japantoday > asia

Tsunami death toll heads toward 150,000

Sunday, January 2, 2005 at 07:28 JST
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — The death toll from last Sunday's tsunamis was heading toward 150,000 Sunday as a deluge from the skies deepened the misery for tsunami-stricken areas, triggering flash floods in Sri Lanka that sent evacuees fleeing and increasing the threat of deadly disease as survivors shivered in relief centers.

A magnitude 6.5 aftershock jolted Sumatra as the world's aid efforts shifted into high gear in ways big and small: elephant convoys working in Thailand, global assistance reaching $2 billion with a fresh pledge from Tokyo, and the U.S. military launching one of the biggest relief missions in history.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan decided to visit Indonesia, the hardest hit nation, where the official death toll stood at more than 80,000, but officials said it could reach 100,000. Annan will attend a conference Thursday in Jakarta on organizing relief.

"We mourn, we cry and our hearts weep to witness thousands of victims sprawled everywhere," said Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, touring the damage on Sumatra island, which bore the brunt of both the quake and the waves.

"The carnage is of a scale that defies comprehension," U.S. President George Bush said in his weekly radio address, announcing a proclamation calling for U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff this week in honor of the dead. Secretary of State Colin Powell was also heading for the region.

But the dollar figures were an abstraction for survivors whose hearts were broken once again by water.

At one refugee camp on the grounds of the airport of Banda Aceh, hundreds of people spent a wet night under plastic sheets. Mothers nursed babies while others tried to light a fire with damp matches.

"With no help we will die," said Indra Syaputra. "We came here because we heard that we could get food, but it was nonsense. All I got was some packets of noodles."

The rains pummeling the corpse-littered city were creating the conditions for cholera and other waterborne diseases to spread. Boxes of aid at Banda Aceh's airport soaked up water, making it difficult for workers loading cartons of water, crackers and noodles onto delivery vehicles.

More amazing stories of survival emerged.

The Indonesian Red Cross in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province, reportedly dug out a survivor from the ruins of a house where he had been buried since the tsunami struck. The rescuers heard Ichsan Azmil's cries for help. After he was pulled out Friday, he asked for water and was taken to a hospital for treatment of cuts and bruises.

On India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, a woman who fled the killer waves gave birth Monday in the forest that became her sanctuary. She named her son "Tsunami."

Even art became part of the folklore of resilience.

In the historic port town of Galle, Sri Lanka, several Buddha statues of cement and plaster were found unscathed amid collapsed brick walls in the center of the devastated city.

To many residents, it was a divine sign.

"The people are not living according to religious virtues," said Sumana, a Buddhist monk in an orange robe who sheltered himself from the sun under a black umbrella.

In eastern Sri Lanka, flash floods forced the evacuation of about 2,000 people already displaced by a tsunami that killed nearly 29,000 people on the tropical island.

Several roads leading to Ampara were flooded, preventing relief trucks from arriving, said Neville Wijesinghe, a senior police officer. Bureaucratic delays, fuel shortages, impassable roads and long distances also blocked supplies.

In addition to the deaths, 5 million people were homeless. The hunt for loved ones dragged on with tens of thousands still missing. Among the missing were some 3,500 Swedes and 1,000 Germans, and hundreds of others from Scandinavia, Italy and Belgium.

Aftershocks rattled the region, sending panicked Sumatrans into the streets.

Seismologists said strong tremors of up to magnitude 6.1 also struck the Andaman and Nicobar islands, where the exact number of tsunami casualties was not known but feared to be in the thousands.

Hunger and disease were the biggest threats in the archipelago, which the Indian government has largely been keeping off-limits to foreign aid agencies.

"There is starvation. People haven't had food or water for at least five days. There are carcasses. There will be an epidemic," said Andaman's member of Parliament, Manoranjan Bhakta.

Island officials say at least 3,754 people were missing amid crumbled homes, downed trees and mounds of dead animals. V.V. Bhat, chief secretary of the islands, said the missing could not be presumed dead because they could have survived in coconut groves that dot the islands.

In the Thai resort of Phuket, five elephants, normally used to haul logs in forests, were being sent to pull heavy debris in areas that are too hilly or muddy for vehicles.

Thailand's official death count was 4,812, with over half of them foreigners. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has warned the figure is likely to reach 8,000. Many people have blamed the high number of casualties on bureaucratic bungling and poor communication systems. Thaksin said the government will investigate why tsunami warnings largely failed to reach officials and tourist resorts.

Western health officials headed to devastated areas across Sri Lanka after officials warned about possible disease outbreaks among the 1 million people seeking shelter in camps.

"Our biggest battle and fear now is to prevent an epidemic from breaking out," said Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva. "Clean water and sanitation is our main concern." (Wire reports)

Related Articles

	15 Japanese dead, as tsunami death toll soars to 120,000
	Tsunami toll tops 60,000; 4 Japanese dead, 40 still missing
	The whole world has to roll up its sleeves
	15 Japanese believed dead, 43 missing as tsunami death toll tops 20,000
	Japan sets up crisis center after tsunamis kill 12,000 in Asia

Post Your Opinion!

26 Total Messages (Click here to show all)
15 Messages Shown (Scroll down for most recent)

link to videos pasquinade  (Dec 29 2004 - 16:03)

http://jlgolson.blogspot.com/2004/12/ tsunami-video.html The Patong Beach video best depicts how much devastation these things are capable of.

Is it just me....? Red Lion  (Dec 29 2004 - 23:40)

...or is it rather somewhat common-knowledge that when the tide rapidly pulls out at the beach, that means it's coming back just as rapidly, and likely very much more powerfully? What I think is absolutely insae is the people who were at the beaches with their video cameras (and children with them!?!?!?!?!?!) videoed the tide pulling out very rapidly, and saying "Ooooh! Aaaaaah! Mite!! Omoshiroii!!!", and NOT getting themselves and their loved ones to safety! I don't mean to belittle those who have suffered, but man!!!! Come on!!! Even a land-lubber like me knows that when the tide disappears rapidlty from the beach that sooner or later it's going to come back even more powerfully! What was even more insane is that there were video shots of people ACTUALLY WATCHING THE WALL OF WATER COME IN AND N-O-T RUNNING FOR COVER UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE!!!?!!?! My word! A ten- to twenty-meter high wall of water rises out of the sea, and people stand on the beach and watch it come in, almost until it was too late!!!! Anyway, my prayers go to those who have suffered. I have had Sri Lankan students and I pray that their families are safe.....

Tsunami death toll reaches 84,000 RomeoRamen  (Dec 30 2004 - 19:37)

Arjun wrote: "Last year was the earthquake in Iran and this year the huge tsunami!!!" It must be the work of God. Afterall, many muslims were killed in both incidents.

Tsunami caused Nuclear Detonation johnaldB  (Dec 30 2004 - 22:58)

Please don't listen to anyone telling you 32,000 megatons of TNT are required to produce such a wave. "How Tsunami are Generated There is an average of two destructive tsunami per year in the Pacific basin. Pacific wide tsunami are a rare phenomenon, occurring every 10 - 12 years on the average. Most of these tsunami are generated by earthquakes that cause displacement of the seafloor, but, as we shall see, tsunami can be generated by ... underwater explosions..." http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:TVVZ4v-IKukJ:www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/geol204/tsunami.htm+underwater+nuclear+tsunami&hl=en%20target=nw A tsunami is a massive wave that sometimes follows an earthquake or underwater landslide, volcanic eruption, nuclear explosion, or meteorite impact. Kodiak is one of the many Alaska communities that pay attention to this silent, terrifying threat, because a tsunami destroyed much of the town in March 1964. http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:kQ8rAyvxS3oJ:www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF15/1596.html+underwater+nuclear+tsunami&hl=en%20target=nw

110,000 toll on this morning's news zero shift  (Dec 31 2004 - 04:02)

they are saying that 10's of thousands are still missing on top of that number as well. - that information was on CNN

it's interesting that the news reports only mikel  (Jan 1 2005 - 09:04)

report aid donated by "western" nations...hardly mention any aid given by Asian nations such as China (65 million dollars) and japan (35 million dollars)...as well as rescue teams sent by both to the stricken areas. So I guess only western nations such as britain and france have compassion...I am actualy surprised that Japan Today is following this western led campaign to show how compassionate westerneres "are". Way to go.

Big Waste bub  (Jan 1 2005 - 11:02)

Plenty of better uses for our aid dollars right here in America.

no money left takuan_18  (Jan 1 2005 - 12:41)

all spent on bombs

"all spent on bombs" bub  (Jan 1 2005 - 13:46)

Well, then, let's use 'em!

Aid pours in as tsunami death toll reaches 121,000 redman  (Jan 1 2005 - 16:49)

The media criticized George W. Bush a couple of days ago for not rushing back from vacation and jumping in front of the cameras. So what names will they call UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who kept on skiing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for three days? http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=660 Annan has got to go.

sigh ......... obaachan  (Jan 1 2005 - 21:13)

'It must be God'...(romeoramen) 'Let's use em' ... (bob) 'I want to donate to every country but Sri Lanka for political reasons' ... (some other wanker whose name escapes me) Am I the only reader of these forums who's starting 2005 in a state of despair ? Obaachan, signing out for good.

did oil exploration precipate this event? takuan_18  (Jan 2 2005 - 05:04)

A theory has been presented that the large acoustical generator arrays used to prospect for oil deposits is linked to the sesmic movement. The sheer scale of the masses that shifted makes it superfically unlikely. But then again, a single human footstep in the wrong place can start a snow avalanche that wipes an entire mountain face clean. There is some indication that other petroleum extraction techniques such as pumping water or steam underground to force out oil also can produce earth movement. Whether or not there is any real merit to these ideas, rest assured that they do have legs as ideas in that part of the world and oil exploration will bear closer scrutiny and hostility. Myself, I think that it is thinly possible that regular pulses of sound at 200 decibel volumes beating down on the sea floor could have other effects than merely slaughtering hundreds of whales. Just as soldiers marching over bridges must break step to avoid harmonics, it may be wiser to ensure that such technology also be practiced in such a way as to avoid drum-beating the earth into replying.

"did oil exploration precipate this event?" pasquinade  (Jan 2 2005 - 05:40)

Good question,taco. Have you successfully located the Van Allen belt yet?

"A theory has been presented ..." RomeoRamen  (Jan 2 2005 - 05:40)

By who, taco? You? Bwa hahahaha!!!!!!

advice to Lefties/anti - US/ pasquinade  (Jan 2 2005 - 16:10)

anti - globalizatioon dorks etc. Victor Davis Hanson "Ignore most grim international reports that show the United States as stingy, greedy, or uncaring based on some esoteric formula that makes a Sweden or Denmark out as the world's savior. Such "studies" always ignore aggregate dollars and look at per capita public giving, and yet somehow ignore things like over $100 billion to Afghanistan and Iraq or $15 billion pledged to fight AIDS in Africa. These academic white papers likewise forget private donations, because most of the American billionaires who give to global causes of various sorts do so as either individuals or through foundations. No mention is made of the hundred of millions that are handled by American Christian charities. And the idea of a stingy America never mentions about $200 billion of the Pentagon's budget, which does things like keeping the Persian Gulf open to world commerce; protecting Europe; ensuring that the Aegean is free of shooting and that the waters between China, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan are relatively tranquil; and stopping nasty folk like the Taliban and Saddam from blowing up more Buddha monuments, desecrating Babylon, or ruining the ecology of the Tigris-Euphrates wetlands.Action and results, not rhetoric and intentions, are what matter."

Post Your Opinion!

Post Your Opinion

If you already have an account, please login.
Otherwise, please take a minute to register.

Registration allows you to have a unique User Name on the discussion board of Japan Today and in forum.japantoday.com!

Registration takes less than one minute. We respect your privacy and will not sell your email address to third parties without your permission.

Please address technical questions to bbs@japantoday.com.

Thank you!

Back