Swept to their deaths

MORE THAN 11,500 people were killed in seven countries as tidal waves from a massive undersea earthquake smashed into coastlines across Asia yesterday.

Whole villages were washed away in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India, sunbathers were dragged out to sea and snorkellers pulled across jagged reefs at tourist havens in Thailand.

As every hour passes, the death toll from the most powerful earthquake in four decades climbs steadily.

As people fought for their lives, bodies were washed up on beaches and left hanging like rag dolls from trees.

Foreign tourists were among the dead.

Tens of thousands fled the coasts for higher ground, fearing aftershocks and further flood surges.

Worst hit was Sri Lanka - an island nation some 1,600 kilometres west of the epicentre. The death toll there stood at 4,500 early yesterday, but was expected to rise. Sri Lanka's government declared a national disaster.

The 8.9-magnitude earthquake - the strongest since a 9.2 magnitude quake in Alaska in 1964 - struck around breakfast time at its centre, off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, about 1,620 kilometres northwest of Jakarta, the capital.

It was 10 kilometres deep and was followed by a half-dozen powerful aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from almost 6 to 7.3.

The quake occurred at a place where several huge geological plates push against each other with massive force, triggering the sudden displacement of a huge volume of water.

The reverberations sent waves as high as six metres thundering into the coasts of six countries, sweeping away tourists, fishermen, hotels, homes and cars.

In India, the waves swept away boats, homes and vehicles killing several thousand in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry, officials said.

Tamil Nadu's beaches resembled open-air mortuaries as fishermen's bodies washed ashore and retreating waters left behind others killed inland. Sea water flooded the streets, flipping over dozens of cars and leaving some vehicles perched atop road dividers.

At least 20,000 were evacuated from the region.

More than 300 people were killed on India's Andaman and Nicobar islands, and another 700 were missing and believed dead.

Eyewitness P Ramanamurthy, 40, an Andhra Pradesh resident, said: "I was shocked to see fishing boats flying on the shoulder of the waves, going back and forth into the sea, as if made of paper.

"Many boats were upturned, but fishermen were still holding on to them. They also were pushed into the sea. It was shocking."

Towns in Indonesia's Aceh province, the closest region to the earthquake's epicentre, were swamped by the waves. Initial reports said 2,435 people were killed with hundreds more missing.

At least 30,000 people were reported to have fled their homes.

Pope John Paul II led appeals for aid for victims.

The Government yesterday pledged €1.2 million to assist Red Cross teams involved in disaster areas. Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern conveyed Ireland's deepest sympathy to the countries affected.

He said there had been no reports, so far, of any Irish casualties.

The minister said his department was working with Irish embassies in India, Malaysia and Singapore to assist people trying to make contact with families.