2Bangkok Reports on Earthquake, Tsunamis

Indonesian quake and tsunamis in Thailand - December 26, 2004

[Note: Times are Bangkok time-GMT+7. A permanent link to this story is here. A thread about the situation is on the forum.]

10:22pm - His Majesty's grandson among those missing, The Nation
As 2Bangkok.com was told at 9:57pm, Bhumi Jensen, son of HM The King's eldest daughter, is missing and feared dead.

10:19pm - Emergency phone numbers for information on tsunami victims and relief effort, The Nation

9:57pm - Sources inform 2Bangkok.com that an announcement will soon be made about the death of a high-ranking individual in the disaster. Local media will not report the death until it is 'officially announced.'

9:50pm - Sources inform 2Bangkok.com that Prime Minister Thaksin has arrived in Phuket to inspect the relief efforts.

9:42pm - CNN International, citing "Thai officials," reports the death toll in Thailand is at least 400. (The Nation website still is reporting 198 dead. The Bangkok Post does not feature breaking news on its websites. Its readers will find a story on its website from this morning about heavy fog.)

9:27pm - Thai TV is showing video from "Phuket and Koh Phi Phi" showing tourists carrying stretchers with injured people to a helicopter.

9:18pm - 60 photos of the destruction in the Phuket area - Don't miss these photos: 1 and 2

8:36pm - Although the post dates on these articles are 8:07pm, 7:26pm, and 7:21pm, they did not appear on the site until after 8:30pm.
Earthquake death toll mounts - TNA
Nearly 4,000 tourists stranded on Koh Phi Phi - TNA
Fate of tourists in Emerald Cave still unknown - TNA
More than 4,000 Thai and foreign tourists were left stranded on the southern resort island of Koh Phi Phi this morning after fierce tidal waves crashed into the southern coast, killing at least 55 and injuring hundreds more...

8:14pm - CNN International reports the Phuket Airport has reopened after being flooded for most of the day. Over 100 scuba divers are missing and over 1000 still missing overall.

7:15pm - Good photos from the Thai-language press: Daily News and Manager (amazing photos of a ruined fishing village and ships piled up). It appears the MCOT/TNA, Siam Turakij, and Matichon websites have been knocked off-line by high traffic.

7:02pm - 158 deaths and 1,913 cases of injuries reported at hospitals, The Nation, December 26, 2004

5:02pm - CNN International reports 200 dead on Phi Phi Island.

4:48pm - (from Casualty toll reaches 84 dead, 400 wounded so far after tsunamis hit southern Thailand, The Nation) ...A maritime police officer who asked not to be named said the casualties in Phi Phi could be far higher as the huge tidal wave decimated much of the development on the small island.

"Everything was washed away except two large hotels on Phi Phi Don island," the officer said after speaking with a Phi Phi resident by telephone.
Reuters reports that more than 100 tourists on diving holidays are missing on islands off southern Thailand following Sunday's tsunamis, about 70 of them in the famed Emeral Cave, a tourist official said...

4:05pm - CNN international is reporting that Thailand is facing a major disaster. They say that Krabi has 48 confirmed dead and 60 injured. Also that four tidal waves, one up to 10 meters high, have hit Phuket today and there is no word about the fate of Phi Phi Island at this time.

3:26pm - AP: The U.S. Geological Survey says the 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Indonesia is the largest in the world in 40 years.

3:15pm - Photos of Phuket damage

3:01pm - Now it is Magnitude 8.9

2:59pm - The Nation posts its first on-line bulletin

2:32pm - Many missing at sea off Thailand - AP
...Watcharat Hospital in Phuket was full, with many foreigners coming from hotels on popular Kamala and Patong beaches, said a hospital official who declined to be named.
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...

1:45pm - At least 10 people confirmed killed by tsunami in Thailand - Kyodo

1:24pm - Foreign tourists missing as tidal waves slam Thailand's Phuket resort - AFP
...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...
"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...

1:09pm - Thai government: Four tourists dead after major earthquake hits northwest Indonesia - AP
...The center also reported that people were swept off a Phuket beach by tidal waves surging as high as five meters (16 feet) after an 8.5-magnitude earthquake hit near the Indonesian island of Sumatra...

9:49am - The earthquake is being reported as magnitude 8.5. Note there are already nine reports of the quake being felt in Bangkok.

9:30am - The earthquake is being reported for the first time on CNN International.

8:35am - This must be the earthquake that caused it: Magnitude 8.1 - Off the west coast of Northern Sumatra

8:34am - 2-3 second aftershock felt.

8:10am - Earthquake felt in Bangkok. On the ninth-floor of a 13-floor building, we could distinctly feel the building sway with a circular motion for about four seconds. Hanging telephone cables also swayed. We looked out the window and it seems that people at ground level were not aware of the shaking. Updates to come.

[Note: Times are Bangkok time-GMT+7. A permanent link to this story is here. A thread about the situation is on the forum.]

Earlier: A Bangkok tremor story from January 2003 (Then, as now, 2Bangkok.com is the first place to look for breaking Thai news.)

2Bangkok Updates on Indonesia Earthquake and Destruction in Thailand -- Visit 2Bangkok for Hot Links to All Stories