Worldwide Confusion About Who to Help First

The death toll attributed to the great earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale and its related tsunamis has climbed to 25,000 so far. 30,000 people are reported to be missing around the Andaman Islands and millions have been left homeless. Experts warn that aftershocks may trigger more tsunamis. The United Nations (UN) has announced that the world is faced with an unprecedented catastrophe. Yvette Stevens form the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that they have experience with catastrophes in individual countries, but that it is unprecedented to fight a catastrophe spread throughout several countries.

The number of foreigners missing in the region is quite high due to the Christmas and New Year holiday season. An Australian hotel manager on the island of Phuket in Thailand said, "People on the beach were trying to escape were shouting ‘the water is coming’ in fear."

Michael Dobbs, a Washington Post editor, was swimming on the Sri Lankan coast during the earthquake. He described his encounter with the giant waves as "a scene from the Bible." Dobbs said he experienced an event which could only occur in the Bible and even thought he would see Noah’s Ark. Another individual that witnessed the incident in Sri Lanka said: "Waves dragged people hundreds of meters underwater. The giant waves left incredible scenes behind them." As people frightened by the new waves escaped to higher ground, rescue activities continued slowly. There is a shortage of doctors, helicopters, and heavy construction equipment in the region. Locals facing difficulty finding burial places for the dead also face the threat of epidemic diseases.

The tsunami catastrophe that attacked Asian countries on the Indian Ocean also affected East Africa. A spokesperson for the Somali government announced that more than 100 Somalian fishermen went missing in the huge waves. If warnings had been made in time, numerous people could have been saved from the giant waves caused by the earthquake that affected nine countries.

The giant waves hit Thailand about an hour after the intense earthquake. Two and a half hours later, the giant waves attacked India, Sri Lanka and Somalis in East Africa traveling a total of 1,600 kilometers.