印度尼西亚苏门答腊岛附近海域当地时间日上午时发生里氏.doc

印度尼西亚苏门答腊岛附近海域当地时间26日上午8时发生里氏8.5级的强烈地震。由此地震引发的大海啸最高时高达10米，波及斯里兰卡、泰国、马来西亚，印度等东南亚国家沿海地区，造成巨大的经济损失，超过11000人死亡，大片地方被海水淹没。斯里兰卡是受灾最为严重的国家，受害人数已超过4500人，多人失踪，另有数千人不得不离家避难。其它国家如泰国，情况也非常严重，2300人死亡，700人失踪，死亡人数预计还会继续增加。目前，各受灾国家已经采取紧急措施，世界各国也加以援手，抢救灾民。 (CNN) -- Massive tsunamis triggered by the largest earthquake to shake the planet in more than 40 years wiped out coastal areas across Asia as far as 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) away, killing more than 11,000 people. More than 4,500 people are reported dead in Sri Lanka, along with thousands more fatalities in Indonesia and India and hundreds dead in Thailand. The initial quake, measuring 9 in magnitude, struck about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off the coast of Indonesias Sumatra island around 7 a.m. Sunday (0000 GMT), according to the U.S. Geological Surveys National Earthquake Information Center. It is the fourth largest earthquake in recorded history, according to the NEIC. The measurements have been taken since 1899. News agencies in Indonesia reported over 4,000 dead, many of them in Aceh, in northern Sumatra, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the quakes epicenter. CNN has been able to confirm only 500 people killed there but that figure is set to soar as communications and access improve to the ravaged region. We still havent got any reports from the western coast of Aceh, which is closest to the epicenter, so officials are bracing themselves for a lot more bad news, said journalist John Aglionby in Jakarta. Sri Lankan military authorities are reporting more than 4,500 people killed, most of them in the eastern district of Batticaloa. Several districts in the countrys south have still not reported casualty figures, and authorities fear the death toll could rise. Officials said thousands were missing and more than a half million had been displaced. The huge waves also swept away a high security prison in Matara, in southern Sri Lanka, allowing 200 prisoners to escape. Eyewitnesses in the eastern Sri Lankan port city Tr