| A tsunami unleashed by an earthquake near Indonesia has struck several southern and southeastern Asian countries, killing more than 11,470 people. The most powerful earthquake in 40 years triggered massive tidal waves that slammed into coastlines across Asia on Sunday, killing thousands of people in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Thailand on Sunday. Effects of the earthquake and tsunami it produced were felt as far away as Tanzania and Somalia along the African coastline and Oman in the Arabian Gulf. Governments and humanitarian organisations around the world scrambled to offer aid and technical help to the stricken areas. |