Tsunami Death Toll Soars to Near 77,000
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - As the world scrambled to the rescue, survivors fought over packs of noodles in quake-stricken Indonesian streets Wednesday while relief supplies piled up at the airport for lack of cars, gas or passable roads to move them. The official death toll across 12 countries soared to near 77,000 and the Red Cross predicted it could pass 100,000.
Full Article : news.yahoo.com

What Did the US Know and When Did It Know It?
Reports on the Asian tsunami typically ignore the crucial political back stories in volatile areas like Aceh and Sri Lanka...and how "aid" efforts will be exploited for geo-political gain. Without such context, the coverage is woefully incomplete and irresponsible. Today, Democracy Now did delve deeper into the situation in Aceh...the military repression, the role of Exxon-Mobil, and now the earthquake/tsunami. Do some research and see for yourself.
Full Article : counterpunch.org

New York Times Says Tsunami Kills White People, Too!
The images of the tsunami are overwhelming, the grief incalculable as the death toll rises to 80,000 and beyond. As many as a third of the victims have been children, unable to withstand the force of the monstrous waves that struck without warning. Amid this carnage, some of the leading media outlets in the United States have focused undue attention on the fact that some Westerners have died along with tens of thousands of Asians.

"Many Tourists Are Killed," read the subhed on the front page of Tuesday’s New York Times. (Its main headline drew attention to the high percentage of children who died.)
Full Article : commondreams.org

Race to bury Asia's dead as toll hits 68,000
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Thousands of corpses rotted in Indonesia's tropical sun on Wednesday as rescuers scoured isolated coasts across the Indian Ocean for survivors of Sunday's giant waves that killed more than 68,000.
Full Article : abs-cbnnews.com

More Than 4,000 Tourists Missing in Tsunami-Hit Asia
More than 4,000 overseas tourists from nations worldwide are missing three days after 10-meter (33 feet) waves swept through Asian resorts at the height of the vacation season. The Nordic countries are among the hardest hit.
Full Article : bloomberg.com

British toll rises in Asia quake
A total of 26 Britons have been confirmed dead after the Indian Ocean tsunami, with Thai authorities suggesting as many as 43 may have died.
Full Article : bbc.co.uk

Rescuers battle as toll climbs in Asia
The death toll from the Asian tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off Indonesia, is 67 682 people, according to government and health officials.
Full Article : iol.co.za

Tsunami endangers survival of Andaman tribes
The unprecedented devastation in the Andaman and Nicobar islands has raised real fears about virtual decimation of indigenous tribal groups on the islands.

Many of these tribes are living away from civil society, and smaller and more vulnerable islands and importantly, far away from any means of help.
Full Article : ndtv.com

How earthquake jolted the planet
Sumatra is thought to have moved by as much as 120ft and the Earth to have shifted on its axis

THE earthquake responsible for the Asian tsunami was so powerful that it changed the local geography, shifting islands and the mainland of Sumatra by as much as 120ft, American seismologists said yesterday.

The energy released by the quake was so huge that it may even have caused the Earth to wobble on its axis. Geophysicists are calling it a megathrust, the term used for the most powerful of changes in the Earth’s surface. Pressure built up over nearly two centuries was released in a single snap.

"That earthquake has changed the map," Ken Hudnut, of the US Geological Survey (USGS), said. "Based on seismic modelling, some of the smaller islands off the southwest coast of Sumatra may have moved to the southwest by about 20 metres. That is a lot of slip."
Full Article : timesonline.co.uk

India, South Asia ignored tsunami alert system
NEW YORK: India and other South Asian countries have tended to treat tsunamis as a problem of the Pacific Ocean and in the process not paid enough attention to warnings, say experts.
Full Article : indiatimes.com

Deadly waves explained
A tsunami is a series of ocean waves that are generated by a large-scale disturbance of seawater. Most tsunamis are generated from earthquakes, but they can also occur after volcanic eruptions, landslides, and meteor impacts. The most destructive tsunamis are created by large earthquakes with an epicenter or fault line near or on the ocean floor. Usually, it takes an earthquake with a strength above 7.5 on the Richter scale to generate a destructive tsunami.
Full Article : boston.com