At least 4,185 dead as towns nearest epicentre destroyed by tidal waves

TOWNS nearest the epicentre of yesterday’s massive earthquake were levelled by tidal waves, killing at least 4,185 people and leaving bodies wedged in trees as the waters receded, officials and witnesses said.

Communications were down in several coastal towns facing the epicentre of the 8.9 magnitude quake off the west coast of Sumatra island, officials said, raising fears that further death and damage were yet to be reported.

Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra island - which for years has been torn by separatist violence - was worst hit.

Thousands of people had abandoned their homes and headed for higher ground after the earthquake, centred 25 miles below the seabed off Sumatra’s north coast, sent waves surging inland about 8am (1am Irish time), officials said.

The earthquake - the most powerful in 40 years - triggered massive tidal waves that swamped coastlines across Asia, killing more than 11,000 people in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Thailand.

At least one coastal village, Lancuk, was nearly destroyed, witnesses said. An AP reporter in the village saw several bodies wedged in trees.

“Waves as high as two or three meters suddenly rose up in the sea,” said one fisherman, Marzuki. “The water has destroyed dozens of houses.”

Hospital officials and emergency workers in Lhokseumawe said 90 people in the region had been killed, including many young children.

At least 98 people were killed in northern Bireun district as a result of flooding and “dozens” more were missing, said district head Mustofa Glanggang.

“More deaths are possible,” he said.

“People are too afraid to go home. They are gathering in open places and hospitals.”

Lt Col Ali Taruna Jaya told Metro TV station that 165 people had been killed by floodwaters in neighbouring Pidie district.

On Nias, a sparsely populated island off Aceh’s western coast, at least 42 people died in floodwaters, police said.

In Aceh’s provincial capital, Banda Aceh, nine people were swept away, one witness told Indonesian radio.

More than 310 miles to the southeast of Banda Aceh, four fishermen drowned when high waves hit their boat in a river close to the coastal town of Deli Serdang, said police.