New reports this morning is 21,000 dead, not the 11,000 that was thought yesterday.



Hopefully most of you have read Tony's story on the Australian Earthquake. This quake just happened this morning 100 miles off the coast of Asia.


(CNN) -- Massive tsunamis triggered by the largest earthquake to shake the planet in more than 40 years wiped out coastal areas across Asia as far as 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) away, killing more than 11,000 people.




FACT BOX

SRI LANKA
Sri Lankan military authorities report over 3,200 people killed, most of them in the eastern district of Batticaloa

INDIA
At least 2,300 killed by waves which flooded the southern coast, official media report.
INDONESIA
Local media report;more than 4,000 dead -- many of them in Aceh, in northern Sumatra

THAILAND
Thai authorities say more than 200 are feared dead, and hundreds are missing

MALDIVES
At least three children reported killed in the high waters on an island north of the capital, Male



• Waves sweep through Thai resorts
• Sri Lankan coast devastated
• Bodies line Indian beaches
• Emergency declared in The Maldives
• Quake '5th largest since 1900'

You can read the rest of the story through the link below

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/2...uake/index.html

A tragedy on a biblical scale.

When the sea quake off southern Australia occurred a few days ago, it was the biggest in 40 years ... now this one dwarfed it.

They both lie on the same fracture zone.



Virtual Earthquake Website

When all is said and done, the sheer scale of the devastation will be unfathomable.
Very unfortunate. Makes me happy I live nowhere near a fault line, however.

The death toll had reached 15,000
May God bless their souls.

Can you believe this?

"A TSUNAMI warning that could have saved thousands of lives was issued but not acted upon more than an hour before giant waves hit Sri Lanka and southern India.

The countries that bore the brunt of Sunday's tsunami had no notice of what was coming but the earthquake, the largest for 40 years, had been monitored by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Honolulu.

"We don't have contacts in our address book for anybody in that part of the world," National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration director Charles McCreery said. "

<_<

Full Story

Over 23,500 dead could have been saved... That's a lame excuse from Mr McCreery.
It seems that all the media hype saying there was NO way of knowing what was about to happen and issuing a warning is a big lie.

:o Shocking absolutely unbelievable.

A real tragedy... I can understand that in such poor regions of the world (e.g. India and Sri Lanka) it's difficult to realize a massive evacuation plan, but I can't believe that wasn't impossible to save all those souls...

But in Italy we say that tha tombs are full of "if". Mr McCreery should think about that...


Ciao!

I am shocked! Terrible things happen! Why?

When I first posted this I was shocked that the death toll was at 11,000. As I read all the newest figures I'm devastated that the count is around 100,000. I just hope it doesn't climb any higher.

AIM news reported 117,000 this morning. And India says no to Tsunami Relief.

MSNBC now reporting more than 123,000 ...

I am not surprised at the death toll. The technology to track seismic activity and weather warning sytems are nil in that area. yike:

It's such a tragedy so many people died :o