[TexKat]

Video grab shows a tidal wave in Penang after tsunami waves hit southern Asia on Sunday in this amateur video footage taken December 26, 2004. Soldiers searched for bodies in treetops, families wept over the dead lined up on beaches and rescuers scoured coral isles for missing tourists after an earthquake, as Asia counted the cost on Monday of a tsunami that saw tidal waves kill more than 13, 400. REUTERS/Amateur Video Grab

A mother grieves as another relative carries the body of a child washed ashore at Silver Beach in Cuddalore, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Monday, Dec. 27, 2004. Massive tidal waves triggered by an Indonesian earthquake slammed into southern India Sunday, killing nearly 2,300 people and sweeping away boats, homes and vehicles. The worst affected area was Tamil Nadu state, where 1,705 people were killed. (AP Photo/Gurinder Osan)

[Texas_Jarhead]

lesson learned: If you see the water recede significantly, run for higher ground

[bd476]

This is heartbreaking, TexKat. Thanks for posting the update.

[rdl6989]

The size of this disaster boggles the mind.

[Uncle Miltie]

[TamilNet, December 26, 2004 21:29 GMT]
“We went from the hospital to retrieve some bodies of people killed by the first wave near the Pandiruppu beach. We saw at a distance another massive wave, more than hundred feet high, speeding towards Kalmunaikudi. It was like a diagonal wall rising out of the sea. The sight was terrible. We ran for our lives. I do not believe that anything could have survived the force of that wave”, said a doctor at the Kalmunai base hospital Monday.
Doctor Murugesapillai Baghavan said he believed that scale of death and destruction in the Pandiruppu, Kalmunaikudi area could be much greater than what has been assessed so far.

“The wave would have sucked homes and people back into the sea. Few could have resisted its force. We think that whole areas have been buried under sand dug up by the wave’s power”, Dr. Baghavan said.

More than a thousand injured people have been treated at the Kalmunai Base Hospital until Sunday night, he added. “The hospital mortuary is full. We are piling up bodies outside the hospital”,

Seriously wounded patients have been sent to Amparai town. Evacuation is severely hindered by people who have crowded in their thousands on the main road in Kalmunai and Pandiruppu.

About hundred and sixteen bodies have been recovered so far in Thirukkovil, the large Tamil village 74 kilometres south of Batticaloa. More than hundred and fifty bodies have been recovered in Ninthavur, a Muslim, Tamil village near

http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=13732

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The earthquake hit at 6:58 a.m.; the tsunami came as much as 2 1/2 hours later, without warning

Now that is very fascinating!

That says the initial quake did not cause the tsunami immediately but a subsequent event, like the collapse of an undersea trench that suddenly displaced a great mass of water.....assuming the timing is the arrival at the Thailand beaches.

[noblejones]

And, of course, Howard Dean has blamed this on global warming.

He can't get to Hell soon enough.

[Gal.5:1]

omygosh- 9.0, 13,000 dead...
:O

[26lemoncharlie]

I am surprised that the Dummos have not blamed this on George W. Bush

[Greenpees]

I have seen alot of terrible things, and this is not any worse than others except for the numbers involved. Nonetheless, I am physically weakened by these scenes. I want to rush into my computer's eyeworld and perform CPR on the spot. I know it would do no good. It shouldn't be that so many, so young, have perished.

Peace little children. Go in peace.

[mfccinsd]

Fox just said that more tsunamis are likely to hit Sri Lanka in the next few hours.

Article also on Aus. ABC news online, although not as 'hard' on the potential timeline of when.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1272785.htm

India, Sri Lanka warn of more tsunamis
Indian and Sri Lankan meteorologists have warned that more tsunamis could strike the south Asian coast over the next couple of days.

However, the Indian Meteorological Department's deputy director-general in Madras, S Sridharan, says the coming tsunamis will be smaller than the giant wave that killed thousands around Asia.

"Like a ripple, the tsunami will only die down gradually and so we expect more waves before they slowly subside over the next 24-48 hours," Mr Sridharan said.

Any further tsunamis were expected to be no more than half the size of Sunday's wave that officials estimate killed about 4,600 people in India.

Police have blocked some coastal roads in a bid to prevent further casualties from any more high seas.

Sri Lanka's National Meteorological Centre says it has detected tremors near the Indonesian island of Sumatra and has warned that more small tsunamis are on their way.

"Small tsunamis will hit the southern and eastern coastlines in the next few hours," said meteorolgist Ajith Weerawardena.

"We are expecting heavy rains along the northern and eastern coastline, starting tonight. This is bad news for rescue efforts," he added, advising against travel on coastal routes.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

U.S. Offers Aid to Quake Victims; at Least 3 Americans Among Dead

[Catspaw]

CNN is reporting this morning that 20,000 are dead, with thousands more missing.

[maggief]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=1&u=/ap/20041227/ap_on_re_as/indonesia_earthquake

World - AP Asia
AP
Tsunami Waves Kill Over 20,900 in Asia

11 minutes ago

[ChadGore]

Thoughts and prayers to the thousands of victims, their families and loved ones.

[SunkenCiv]

related topics:

Aleutian finding topples [TSUNAMI] theory
Anchorage Daily News ^ | December 25, 2004) | DOUG O'HARRA
Posted on 12/26/2004 10:56:24 PM PST by BenLurkin
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308869/posts

Tidal wave threat 'over-hyped'
BBC UK ^ | Oct. 30, 2004
Posted on 10/31/2004 9:35:18 AM PST by Company Man
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1263784/posts

Diego Garcia
"My son"
Posted on 12/27/2004 3:59:26 AM PST by margieelisabeth
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308925/posts

Tidal Waves Kill More Than 700 in Asia
yahoo/AP ^ | 12-26-04 | LELY T. DJUHARI
Posted on 12/26/2004 1:18:45 AM PST by sully777
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308542/posts

Tidal Waves Kill More Than 3,200 in Asia
(Update: Death toll now tops 11,500)
AP ^ | Sun, Dec 26, 2004
Posted on 12/26/2004 2:09:10 AM PST by Grzegorz 246
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308556/posts

Asian Tsunamis Surge Against East African Coast
Reuters ^ | Dec 26, 2004 12:11 PM ET | C. Bryson Hull
Posted on 12/26/2004 9:53:01 AM PST by sully777
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308649/posts

[SunkenCiv]

Boschi said the quake even disturbed the Earth's rotation.

[OXENinFLA]

What an unbelievable and devastating act of mother nature.

My thoughts & prayers go out for all those affected.

[Chani]

ping

[jetson]

When it comes to fast kills, nature has it hands down.

[BJungNan]

bump