The military was preparing to dig mass graves today on Indonesia’s battered Sumatra Island, where the government said the official death toll from an earthquake and tsunamis had reached more than 32,000.

The death toll from the killer waves unleashed across the Indian Ocean by the megaquake climbed inexorably toward 50,000 tonight.

The death toll from epic tidal waves that rocked 11 countries rose to 40,000 people today after Sri Lanka and Indonesia significantly increased their confirmed deaths.

They struggled to bury the dead and desperate residents looted shops on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island today, where the earthquake and tsunamis killed up to 25,000 people, according to government estimates.