Thank you for this information.
It is just awful! Makes me feel guilty. We've had a lot of snow and below-zero weather. My water pipes broke, and I was moaning & groaning about that. The horrible events on the other side of the word sure puts my pitiful problem into perspective!
BTW, I wonder if this quake has anything to do with the 8.1 quake at the South Pole?
Since I'm not spending much time online right now, I'd appreciate your putting me on your ping list for updates. Thanks.
Thank you Yes
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/4126241.stm
Relief agencies are gearing up to bring aid to the areas hit by the disastrous Asian earthquake.
Humanitarian agencies around the world have been preparing to deploy aid once they establish where help is needed most.
Andrew Sundersingh, a relief director from World Vision International in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, said it would be setting up relief stations on the east and south coasts where massive waves had hit.
"We are right now preparing to target about 1,000 people with a feeding programme. We will be setting up in four districts affected," he said.
Speedy response
But he said that more than one million people in Sri Lanka alone had been affected by the surges.
Mr Sundersingh said World Vision would also be bringing blankets and children's clothing.
"We are saying we will need about $1m (£521,000) just for the first seven days of the operation," he said.
Unicef said that many of the victims had been children.
"At least one third of the reported dead are children as the beaches and the coastal areas are home to thousands of people, living in makeshift huts and houses where children play and help their families," a spokeswoman said.
The organisation would be distributing water purification units, oral rehydration salts, high protein biscuits and basic emergency health kits.
Oxfam warned aid would need to reach the stricken areas as quickly as possible if further deaths were to be averted.
"The flood waters will have contaminated drinking water and food will be scarce. Oxfam already has staff in the worst affected regions assessing how we can best help," said Oxfam's international director Jasmine Whitbread.
Oxfam flood experts were flying to the worst hit regions, she added.
The search and rescue agency International Rescue Corps (IRC), which specialises in locating people trapped in collapsed buildings or rubble, said it was waiting to hear if its services - which include boat handling and flood victim rescue - would be needed.
"We have about half a dozen rigid inflatable boats which we have used in the past to try band find people lost in floods," a spokeswoman said.
The boats had been used in disaster relief in Nicaragua and Honduras after recent hurricane damage, as well as in the UK.
Information 'paramount'
"At the moment it's a waiting game, we're waiting to see if our assistance is needed," she said.
The European Union has pledged 3m euros (£2.1m) to disaster relief, which will be distributed by non-governmental agencies such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
The British Red Cross has said it has stockpiles of supplies in many of the countries and would be trying to get the equipment to the disaster area as quickly as possible.
"For us at the moment gathering information is absolutely paramount," a spokesman said.
He said the International Red Cross had launched a preliminary appeal to try to raise 7.5m Swiss francs (£3.41m). The British Red Cross is also launching its own appeal.
'Long term consequences'
Britain's Secretary of State for International Development Hilary Benn said: "It's clear that many people have lost their lives in this terrible tragedy, while hundreds of thousands of others are now having to deal with the aftermath.
"We are doing all we can to offer practical help and support.
"Department of International Development disaster response teams have been working since early this morning."
Christian Aid said it was sending £250,000 to help with the immediate relief effort in Sri Lanka and India, and had set up an appeal.
Local partner groups in India, Bangladesh, Burma and Sri Lanka were already delivering food and water to victims, a spokeswoman said.
"The long term consequences of this disaster will be massive and far reaching," she said.
Do you have a link for that? Thanks much.
The 8.1 quake was actually closer to New Zealand than the south pole.