希望他們都平安
也希望他們能盡快重整家園
CHENNAI: Nature's fury in the form of giant tidal waves devastated coastal Tamil Nadu killing more than 1000 people, mostly fishermen, on Sunday morning. Several hundred are also reportedly missing. When reports last came in, around 70 bodies had been brought to the Royapettah Government Hospital.
The heaviest casualty could be in Nagapattinam where about 500 people feared killed. In Chennai and Cuddalore around 200 people each are feared dead. Cuddalore Collector Gagandeep Singh Bedi said 190 people were killed in the district. Sea kept receding after every incursion into the coast, but only to return within minutes with a vengeance, eating away more of the shore. Helicopters were pressed into service for rescue operation.
The day started on an ominous note as most people were jolted awake by mild tremors around 6.35 a.m. What was experienced here was only after-effects of a major quake, measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre off Sumatra coast in Indonesia, said officials at the Meteorological Department.
As people were returning to their houses, the sea started turning violent with Tsunamis (giant waves) raging against the shore. Fishermen huts all along the coastal Tamil Nadu were washed away by titanic waves.
In Chennai, several hundred people who were either walking or playing on the Marina or huddled inside their huts were engulfed by the violent sea. Crossing the road, water entered the DGP office premises on the Marina. The receding waves left sand all over the coastal area.
Situation was quite worse in fishermen colonies like Foreshore Estate (Pattinapakkam) and Besant Nagar too. Waves as high as 10 to 15 feet devoured several thousand huts destroying not only the properties, but also taking away the lives of around 200 hapless fishermen.
Sources at the Geological Department of Madras University said shocks of major quakes could be felt even up to 2000 km distance.
The last such tremor was felt here on January 26, 2002 measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale at 8.27 pm near Pondicherry. Earlier, on September 25, 2001, a tremor was felt around 8.30 am with epic centre in Gujarat measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale.
Around 15 people lost their lives in Kalpakkam. The second unit in the Madras Atomic Power Station at Kalpakkam was shut down, according to MAPS sources.
At Chennai Port Trust water entered as far as the main gate. Two ships which were anchored there were tossing in the rough sea.
At the airport, a flight to Port Blair was cancelled.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa around noon and expressed his grief and shock over the sudden calamity which had affected the state.
Jayalalithaa informed the Prime Minister that she was personally undertaking an aerial survey of the affected areas. She told him that the entire administration, besides Army, Navy and Coast Guard, had been pressed into service to arrange relief and rescue operations. The Prime Minister also told her that the Army and Coast Guard had been alerted to provide full support. Manmohan Singh also assured her of all expert seismological advice, a release said.
Union and State Ministers visited the affected people and monitored relief operations. Those who have been rendered homeless have been accommodated at schools and hospitals.
100 washed away in Chennai city
Chennai, Dec 26: At least 150 people were washed away, including 100 in Chennai city, and over 100 reportedly missing as the huge tidal waves swept through their dwelling units along the coastal areas in various parts of Tamil Nadu in the aftermath of a tremor that struck the state early this morning, according to police sources.
In Chennai city alone at least 100 people had been swept away in the flash floods, mostly in the northern part of the city, like Tiruvotriyur, Ennore and Royapuram. The impact was felt even in other southern parts of the city like Besant Nagar, police here said.
In the coastal district of Cuddalore, at least 42 people were killed, besides five in Nagapattinam and one in Kancheepuram, police said, adding many more were missing and they were trying to ascertain this figure.
The panic that had gripped the city and other parts of the city as the news of tremor broke out, has now receded as normalcy was slowly returning. Relief and rescue work was now in full swing and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa is scheduled to go an aerial survey of the affected coastal districts of the state. (Our Correspondent)
HONG KONG, Dec. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- About 4,000 people in Sri Lanka,India, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia have been killed by horrible tsunamis triggered by devastating earthquake on Sunday.
The quake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale jolted sea areas northwest of Indonesia's Sumatra Sunday morning, the most powerful recorded in 40 years.
According to the State Seismological Bureau of China, the epicenter of the quake is 30 kilometers from the coast, approximately 300 kilometers from Medan and 200 kilometers from Banda Aceh.
The death toll of Sunday tidal wave devastation which hit the eastern and southern coasts of Sri Lanka had crossed 1,500 mark bypress time while the death toll reached 454 in Indonesia, more than 1,000 in India, 5 in Malaysia, 100 in Thailand and 1 in Maldives.
In addition to the dead, hundreds of other people were reported missing elsewhere, most of them fishermen at sea, in the region.
Sri Lankan prime minister's office said Sunday that some 1,500 people were killed and 1 million affected as tsunami tidal waves caused by an earthquake off Indonesia smashed into the island.
Massive sea waves crashed into coastal villages over a wide area of Sri Lanka on Sunday, killing more than 1,000 people and displacing 500,000 others, officials and hospital doctors said. The death toll was still rising, they warned.
The tidal waves also hit the neighboring Maldives, where the authorities closed the airport.
Maldives government officials said the waves were as high as one meter, hitting the low-lying capital Male, two-thirds of which was under water.
In Indonesia, some 454 people were killed after the extremely powerful earthquake rocked Aceh province of Indonesia on Sunday morning.
According to Bireun chief of district in Aceh province the figure will increase as they still look for many unidentified deadbodies.
The officials from Biruen and Pidie districts said thousands of people had left their homes to higher areas to avoid further tremor and flood.
Up to now, the quake has already caused some hundreds houses down, electricity cut off and bridges damaged.
In Thailand, some 100 people died and 1,339 were injured in southern Songkhla, Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga and Surat Thani provinces, that draw thousands of visitors each year due to their world-famous beaches.
At least 40 tourists died in Phuket island as waves had reachedas high as eight or even 10 meters before crashing into its coast.
Phuket's famous beach town Patong was flooded with all shops, kiosks and hotels damaged by the tsunamis.
On Phang-Nga, another popular tourist site near Phuket, people even sought refuge from the floods on rooftops. The tourists said they were relaxing on the beach when the tsunamis suddenly appeared.
The navy has been airlifting tourists who were stranded at hotels and bungalows near affected beaches to safer areas.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who had been visiting the victims of recent earthquake in Nabire district, in Papua province, had ordered authorities to handle the natural disaster and asked some ministers to visit the affected area, the state spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday voiced concern overthe earthquake and tidal waves that hit Andaman and Nicobar islands and the country's east coast, according to Indo-Asian NewsService (IANS).
The navy has been placed on full alert and rescue and relief operations are under way in the worst-hit Andman and Nicobar as well as the coastal areas of West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, officials in the prime minister's office (PMO) told media.
Sri Lanka has called for international assistance in the face of the country's worst ever humanitarian disaster.
According to the Sri Lankan president office, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga who was on a private visit to Britain is to cut short her visit and to return to Sri Lanka.
In Malaysia, authorities closed some beaches to the public after 5 people were swept away from beaches near the northern city of Penang. The victims were believed to be mainly tourists and included some foreigners, said a police spokesman. Enditem |
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