Tsunami Tragedy
An earthquake raised tsunamis that have been responsible for over 18,000 deaths in South and SE Asia.
Magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck off Indonesia. Moved the entire island of Sumatra 30 metres south-west. One of the largest ever recorded. Ruptured a 1000km-long stretch of the Earth beneath the Indian Ocean, causing one side of the fault to slide past the other, causing the tsunamis.
More than 6,289 people were killed in southern India, including about 3,000 in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; at least 5,880 people, including 70 foreigners, died and many more are reported missing in Sri Lanka; at least 4,491 people were killed in Indonesia; more than 839 were killed and another 7,200 injured in southern Thailand; and 44 people were killed in Malaysia.