Horrible...

I just got up today morning to read this: death toll is approaching 10,000 50,000 over South-east Asia, Sri Lanka, India, and the Maldives. One heartening aspect of this terrible tragedy: a blogger's network through Malaysia has been posting on the tsunamis, relaying information "from the ground" all over Malaysia.

For more news, visit the Reuters Alertnet. Bloggers covering the story include Nitin, Rajan and Amit.

Update: What I never understood was why there was no warning of the tsunamis, given that the earthquake was over 1000 miles away from the Indian coast. Apparently,

None of the countries most severely affected - including India, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka - had a tsunami warning mechanism or tidal gauges to alert people to the wall of water that followed a massive earthquake, said Waverly Person of the USGS National Earthquake Information Centre.

(via InstaPundit)

Further,

As the tsunami crosses the deep ocean, its length from crest to crest may be a hundred miles or more, and its height from crest to trough will only be a few feet or less. They can not be felt aboard ships nor can they be seen from the air in the open ocean. In the deepest oceans, the waves will reach speeds exceeding 600 miles per hour (970 km/hr). When the tsunami enters the shoaling water of coastlines in its path, the velocity of its waves diminishes and the wave height increases. It is in these shallow waters that a large tsunami can crest to heights exceeding 100 feet (30 m) and strike with devastating force.

You don't get much warning with those kinds of speeds.

Update II: There is now a clearing house of information related to the tsunamis @ tsunamihelp.blogspot.com