Terramoto Sumatra 26-12-2004 News

09:00CST - 26 Dec 2004
8.9 Quake and Tidal Waves Kill More than 7,000Search & Rescue Efforts Go On...ASIA: Rescue and relief efforts continue throughout S. E. Asia, following one of the largest earthquakes in the past 40 years. According to several media sources, more than 7,000 people have been killed in the region as Tsunamis smashed through as many as nine countries. In Sri Lanka, 1,000 miles west of the epicenter, more than 3,000 people were killed, the country's top police official said. At least 1,870 died in Indonesia, and 1,900 along the southern coasts of India, the Associate Press reported. At least 198 were confirmed dead in Thailand, 42 in Malaysia and 2 in Bangladesh. Worse, rescue officials expected the death toll to continue to rise, with hundreds of people still reported missing and all communications and electricity cut off to Sumatran towns closest to the epicenter.
ERRI emergency service analysts said that this is a major multi-casualty, multi-country disaster, which will probably overwhelm the resources and personnel available in the countries that must try to manage it. It is respectfully recommended that the international community consider sending relief aid to meet the victim needs, as determined by the affected countries. (Please see several previous EmergencyNet News reports (below) on this topic, issued as this series of quakes was actually occurring,)