Earthquake disaster - Government must up €1m aid donation

WITH the death toll of the Asian earthquake continuing to soar hour upon agonising hour, it is vital that the focus be directed to the care of millions of people caught up in a humanitarian and economic disaster of truly biblical proportions.

Unparallelled in modern times, the sheer scale of this catastrophe, which could ultimately claim up to 100,000 lives, threatens to overwhelm the greatest relief effort in history which is ponderously getting underway.

In stark contrast with previous international emergencies that were generally confined to one place, the awesome force of the tidal waves triggered by the earthquake devastated thousands of communities in 12 countries across coastal regions ranging from Indonesia to Sri Lanka and India to Africa.