"Tsunami" is a Japanese word which literally means "harbour wave" or tidal wave in English, and is written as "津波" in Japanese Kanji and Chinese.

The epic center of the earthquake that occurred on December 26, 2004, with 9.0 in the Richter scale, was off the northwest coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The resulted tsunami, with tidal waves as high as 10 meters, has created a disaster with a death toll of 226,566 and more than 35,000 others missing in 11 countries affected by the Asian tsunami. It was the strongest earthquake in more than 40 years. Since December 26, 88 aftershocks have occurred in the magnitudes of between 5.0 and 6.0 in the Richter scale.

A total of 226,566 people are confirmed dead, 500,000 are injured, and 5 million are rendered homeless. UN estimates that $150.8 million will be needed to provide food for the homeless in the tsunami affected areas in the next six months.

To see the extent of devastation caused by the tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, and Kalutara, Sri Lanka, click on the thumbnail pictures on the right column of this page to view the satellite images in full screen.

Did you know that the Asian tsunami was predicted by the Chinese Almanac to occur after the winter solstice (December 21-22) of 2004 southwest of China? For details, read the insert on the left column of this page.