Massive Earthquake in Indonesia


Indonesian Earthquake 12/26/04
Initial report from the Jakarta Post:

A major earthquake rocked the northern part of Sumatra island on Sunday at about 7:58 a.m. reaching 6.8 on the Richter scale.

"The quake, whose epicenter was located 149 kilometers south of Meulaboh in West Aceh regency [2 degrees, 9 minutes] north latitude and [95 degrees, 6 minutes] east longitude some 20 kilometers under the sea," spokesman of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG), Edison Gurning, in a fax transmission to The Jakarta Post.

[ ... ]

... DPA reported that the U.S. Geological Survey in Colorado registered the quake at 8.1 on Richter scale, the most powerful so far in Indonesia.

Current death estimates (0700 EST) are:

Sri Lanka: 1,500 dead
India: 1,000 dead
Thailand: 156 dead
Indonesia: 400 dead
Malaysia: 17 dead

Casualty figures are rising as confirmed deaths and injuries become known. Channel NewsAsia reports that more than 2,200 have been killed from 30 ft. tsunamis and flash flooding. FoxNEWS is reporting that deaths exceed 3,000 as of 0730 EST.

[Update 0830 EST] The European Union has committed 3 million euros in relief aid to be distributed by the Red Cross, Red Crescent, and non-governmental organizations. It's now estimated that 3,400 people in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

A UN sponsored meeting is scheduled for today to discuss international response to the disaster. Russia announced it is prepared to send help.

Sri Lanka has declared a "state of disaster" and, according to Lalith Weeratunga, the top civil servant in Premier Mahina Rajapakse's office, 1,651 are confirmed dead. Medical facilities are overwhelmed by the number of dead bodies. Police also report that at least 300 prisoners in Matara fled from a high-security jail.