Thai Tital wave in Phuket

[Falang]

I am trying to speak to my friend but I can't reach her mobile phone, I think the network is overload.

[RayRay]

The original poster on the General board said he was awaken by a swaying building in Bangkok. That is amazing since the quake was over 750 miles away. Fortunately my apartment building on Suk Soi 39 did not experience anything like that. First I had heard of this quake was on this forum.

 

Pictures from Phuket do not look good. Hope the loss of life can be minimal.

[limbo]

BBC reports already 61 dead persons.

[Falang]

Phuket Gazette:

"Marie Holmberg, her husband Henrik and her parents Denis and Gun Larsson went to see the chaos caused by the the first wave to hit Karon Beach ? and found themselves caught up in the second wave.

 

?We were standing there taking pictures and the wave started coming back, faster and faster, so we started to run away, faster and faster, but my parents didn?t run fast enough,? said Mrs Holmberg, from Sweden.

 

The wave knocked Mr and Mrs Larsson over, and they were hit by rubbish floating in the water, but they were well enough to make their own way to Phuket International Hospital for Mr Larsson to be treated for a badly damaged toe and other cuts and bruises."

 

http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/index.asp?ref=20041226153050

[Guest]

There must be major damage in Krabi...Ao Nang and Railey. Each have so many beach bungalows and hotels...I wonder if the Ravadee is ubder water!

[Falang]

CNN Asia:

 

"The tourists have told hospital officials that they were sitting on the beach when the tsunami suddenly appeared. They said a lot of people died, and at least 30 boats filled with tourists were lost at sea."

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/26/quake.thailand.ap/index.html

[Falang]

Phuket Gazette:

 

"Tidal wave toll: 35 dead, 355 injured"

 

http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/index.asp?ref=2004122615313

[OCgringo]

pictures here

 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20041226/ap_on_re_as/indonesia_earthquake

 

click slideshow, I have a slow connection so not sure whats there......

 

OC

[Flashermac]

My neighbour just left yesterday to take his GF to Penang. Hope that island didn't get hit so hard. Of course, Georgtown is on the NE coast of Penang.

 

___________________

 

Foreign tourists missing as tidal waves slam Thailand's Phuket resort

 

Sun Dec 26, 12:24 AM ET

 

 

 

BANGKOK (AFP) - Huge tidal waves struck southern Thailand's popular resort island of Phuket, sweeping at least four foreign tourists out to sea, sinking boats and forcing the evacuation of hotels, officials said on state radio.

 

"As of now there are four foreign tourists missing and we are conducting a search," deputy Phuket governor Pongpao Ketthong said.

 

Phuket's major beach town, Patong, was flooded and extensive damage had been reported from a series of two-metre (6.5-foot) high waves that slammed the tropical island's west coast at about 8:30 am (0130 GMT), a rescue worker said.

 

"Many tourists were swept into the sea" but exact numbers were not known, the rescue worker, Mongkol Ketsunthorn, said on the radio.

 

Christmas and new years are peak seasons in Phuket, a resort island that sees hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors each year.

 

"Tourists were also on the (nearby) beaches of Karon, Kata and Kamala when a giant wave suddenly hit and swept everything up into the sea," he added.

 

He said all shops, kiosks and hotels along Patong beach were damaged by the tsunami, which were the likely result of a massive earthquake that struck west of the Indonesian island of Sumatra early Sunday, which the US Geological Survey said measured 8.5 on the Richter scale.

 

Several international hotels were completely evacuated on emergency police orders. Hotels on Patong were not answering their telephones.

 

"Police came to the hotel and ordered all guests to leave immediately," a manager at the Panwa Beach Resort on Phuket's southwest coast told AFP, adding that the waves had not caused extensive damage at her property.

 

Frantic relatives of boatsmen, some of whom apparently captained tourist boats in Phuket waters, called in to say the boats had capsized or went missing.

 

Tourists and residents were reported rushing to higher ground or clogging the road routes to the north heading off the island, which is connected to the Thai mainland by a road bridge.

 

 

http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?p=earthquake&ei=UTF-8&c=news_photos

 

:: :: ::

[Flashermac]

From the Straits Times:

 

HUGE tidal waves created by the earthquake in Sumatra caused havoc in Langkawi and parts of Kedah's coast, where boats were upturned and buildings were flooded.

 

Hotels and chalets located on beaches in Pantai Cenang, Langkawi, such as the Langkawi Sheraton and the Pelangi beach resort were flooded with ankle-deep water from waves from the Andaman Sea at about 9am.

 

Boats docked at Pantai Cenang and Kuah were also damaged when they were overturned by the waves, while some of them were lifted onto jetties.