8,600 now feared dead in Asian tragedy

More than 8,600 people are now reported dead around southern Asia, most killed by massive tidal waves that smashed coastlines around the region after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake in Indonesia on Sunday morning.

This followed reports of a 7.3 magnitude jolt in India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean.

:: Sri Lanka: About 4,500 reported dead, up to 1 million displaced. Massive tidal waves smash coastal villages.

:: India: More than 2,000 reported dead. Huge waves leave southern beaches strewn with bodies and flip over fishing boats and cars. Some flooding.

:: Indonesia: 1,902 reported dead. Towns levelled and bodies wedged in trees by walls of water. Aceh province on Sumatra island – torn by separatist violence for years – was near the Indonesian quake’s epicentre and was the hardest-hit part of the vast archipelago.

:: Thailand: 198 reported dead and many missing, mostly in idyllic southern islands packed with holiday revellers from around the world at the height of this country’s tourist season. Swimmers are battered on coral reefs and sunbathers are swept out to sea.

:: Malaysia: 42 people, including an unknown number of foreign tourists, reported dead. Tens of thousands are temporarily evacuated from hotels and apartments after the Indonesian quake was felt around peninsular Malaysia. No major damage reported.

:: Bangladesh: A magnitude 7.36 temblor struck the southern port city of Chittagong. Tidal surges kill at least two children as a boat with about 15 tourists capsized. Reports said the quake was felt in the central, southern and western parts of the country, including the capital Dhaka.

:: Maldives: No deaths confirmed, but much of this low-lying country of coral atolls off India’s southwestern coast, a popular high-end tourist destination, is reportedly inundated.

The country’s only international airport is closed.