Sunday, 26 December, 2004, 09:51 GMT


Your experiences of Asian disaster
Earthquakes and huge waves have devastated large parts of South and
South East Asia.

Hundreds are reported dead in Sri Lanka and many other countries are
affected, from India to Indonesia.

Readers of the BBC News website have been sending in their own
experiences of the disaster.

Here are a selection of the reports received so far.

Here in Kata Beach on the coastal roads a big mess, with motorbikes,
lanterns, roofs etc floating around. There were lots of people on the
beach this morning, I have seen two bodies myself, plus quite some
people are still missing.

The damage is considerable, some of the major hotels here are flooded.
Patong Beach, the main tourist destination on Phuket, has been hit a
lot harder, more than half the town has been flooded.


Steven van Leeuwarden, Phuket

Suddenly I felt a dizziness in my head and I was feeling the shake of
the land.

My parents immediately responded and every one of us shot out of the
home.

Since it was Sunday the people were still sleeping unknown of the
quake.

We immediately shouted and asked everyone to get out.

Our house was 1km exactly from the shore in span of no minutes the sea
water was flooding inside our places, and around 8:50am it was waist
high.

We asked everyone to lock the doors and go to higher levels.

We left the place immediately by 9:30am when the neck-level water
started draining.
K S Saran, Saravanan, Chennai

I live on the 25th floor of a seemingly well constructed 31 floor
building, next to the British embassy.

But the shaking was tremendous.

All staff ran out immediately of the building

My first thought was, that someone came into my room, because I heard
some noise, sounded like somebody broke into my room.

Then I thought I was dreaming, because the floor was moving.

Then I started to realise what was going on and stepped outside my door
to see what other residents were doing.

I saw nobody. Normally the housekeeping staff would be cleaning and I
thought I heard them screaming and leaving the building.

I told my girlfriend to get dressed and we ran down the stairs, all 25
floors.
Marcel Emmeneger, Bangkok

We were anchored in Patong beach [Thailand], where the beach area
basically drained of water, then after five minutes the water filled
back in and large waves approximately 8m high crashed onto the main
road in Patong.

Small boats dragged anchors. The beaches along the west side of Phuket
were basically washed away.

All boats are standing by for more after reports of a quake in the
Nicobar islands.
Mike Ryniker, Phuket

A friend of mine, who is on holiday with her husband and children in
Phuket, called and said that there was a disaster. Their hotel was
ruined and they are now standing on a mountain, waiting for the next
wave, terrified.
Victoria, Sweden

It's terrible. The rain and the wall of water and the horrific shaking.
In so many years of living here I have not ever seen anything as
terrible as this. God is angry. God is telling us he is angry.
Kareemoff Sumyun Gy, Jakarta

I live in Ao-Nang Krabi [Thailand]. The scene is quite bad here - with
upturned boats lying broken and strewn across the street. Many tourists
and locals are missing - they were leaving on tours as the wave hit.
Army and police are arriving in their masses.
Rob Bysouth, Krabi, Thailand

The whole of Male and all islands are under knee-deep water after huge
waves washed the islands.
Mohamed latheef, Male', Maldives

This morning my brother called me to say that he is alive. He lives on
the small tourist island, Koh Phi Phi near Phuket in south Thailand. He
reported that: "The whole island is smashed, there are dead people all
over!" He was trying to find his Thai girlfriend and a Danish friend.
Stinus, Copenhagen, Denmark

People living in the costal areas have been struck by panic. Huge tidal
waves hit the coast. Rescue efforts are under way. Exact damages are
largely unknown.


Sriram Srinivasan, Chennai, India

Waves never seen before hit the island of Penang, Malaysia, devastating
coastal areas. Waves of more than 10ft high swept away wooden stilt
houses at coastal areas. Ambulances are seen rushing to affected areas.
Victor Tan, Penang, Malaysia