Dec 26 (Reuters) Thousands of Sri Lankans abandoned their flooded homes and fled to higher ground after the worst tsunami in living memory swamped the island's south and east shores, killing at least 2,498 people. more..

Dec 26 (BBC) A long stretch of Sri Lanka's coast has been devastated by Sunday's tidal waves, with more than 2,400 dead and up to a million displaced. The government said a "huge tragedy is unfolding". It declared a national disaster and called for foreign aid. more..

Dec 26 (Kyodo) Japan began preparing Sunday to send a disaster relief team to Sri Lanka at the request of its government following massive tsunami damage from a powerful earthquake that struck off Indonesia's Sumatra Island, Foreign Ministry officials said. more..

Dec 26 (HT) The Sri Lankan Defense Ministry has confirmed the death of 2484 people in the tsunami tidal wave disaster, which struck the eastern and southern coastlines of the island country on Sunday. But unofficial sources in the eastern districts put the death toll at around 5,000. more..

Dec. 26 (Xinhua) Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga left London Sunday for home following the devastating tsunami that have killed some 1,500 people in her island state alone, an embassy spokesman said. more..

Dec 26 (AP) Massive waves triggered by earthquakes crashed into Sri Lankan villages along a wide stretch of coast on Sunday, killing at least 4,500 people and displacing a million of others, Sri Lankan officials and a pro-Tamil Tiger Web site said. more..

Dec 26 (TN) Coastal villages of Koyilkudiyiruppu, Mullivaykal, Kallappadu, Silavaththai, Alampil, and Unnappuluvu in Mullaitivu district were severely hit by the tidal waves and the volunteers who entered the villages for rescue operations told TamilNet that more than 90% of residents in many of the villages have gone missing. more..

Dec 26 (TN) Official death toll from the Tsunami waves that hit northeastern and southern coast of Sri Lanka Sunday morning was increased to 5000, Sri Lankan Defence Ministry sources told TamilNet. more..

Dec 26 (TN) TRO, an independent Non-Governmental Organization registered with Government of Sri Lanka, appealed to the Tamil expatriates Sunday to donate towards meeting the humanitarian crisis unfolding following the tsunami wave triggered flooding in residential areas along the eastern coast of Sri Lanka. more..

Dec 26 (Reuters) One of the most powerful earthquakes in history hit southern Asia Sunday, unleashing a tsunami on Sri Lanka and India and swamping tourist isles in Thailand and the Maldives to kill more than 6,600 people. more..

Dec 26 (CNN) Massive tsunamis triggered by the largest earthquake to shake the planet in over 40 years have wiped out coastal areas across southeastern Asia, killing more than 4,800 people -- most of them in Sri Lanka and India. more..

Dec 26 (PA) British officials are tonight battling to reach ravaged parts of Sri Lanka following the devastating tsunami which has left at least 4,500 dead and a further million people displaced. The country has declared a state of national emergency and deployed 20,000 soldiers to assist with relief and rescue missions. more..

Dec 26 (AFP) A house floats past as a man walks by the debris of coastal homes at Lunawa, Sri Lanka. Over 8,300 people were killed and thousands more were missing after the most powerful earthquake for 40 years triggered giant tidal waves that slammed into coastal areas across Asia. more..

Dec 26 (AP) India and Sri Lanka, two countries with high casualties from the earthquake-generated tidal waves Sunday, are not among the 26 countries that make up the International Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning System. more..

Dec 26 (Itar-Tass) The Russian Ministry for Civil Defense and Emergencies is sending rescuers to Sri Lanka stricken by Sunday quake and tidal waves, Viktor Beltsov, the emergencies minister’s media aide, told Itar-Tass. more..

Dec 26 (GEO) Pakistan has announced Rs.10 million relief package for the earthquake victims of Sri Lanka, keeping in view the tragic loss of lives and property in the country, caused by earthquake and tidal waves. Under the package, relief goods comprising tents, medicines, drinking water and food items will be sent to Sri Lanka on Monday. more..

Dec 27 (TN) Around 3100 persons in Northeast and 1400 in South have died due to tsunami waves that hit NorthEast coast Sunday, according to government sources in Colombo. In the Northeast alone, nearly 12000 people have suffered injuries and around 200,000 people have been affected, administrative sources in Colombo said. more..

Dec 27 (TN) A large number of children were killed by Tsunami waves in Sri Lankaís northeast, rescue workers and local journalists said. Thousands of children have been wounded in the floods and are still without access to first aid, they said. more..

Dec 27 (TN) More than 1000 people feared dead in Batticaloa district and around 800 are feared dead in Trincomalee, civil sources in the east said. TRO sources in Kilinochchi said that they feared around 2000 were dead in Mullaitivu district and around 1000 in Jaffna district. more..

Dec 27 (TN) “We went from the hospital to retrieve some bodies of people killed by the first wave near the Pandiruppu beach. We saw at a distance another massive wave, more than hundred feet high, speeding towards Kalmunaikudi. It was like a diagonal wall rising out of the sea. The sight was terrible. more..

Dec 27 (TN) As with any natural hazard, the more informed the public is, the better are the chances for survival. Sri Lanka's National Aquatic Resources Research & Development Agency (NARA) or the Meteorolgy Department do not have the resources to receive early warning information released by other International Monitoring stations more..

Dec 27 (AFP) Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga appealed for doctors all over the world to come forward to help victims of the tidal wave that smashed into the island causing more than 4,000 deaths. more..

Dec 27 (AP) The twisted limbs of the frail girl in a blue dress were caught in a garden fence by the sea. She may have already been dead, but no one stopped to check - there was too much tragedy going on all around, as the water kept coming. more..

Dec 27 (AT) The biggest natural disaster to hit Southeast Asia after many decades has left over 5000 dead in Sri Lanka alone. Lanka so far, according to the latest reports. About 2 500 bodies have been recovered up to now. Among those dead is former SLFP Parliamentarian, Tissamaharama, and Tennyson Edirisooriya. more..

Dec 27 (AT) A team of United Nations relief experts are heading to Sri Lanka to help coordinate the international response to the massive tidal waves that struck the Indian Ocean nation after a series of earthquakes rocked the western coast of Northern Sumatra in Indonesia as well as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. more..

Dec 27 (AT) Asian Tribune appeals to the heads of states and international aid agencies to send urgent humanitarian aids to tens of thousand Tamil residents who are holed up in the tidal wave affected region, controlled by the Tamil rebel outfit, LTTE. more..

Dec 27 (Xinhua) Some 10 bodies, which may be Japanese, have been found at a national park in southeastern Sri Lanka, following massive tsunamis that hit coastal areas across Asia on Sunday, Kyodo News reported Monday. more..

Dec 27 (AFP) SRI Lanka's cricket team could cut short their tour of New Zealand and return home following the devastating tidal waves which killed about 4500 people in their home country, officials said. "We are really worried, but we need to speak to the guys and see how we take it (the tour) from here," team manager Brendan Kuruppu said. more..

Dec 27 (Bloomberg) Stocks in Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka may slump after tsunami waves caused by the world's most powerful earthquake in more than 40 years killed at least 11,460 and damaged crops, roads, buildings and tourist areas. more..

Dec 27 (Rupavahini) The Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation has commenced a relief programme to aid the many victims of this mornings tidal wave. The organizers of this campaign request the general public to donate any material which can be distributed among the victims. more..

Dec 27 (LBO) Hundreds of travellers on Sri Lanka's main coastal highway, have gone missing after tidal waves hit the coastal road Sunday. The A-2, popularly known as the Galle Road, starts from Colombo and hugs the coast along the main coastal cities, including Galle, Matara and Hambantota, all which have been devastated by the tsunami. more..

Dec 27 (BBC) Tamil Tiger (LTTE) political wing leader S P Tamilchelvan told the BBC that more than 800 bodies have been recovered from the rebel controlled Mullaitivu and Jaffna lagoon. He said many villages were wiped out and people are fleeing coastal regions. more..

Dec 27 (Reuters) Hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans sheltered in temples and schools on Monday as the the death toll from the worst tsunami in living memory to hit the Indian Ocean island rose to 4,500 and was likely to increase. more..

Dec 27 (SAMN) As an estimated 2,500 persons were killed Sunday morning by the massive tidal waves that devastated the coastal areas, President Chandrika Kumaratunga declared a state of National Disaster and called for international assistance. more..

Dec 27 (AP) Some 20,000 soldiers were deployed to assist rescue efforts in Sri Lanka Monday, a day after massive waves triggered by earthquakes lashed coastal villages. At least 4,500 people were reported killed and one million others displaced, according to government officials and Web sites in rebel-held areas. more..

Dec 27 (TP) The Sri Lankan and the Indonesian embassies, in collaboration with their community organisations, have started collecting relief material for victims of the killer Tsunami. The Indian and the Royal Thai embassies were awaiting word from their governments about the exact extent of the devastation. more..

Dec 27 (AFP) Governments and humanitarian organisations around the world scrambled to offer aid and technical help yesterday after the devastating quake and tidal waves that killed thousands of people in southern Asia. With the death toll over 11,500 and rising inexorably, authorities offered immediate help in terms of food, shelter and medicines. more..

Dec 27 (NT) The three little girls collecting mussels on the beach in Tangalle, in south-eastern Sri Lanka, never had a chance. The wall of water - 30 feet high according to some accounts - must have swept over them even before they had time to be scared. more..

Dec 27 (Hindu) In the northern Jaffna peninsula, an elderly Jaffna resident and a newspaper printing machine mechanic, Mayavan (50) who went this morning to the seashore to perform a ritual for his mother, who passed away recently, was washed away in the tsunami. more..

Dec 27 (Hindu) An Indian Dornier aircraft touched down at the Ratmalana domestic airport tonight, carrying emergency relief and a medical team. Four more ships are to arrive tomorrow, with more emergency assistance. more..

Dec 27 (CNN) A celebrity interior decorator vacationing in Sri Lanka said Monday that all he could see was "utter devastation" in the wake of a deadly tsunami that slammed the island. "We were completely devastated yesterday morning," Nate Berkus told CNN. "There was absolutely no warning." more..

Dec 27 (AFP) Sri Lanka failed to take warnings of earthquakes seriously and was ill-prepared for the tidal waves which devastated the island's coastline and left over 4,850 dead, a senior relief official said. more..

Dec 27 (AFP) Sri Lanka launched a massive humanitarian operation after tsunamis devastated much of the island's coastline, killing at least 5,860 people of which 70 were foreign tourists, while 1,555 others are reported missing. more..

Dec 27 (Reuters) Wailing relatives scrambled over hundreds of bodies piled in a Sri Lankan hospital on Monday, searching for loved ones after a tsunami devastated coastal regions of the paradise island and killed 4,891 people. more..

Dec 27 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's National Meteorological Centre said on Monday it had detected tremors near the Indonesian island of Sumatra and warned more small tsunamis were on their way. "Small tsunamis will hit the southern and eastern coastlines in the next few hours," said meteorolgist Ajith Weerawardena. more..

Dec 27 (HT) Indian help has been the first to arrive in Tsunami-hit Sri Lanka, now reeling under an unprecedented blow, which left an estimated 5,000 dead on the eastern and southern coasts on Sunday. more..

Dec 27 (TN) Government sources said more than 10000 people are killed in Sri Lanka. Rescue workers believe that the death toll in the Northeast region alone could be more than 6000. The number of people swept away would be much higher than earlier anticipated in the region, rescue workers say. more..

Dec 27 (TN) Mullaithivu, the main coastal town of the Vanni region has been completely destroyed by the Tsunami. Liberation Tigers and local rescue workers are continuing to search for bodies of people killed along this coast. Eight villages have been totally devastated by the tidal wave. more..

Dec 27 (Reuters) Sri Lanka says it fears about 200 foreign tourists have been killed by its worst tsunami in memory after the military raised the overall death toll to more than 10,000 people. "We have received complaints of about 200 foreign tourists reported missing since yesterday. They are feared dead," more..

Dec 27 (AFP) Queen Elizabeth II expressed her condolences after huge waves triggered by an earthquake off Indonesia struck south and southeast Asia, including several Commonwealth countries. "I was deeply saddened to learn of the dreadful situation in Asia following this morning's earthquake," more..