(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 almost 10,000 people.

 

As the death toll climbs rapidly, most of the fatalities were in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India.

 

The initial quake, measuring 9 in magnitude, struck about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island around 7 a.m. Sunday (0000 GMT), according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center.

 

It is the fourth largest earthquake in recorded history, according to the NEIC. The measurements have been taken since 1899.

 

News agencies in Indonesia reported over 4,000 dead, many of them in Aceh, in northern Sumatra, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the quake's epicenter.

 

CNN has been able to confirm only 500 people killed there but that figure is set to soar as communications and access improve to the ravaged region.

 

"We still haven't got any reports from the western coast of Aceh, which is closest to the epicenter, so officials are bracing themselves for a lot more bad news," said journalist John Aglionby in Jakarta.

 

Sri Lankan military authorities are reporting more than 3,200 people killed, most of them in the eastern district of Batticaloa. Several districts in the country's south have still not reported casualty figures, and authorities fear the death toll could rise.

 

Officials said thousands were missing and more than a half million had been displaced.

 

The huge waves also swept away a high security prison in Matara, in southern Sri Lanka, allowing 200 prisoners to escape. Eyewitnesses in the eastern Sri Lankan port city Trincomalee reported waves as high as 40 feet (12 meters), hitting inland as far as half a mile (1 km).

 

The Sri Lankan government declared a state of emergency, and along with the government of The Maldives has requested international assistance, the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported.

 

Sri Lankan officials imposed a curfew as night fell, and tourists were being evacuated from the eastern coasts to the capital, Colombo, which is on the west coast and was unaffected.

 

India agreed to assist Sri Lanka, sending two naval ships to the resort town of Galle, in the south, and Trincomalee, according to Colombo officials.

 

Indian aircraft will bring in relief supplies to the country on Monday.

 

India reeling

India itself is reeling from the aftermath of the quake and tsunamis. Indian officials said at least 2,300 Indians were killed as a result of the massive waves. A resident of Chennai (formerly Madras) in Tamil Nadu district -- the hardest hit area -- said he witnessed several people being swept away by a tidal wave.

 

Along India's southeastern coast, several villages appeared to have been swept away, and thousands of fishermen -- including 2,000 from the Chennai area alone -- who were out at sea when when the massive waves swept across the waters have not returned.

 

Along the coast, the brick foundations of village homes were all that remained.

 

Official state media said 1,725 people were killed in Tamil Nadu state. At least 300 people died in India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, which were closer to the quake's epicenter. Most of the aftershocks have been centered off those islands.

 

A further 700 were missing.

 

Three hundred others were reported to have been killed in other states, with thousands missing, many of them fishermen at sea when the waves hit.

 

Paradise destroyed

Thai authorities say more than 200 are feared dead, and hundreds are missing after the massive waves swept through coastal areas, including Krabi and the popular resort islands of Phuket and Phi Phi.

 

One witness said Phuket's famed Laguna Beach resort area is "completely gone." The area provides 40 percent of Thailand's $10 billion annual tourist income.

 

Among the missing were a number of scuba divers exploring the Emerald Cave off Phuket's coast.

 

Officials say the final toll in Thailand may be closer to 1,000.

 

Phuket's airport -- which closed down when its runways flooded -- reopened, but most roads remained closed, as officials tried to assess the damage, fearing structural damage to buildings closer to the shore.

 

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived in Phuket and said the situation was "under control." He told CNN he planned to stay the night and direct rescue and relief efforts.

 

Eyewitnesses reported people drowning in their hotel rooms near the coast as 30-foot waves washed ashore. Others reported narrow escapes -- including one man whose alert but screaming boat driver turned their boat directly into a nearby shore. As he and his passengers scrambled up the steep beach, the waves crushed their boat.

 

There were also fatalities reported in The Maldvies. However, an accurate death toll has not been assessed because communications to the outlying islands have been cut off.

 

The earthquake is classified as "great" -- the strongest classification given by the NEIC.

 

NEIC geophysicist Don Blakeman said all of the tsunamis were triggered by the initial quake. Waverly Person, Blakeman's colleague at NEIC, said the tsunamis are "long over at this point," and residents and visitors should not be concerned with more high water.

 

One major aftershock, measuring 7.3 in magnitude, struck about 300 kilometers (200 miles) northwest of Banda Aceh -- on Sumatra's northernmost tip -- over four hours after the initial quake, according to the NEIC. The rest of the aftershocks measured under 6.5 in magnitude.

 

The NEIC expects the quake to produce hundreds of smaller aftershocks, under 4.6 magnitude, and thousands smaller than that.

 

"A quake of this size has some pretty serious effects," he said.

 

He explained the quake was the energy released from "a very large rupture in the earth's crust" over 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) long. The rupture created shockwaves that moved the water along at several hundred miles per hour.

 

It was the strongest earthquake to hit since March 1964, when a 9.2 quake struck near Alaska's Prince William Sound. The strongest recorded earthquake registered 9.5 on May 22, 1960, in Chile.

 

CNN Correspondents Aneesh Raman in Phuket, Satinder Bindra in Colombo and Suhasini Haidar in Chennai contributed to this report.

 

 

 

I have a good friend from Sri Lanka, I am gonna have to speak to her quickly and check if her family is alright. This is horrible. :crying

This is the worst natural disaster I have ever seen.

 

My heartfelt wishes go out to all those who are suffering.

truly sad sad news

 

hope that all the countries affected can pull through

 

 

the toll is 11K and counting

I'm spoken to my friend and they don't even know about there family. Got no connection there.

So many countries affected.

Did anyone see this coming? Didn't anyone notice all the reports of earthquakes in the region every so often becoming more frequent and stronger on the news? Because I sure did. I told my friend 2 months ago something bad was gonna happen.

Its up to 21,000. :boo-woo

Australia

seven

nine

Australian Broadcasting Company

Sky News Australia

 

Japan

NHK

 

United Kingdom

BBC

Sky News

ITN

 

Canada

CBC

CTV News

GlobalNational & National Post

 

U.S.-based

CNN

Fox News

MSNBC

ABC News

CBS News

Voice of America

make that 23K and counting

I seriously need to find a way to speak to my friend but she's in a current state of uncommunicableness, no cell and probably no computer. And I don't have her house phone number lying around anywhere.

 

 

 

 

This has easily been the worse natural disaster year in a long time, four hurricanes hit Florida, 10 typhoons hit Japan, floods in Haiti killed thousands and thousands of people, this Tsunami is probably gonna top at least 50,000 dead, and many other disasters.

I seriously need to find a way to speak to my friend but she's in a current state of uncommunicableness, no cell and probably no computer. And I don't have her house phone number lying around anywhere.

 

 

 

 

This has easily been the worse natural disaster year in a long time, four hurricanes hit Florida, 10 typhoons hit Japan, floods in Haiti killed thousands and thousands of people, this Tsunami is probably gonna top at least 50,000 dead, and many other disasters.

643556[/snapback]

 

1. Good luck to your friend man.

 

2. This could be the worst disaster in centuries when it's all said and done, this is a disaster of Revelations-like proportions, and isn't really comparable to anything else that's happened recently (although i'm sure you know that).

I seriously need to find a way to speak to my friend but she's in a current state of uncommunicableness, no cell and probably no computer. And I don't have her house phone number lying around anywhere.

 

 

 

 

This has easily been the worse natural disaster year in a long time, four hurricanes hit Florida, 10 typhoons hit Japan, floods in Haiti killed thousands and thousands of people, this Tsunami is probably gonna top at least 50,000 dead, and many other disasters.

643556[/snapback]

 

1. Good luck to your friend man.

 

2. This could be the worst disaster in centuries when it's all said and done, this is a disaster of Revelations-like proportions, and isn't really comparable to anything else that's happened recently (although i'm sure you know that).

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For number 1, thanks.

 

Number 2, just go back 32 years to the cyclone that killed 100,000+ in Bangladesh for a worse natural disaster in terms of deaths, at the moment. Who knows how many people will never be found all across the Indian Ocean.

So much destruction. Probably the worst place this could have happened

Even with the large amount of area affected, Insurance Companies estimate that the largest payouts for 2004 will come from the 4 Hurricanes/1 Tropical Storm in Florida than this earthquake/tsunami disaster. Most of the damage is close to the coast and insured. Many of the buildings in the earthquake area are retrofitted for quakes so the damage is minimal.

 

The tidal wave damage is less than the storms....makes you think how bad the storms were.

Beach front property state side cost a lot more than beach front property in developing nations. Plus I doubt a lot of what was hit by the tsunamis was insured. I failed to notice when filing for state farm insurance where the box for "wooden hut" was. :plain

The death was so great because of lack of warnings. The property damage is not as big because it is a relatively small area damaged severely because the waves don't go that far inland. Island suffered the most.

Even with the large amount of area affected, Insurance Companies estimate that the largest payouts for 2004 will come from the 4 Hurricanes/1 Tropical Storm in Florida than this earthquake/tsunami disaster.

643600[/snapback]

 

Here's why:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tsunami waves may have killed more than 21,500 in Asia this past weekend, but U.S. property-casualty insurers are expected to suffer little if any financial damage, analysts said.

 

Most of the nation's largest insurance carriers have relatively little exposure to Asia, and those that do pass much of that risk off to reinsurance companies. Beyond the human and economic devastation, analysts said the question will be how much insured damage was caused by the waves.

 

Prudential Equity Group insurance analyst Jay Gelb, in a note to clients on Monday, said the impact "could be modest" for insurers despite billions of dollars worth of destruction.

 

The property damage is not as big because it is a relatively small area damaged severely because the waves don't go that far inland.

643612[/snapback]

 

Well then the damage might have been pushing much much more.

ummm the regions hit were also some of the poorest.

 

 

 

i doubt entire towns were leveled by any of hte hurricanes in florida.

 

 

 

perspective people. perspective.

 

 

you cant put everything in terms of the almighty dollar.

Asia, Africa, and the Pacific is a big market for many insurance companies based out of Europe. They report less-than-previously-estimated damages

ummm the regions hit were also some of the poorest.

 

 

 

i doubt entire towns were leveled by any of hte hurricanes in florida.

 

 

 

perspective people. perspective.

 

 

you cant put everything in terms of the almighty dollar.

643624[/snapback]

Obviously Das,

 

But the waves don't spare anyone. Rich or poor, they roll in.

 

Punta Gorda, Florida was pretty leveled. So was Port Charlotte, Florida.

Hopefully they can clean up and restart again. The damage in Sri Lanka is the worst.

This shows us 2 things:

 

1) Warnings work (India sent out warnings to many towns and saved alot of lives)

2) Retrofitting works (Many of the Pacific countries hit by the 'quake suffered minor damage compared to the strength of the earthquake.)

ummm the regions hit were also some of the poorest.

 

 

 

i doubt entire towns were leveled by any of hte hurricanes in florida.

 

 

 

perspective people. perspective.

 

 

you cant put everything in terms of the almighty dollar.

643624[/snapback]

Obviously Das,

 

But the waves don't spare anyone. Rich or poor, they roll in.

 

Punta Gorda, Florida was pretty leveled. So was Port Charlotte, Florida.

643626[/snapback]

 

 

pretty leveled and sorta leveled is not the same as leveled.

 

 

and waves dont spare anyone just like tornadoes dont spare anyone, just like lightning doesnt spare anyone just like (insert natural disaster) doesnt spare anyone.

I am amazed that more didn't die.

i am amazed they actually think they have a definite death toll at this point.