HUGE EARHQUAKE/ TIDELWAVES
 

have hit samatra in indonesia and have sent tidlewaves into thailand (Phuket) and sri lanka.. many tourist said too have been swept away..

this happened about 5 hours ago. I recently woke up and checked CNN.. one of the reportes in bangkok said that he felt his buildingn sway in the city..

Oddly enough I have yet too see any thai tv stations covering the story..

Orgy-CNN is reporting it is the strongest earthquake to hit "the planet" in nearly 40 years-8.5, which struck off the coast of Sumatra, in Indonesia. At this time, 4 tourists in Phuket, nationality unknown, are reported as killed by the quake, but many more are feared dead in Thailand, as Thai reports of a "wall of water" bearing down on Phuket were seen. Wow.

CNN inernational

Hhucket 14 swept away 100's missing
laguna beach quoted by someone as "completely gone"

Sri lanka has about 500 dead

Indonesia 70 dead

INDIa 100 dead

Maldives 2/3 of capital city flooded.


this is all new news and still sketchy
and much of what I quickly posted will be proven wrong..

stangly indonesia geologist say it was just 6.5 while amercans say 8.5

Some 158 people died in popular southern Thailand resorts, the Narenthorn Center of the Public Health Ministry reported. The center said people were swept away in Phuket by a tsunami with 16-foot waves.

More than 1,900 were injured and many others were missing.

Waves reported to be up to 30 feet high crashed into beaches, where thousands of tourists were lazing on the country's renowned white sand beaches when the earthquake struck. Hundreds of bungalows, boats and cars were carried out to sea

Wow, what horrible news!

I wonder how much time there was between the actual initial earthquake and the tidal waves? Seconds? A couple minutes?

One of the aftershocks, alone, is said to have read a 7.3 magnitude, which is larger than anything I have ever felt in Southern California in my 33 years here.

This was said to be the largest quake in the world in the last 40 years.

I wonder if any cruise ships were around, and if so, how they were affected (especially if in port).

This is horrible. Our thoughts are with people and their families effected.

From ABC News:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=360147

The hardest hit country, Sri Lanka, is 1,000 miles west of the epicenter. If that is the damage from 1,000 miles away, it is hard to fathom the damage that would have been done had the earthquake been closer to these areas.

What makes this all especially scary is that the areas affected are major tourist destinations (Sri Lanka seems to be growing in popularity, Phuket is very popular and Madras, India seems generally popular amongst tourists, as well).

102 confirmed deaths come from Pondicherry, India, possibly known to some as the birthplace of Pi(scine) Patel, the fictional character from the excellent book, Life Of Pi.

Latest news as reported by Thai Tv - over 200 dead and some tv station are reporting over 400 dead. Several are still missing, including a dive group of between 40 - 100 divers who are mostly tourist.

Phi Phi was hardest hit with several casualties there and I've been told the Dusit, Sheraton and Banyan Tree hotels suffers heavy damage.

All the information that I've posted here are not confirm but are what I'm hearing from news and friends. The strange thing is that the Tsunami only lasted 15 - 20 minutes.

Someone was asking how long it took the Tsunami to reach Phuket - earthquake was at 7.58 am and the waves hit Phuket at around 10 am.

The Phuket's Laguna Beach resort is gone, the tourists with it. I looked up their website on one ocassion and it was one gorgeous place. Horrifying.

I just heard on the PR, at least 5600 people are dead.
What a holiday in those countries and we worry about so many insignificant things.

Our prayers most certainly go out to our wonderful friends in Thailand. We have spent so many lovely hours and days on Phuket and Phi Phi. May the search and recovery efforts go well.
Carol

I would think that if Phuket and Phi Phi were hit that other areas must have been impacted as well. I haven't heard of reports from other areas but I expect them to come soon. We are going to Railay and Koh Lanta in February and it shocks us that something unforeseen like this could happen.

We hope that the tolls don't continue to rise but I would expect they will.

CNN just reported that 200 are confirmed dead on Phi Phi (so far). They showed footage of Phuket but didn't give any numbers of deaths/injuries there. Phuket airport is open, they report, and a transport plane will be carrying people out.

One English tourist at Phuket reported into CNN that at 0600 (he might have gotten that wrong if the quake hit at 0758 - maybe meant 0900... he was on beach in ankle deep water and all of a sudden the water was up to his chest. He was off the beach in a hot flash, as were others and as far back onto the hotel property (into buildings), when the tsunami hit full force. Apparently, those who left the beach with him were okay (he was calling in this report), but had no idea of other damage or lost people. This call came into CNN at about 0800 this morning Sunday 12/26.

Most of the damage - Sri Lanka, Phuket, Phi Phi, India was due to the fact that there was nothing between Sumatra (epicenter) - just plain open sea - and these areas, whereas if there had been landmasses (other islands) the damage might have been lessened! Who knows when Mother Nature wants to have her way! This is terrible.

Not to show any less compassion to the human tragedy, but I see that Laguna Beach in Phuket also has resident elephants. I would imagine that they fared no better than the human residents/visitors at the resort.

http://www.lagunabeach-resort.com/elephant.htm

So many people people on this board wrote about going to Thailand this Christmas. If you can get to an internet computer, please let us know you are OK. We worry about our Fodorites!

It has been a long time since I visited the forum but wanted to check in because of the news on CNN. So many people here helped contribute to the success of our trip in February that I hope none of them or their families are in peril. And of course it's just awful for the Thai families that live in the affected areas.

I have not visited this site since our return from Phuket and the rest of Thailand last March.I know that there are residents of Phuket that helped us plan the trip and I pray for their safety. Please communicate with us. For up to date info, go to www.phuketgazette.com. It is amazing that the newspaper is still running.

Woke up to the news that over 7,000 people are dead in SE Asia due to the natural disaster that has struck. Horrible, horrible. In Phuket, of all places! Who would have thought.

I wonder which charities are helping out. Been to the American Red Cross website - they haven't yet posted anything. I am sure we will see something within the next couple of days.

I am sorry. The correct address is phuketgazette.net.