Death toll doubles, nearing 100,000
The numbers were hard to comprehend but each represented an individual human loss in a tragedy of almost unimaginable proportions, which has left the world shocked.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the total number of dead could reach 100,000, while the World Health Organisation warned that diseases could double the number killed by the waves.
As coastline searches continued throughout the region, thousands more bodies were discovered.
Some aid workers predicted the death toll would far exceed 100,000, with 80,000 dead in one Indonesian province alone.
"We're facing a disaster of unprecedented proportion in nature," said Simon Missiri, Asia Pacific chief at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. "We're talking about a staggering death toll."
Military teams reaching the west coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island for the first time reported scenes of total devastation.
The survey of Sumatra - nearest the epicentre of Sunday's massive quake that launched a wall of water around Asia - highlighted the scale of the challenge relief organisations face.
In the first visit to the battered region, news crews flew over towns covered in mud and sea water.
Homes had their roofs ripped off or were flattened. There were few signs of life, except for a handful of villagers scavenging for food on the beach.
"The damage is truly devastating," said Major General Endang Suwarya, the military commander of Sumatra's Aceh province.
"75% of the west coast is destroyed and some places it's 100%. These people are isolated and we will try and get them help."
More than 500,000 are reported injured and five million in need of aid.
The federation has been unable to assess the total number of missing people.
Indonesia's official death toll stood at 45,268, but authorities said this did not include a full count from Sumatra's west coast. The death toll in Indonesia's Aceh province might reach 80,000, a UN official said.
He said there might have been 40,000 deaths in the town of Meulaboh.
Trucks unceremoniously dumped more than 1,000 unidentified bloated bodies into open graves on Sumatra. In India the death toll rose to nearly 7,000.
Not included in the toll are some 8,000 who are missing and feared dead on India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Sri Lanka put its toll at more than 23,000, Thailand had more than 1,800 dead and more than 300 were killed in Malaysia, Burma, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Somalia, Tanzania and Kenya.
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