Massive aid effort gets under way (English)

The United Nations has begun its largest ever relief operation in response to the Asian quake disaster.

Disaster assessment teams have fanned out to the affected countries and local branches are distributing emergency aid, says the organisation.

The UN says it faces an unprecedented challenge in co-ordinating distribution of aid to some 10 nations at one time.

A massive undersea earthquake triggered sea surges that killed at least 25,000 people, with thousands still missing.

Millions of people are homeless, and the disaster zone is now threatened with outbreaks of disease.

Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India and Thailand were among the worst hit by Sunday’s 9.0 magnitude earthquake, which sent huge waves from Malaysia to Africa.

Click here for map of affected area

The extent of the disaster in some remote regions is not yet known, as many places are still affected by flooding and disrupted communications.

Though it was not the biggest tsunami wave ever recorded, “the effects may be the biggest ever because many more people live in exposed areas than ever before”, said UN emergency relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland.

EARTHQUAKE EXPLAINED Click below to see how the disaster unfolded In graphics

He said the relief operation would probably cost “many billions of dollars”.

His colleague, Yvette Stevens, said the UN had not carried out an operation like it before.

“We are used to dealing with disasters in one country, but I think something like this spread across many countries and islands is unprecedented.”

Digging for dead

Hundreds of planes carrying emergency aid will be airborne within the next couple of days, Mr Egeland said.

In Sri Lanka alone, more than one million people are displaced and aid workers are under pressure to ensure they have clean water and sanitation to prevent an outbreak of disease.

The local UN agency has opened up its relief stockpiles, and planes carrying emergency supplies from nine countries, including Britain, France and the US, were due to arrive on Tuesday. The Sri Lankan government has warned that the death toll could well rise to 20,000.

“The scale of the tragedy is massive … this is a grave tragedy which we have not been prepared for,” Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga told the BBC.

Communities were swept away and homes engulfed by waves up to 10m high after the quake created a wall of water that sped across the oceans. Many of the victims had no warning. Fishermen were swept from boats, and tourists were washed from the beaches.

In Thailand, officials warn the death toll there may double to 2,000 after rescue workers found scenes of devastation in Khao Lak, north of the resort island of Phuket.

Witnesses spoke of bodies strewn along the shoreline, and 500 staff and guests in one hotel alone were reported missing.

Hundreds of spectators were believed to have drowned at a sports field in Aceh, northern Indonesia.

The vice-president has warned that fatalities in the province, which is nearest to the quake’s epicentre and among the worst hit, could rise as high as 25,000.

Thousands are also feared to have been killed on the Andaman and Nicobar islands, where reports say several islands have been submerged.

GIANT EARTHQUAKES 1960 – Chile, 9.5 magnitude 1964 – Alaska, 9.2 1957 – Alaska, 9.1 1952 – Russia, 9.0 2004 – Indonesia, 9.0 Among the worst disasters

Waves also swept the Somali coastline after nightfall on Sunday, where hundreds are feared drowned and thousands made homeless, officials said.

A national disaster has been announced in the low-lying Maldives islands, more than 2,500km (1,500 miles) from the quake’s epicentre, after they were hit by severe flooding.

Sunday’s tremor – the fourth strongest since 1900 – had a particularly widespread effect because it seems to have taken place just below the surface of the ocean, analysts say.

Experts say tsunamis generated by earthquakes can travel at up to 500km/h.

28-12-2004

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