On The Third Hand

Tidal Waves Kill More Than 3,000 in Asia

A gargantuan earthquake centered off the west coast of Indonesia unleashed a series of tidal waves Sunday morning that crashed into coastal towns, fishing villages and tourist resorts from India and Sri Lanka to Thailand and Malaysia, killing at least 3,000 people and leaving many more missing.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured the earthquake at 8.9 on the Richter scale, making it the fifth strongest since 1900. It was the largest since 1964, when Alaska was jolted by a quake measuring 9.2.

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On the island of Phuket, one of Southeast Asia’s most popular tourist destinations, 30-foot waves destroyed hotels lining the seafront and flung vehicles around like driftwood, sowing panic during one of the busiest times of the year. People were taken unaware when the wall of water swept over the sand, swamping beachfront palm trees, and on to the streets at about 8:30 a.m. local time.

“People were coming up the roads, running and screaming that the beach was disappearing,” said Borge Carlsson, a Swede who owns a guesthouse about 200 yards back from the beach. “Cars were upside down, floating around,” he added. “It’s amazing to see anything like this.”

At the southern tip of Phuket, on Naiham Beach, the waves dismantled a crowded strip of shops, restaurants, tailors and motorbike rental outlets. “The shops are all in pieces,” said Taiboon Chuenarom, front office manager of the Le Royal Meridien Phuket Yacht Club. “Some people were definitely killed, people eating, having drinks. The wave came so suddenly.”

More as I find out more.

[update] Some pictures here. More at CNN, with a gallery (look to the right for the link). BBC has more pictures. Lots of pictures here, taken by locals. (Hat tip for the last to S. Den Beste, via Rantburg.)

[update] Phuket blog with some pictures. Nice to know at least one of my friends there is ok. That beach where the pictures were taken isn’t too far from where I used to live. I used to go there often. If I’ve got my angles right, here are before pictures of the house he took a picture of. Some friends of mine lived there before turning it into a resort. The place he had coffee and a swim (I’ve eaten there a number of times) was the restaurant next door.

[update] ScandAsia has a lot of eyewitness reports from affected areas.

[update]Death toll from the tsunamis is now at about 10,000. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India were hit the worst. I expect the death toll to go higher.