Tsunami disaster update
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 10, 2005 9:00 p.m.
“¢bull; The Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami killed more than 30,000 people
and left a million homeless in Sri Lanka, one of 11 countries hit.
The total death toll ranges from 162,000 to 178,000 people,
according to official estimates.
“¢bull; The gruesome task of retrieving the dead in Indonesia is
unlikely to be finished by June, as earlier expected, because
corpses continue to be found in the rubble. Indonesian officials
have said they expect the death toll to rise for weeks by an
average of 500 a day.
“¢bull; President Bush said he would ask Congress for $950
million, a pledge that would put the United States atop of the list
of donors to the disaster.
“¢bull; Australia has promised $810 million, followed by
Germany’s $660 million, the European Commission’s $624
million and Japan’s $540 million.
“¢bull; The first images of the seabed that was rocked by the
earthquake that triggered Asia’s catastrophic tsunami
revealed huge ruptures spanning several miles along the Indian
Ocean’s floor. The images show “˜”˜slide
scars” more than six miles wide resulting from the 9.0
magnitude quake on Dec. 26, the world’s biggest in 40
years.
“¢bull; Tens of thousands of people are still missing following
the December disaster, although officials say it’s too early
to add them to the toll.
Compiled from Bruin wire services.
