noise, sounded like somebody broke into my room. Then I thought I was dreaming, because the floor was moving. Then I started to realise what was going on and stepped outside my door to see what other residents were doing. I saw nobody. Normally the housekeeping staff would be cleaning and I thought I heard them screaming and leaving the building. I told my girlfriend to get dressed and we ran down the stairs, all 25 floors.
Marcel Emmeneger, Bangkok

Large waves approximately 8m high crashed onto the main road in Patong
Mike Ryniker, Phuket
We were anchored in Patong beach [Thailand], where the beach area basically drained of water, then after five minutes the water filled back in and large waves approximately 8m high crashed onto the main road in Patong. Small boats dragged anchors. The beaches along the west side of Phuket were basically washed away. All boats are standing by for more after reports of a quake in the Nicobar islands.
Mike Ryniker, Phuket

A friend of mine, who is on holiday with her husband and children in Phuket, called and said that there was a disaster. Their hotel was ruined and they are now standing on a mountain, waiting for the next wave, terrified.
Victoria, Sweden

I live in Ao-Nang Krabi [Thailand]. The scene is quite bad here - with upturned boats lying broken and strewn across the street. Many tourists and locals are missing - they were leaving on tours as the wave hit. Army and police are arriving in their masses.
Rob Bysouth, Krabi, Thailand

The whole of Male and all islands are under knee-deep water after huge waves washed the islands.
Mohamed latheef, Male', Maldives

This morning my brother called me to say that he is alive. He lives on the small tourist island, Koh Phi Phi near Phuket in south Thailand. He reported that: "The whole island is smashed, there are dead people all over!" He was trying to find his Thai girlfriend and a Danish friend.
Stinus, Copenhagen, Denmark

People living in the costal areas have been struck by panic. Huge tidal waves hit the coast. Rescue efforts are under way. Exact damages are largely unknown.
Sriram Srinivasan, Chennai, India

Waves never seen before hit the island of Penang, Malaysia, devastating coastal areas. Waves of more than 10ft high swept away wooden stilt houses at coastal areas. Ambulances are seen rushing to affected areas.
Victor Tan, Penang, Malaysia

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