JAKARTA, December 26 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – At least 15,500 people were confirmed dead and thousands more were injured or missing on Sunday, December 26, in several Asian countries battered by tsunamis unleashed by a massive earthquake, the world's fifth-largest in a century, off Indonesia.

In Indonesia at least 4,185 people were killed as the country took the full force of the massive earthquake and tidal waves that swallowed entire coastal villages, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Officials said most of the dead were on northern Sumatra , the island nearest the epicenter, prompting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to declare it a national disaster.

Fears were growing that the region could emerge as one of the worst affected by the quake which measured up to 8.9 on the Richter scale and triggered tidal waves as far away as India , Sri Lanka and Thailand , killing thousands.

More than 18 hours after the quake, most communication links were still down to Banda Aceh, the capital of Sumatra 's Aceh province where 3,000 of the total 4,185 dead were found, the health ministry's Centre for Emergency Preparedness said.

Hampering relief efforts were the lack of telephone contact and the closure of the region's main airport in Banda Aceh due to a damaged control tower and flooded runway.

Television pictures from the region showed medics wrapping the dead in traditional batik and stacking them in hospitals.

As high waters surged around demolished clapboard houses, boats plied the debris hunting for survivors.

Metro TV said more than 30,000 had been left homeless in Aceh, a region normally sealed off to foreign media and aid agencies due to a long-running separatist conflict.

Jakarta 's Meteorology and Geophysics Office said the quake measured 6.8 on the Richter scale and was centered beneath the Indian Ocean some 149 kilometers (93 miles) south of Meulaboh. The initial shock was followed by after tremors.

But the US Geological Survey said it measured 8.9 on the Richter scale, which would make it the largest recorded for 40 years.

Indonesia , an archipelago of more than 18,000 islands, lies on the collision point of three continental plates and is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcano eruptions.

Hard Hit

A man inspects what is left of his home after a massive tsunami wave swept across coastal Sri Lanka (Reuters)

Sri Lanka was hard hit with 3,225 people confirmed dead, 1,600 inured and many more missing, the military and Tamil Tiger rebels said.

The tourist region of the south and east was the worst-hit area where beach hotels were swept away.

Some six villages had been destroyed with around 3,000 people were displaced, an official in eastern Trincomalee said.

“The army and the navy have sent rescue teams; we have deployed over four choppers and half the navy's eastern fleet to look for survivors,” said military spokesman Brigadier Daya Ratnayake.

Responding to the devastation in the country, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga declared a state of a national disaster, appealing for international emergency assistance, Reuters said.

“The president has declared a state of national disaster due to the seriousness of the situation,” Kumaratunga' office said in a statement.

Water Cycles

An aerial view of Marina beach after a tsunami hit the area in Madras, India (Reuters)

Meanwhile, at least 2,447 people were killed in southern India with more than 700 feared dead, officials said.

Worst hit was southeastern Tamil Nadu state where Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha said at least 1,567 were killed by the wall of water that swamped villages, towns and cities, causing scenes of grief and mayhem.

“It's an extraordinary natural calamity,” she told reporters as India launched a massive relief effort. “Everything happened within 20 minutes.”

In the islands of Andaman and Nicobar 300 were confirmed killed and 700 feared dead, Inspector General of Police, Samsher Deol told the Press Trust of India.

“The situation is very grim. The death toll will go up at least to 1,000,” he said.

Many of the dead or missing along the Indian coast were fishermen and their families living in flimsy shacks.

Warships headed to the Andamans to reach thousands of inhabitants cut off from communications by the disaster.

India also sent warships, helicopters and aircraft to distribute food, medicines and blankets to neighboring Sri Lanka .

It was the worst natural disaster to strike India since 20,000 people died when western Gujarat state was hit by a brutal earthquake in January 2001, according to government figures.

Tourists Hit

Residents and tourists stand in ankle-deep water in tsunami-hit entertainment district of Patong in Phuket, Thailand (Reuters)

In southern Thailand at least 310 people were killed, including foreign tourists at famous seaside resorts, and 5,000 injured, officials said.

“As of now Phuket has 117 dead,” the island's governor Udomsak Aswarangkul said, adding to official casualty figures of 193 for the rest of the nation.

He said the popular resort island was also reporting 214 people missing, including 162 foreign tourists. Other officials said some 5,000 were injured.

The nation's top beach attractions were among the worst-hit when waves swept scores of people out to sea, drowned snorkellers, sank boats and shattered buildings along the coast.

Ten-meter-high (33 feet) waves crashed down onto beaches and crushed holiday bungalows, with the first hitting just before 10:00am (0300 GMT).

Phuket's major beach town, Patong, was flooded and all shops, kiosks and hotels along the beach were damaged.

Some were washed away by the waters that carried away debris and tourist "tuk-tuk" taxis.

Thailand is Southeast Asia 's most popular tourist destination with the peak period during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Five million foreign travelers visit the three provinces of Phuket, Krabi and Phang Nga every year.

Elderly, Children

Boats and debris littering the streets of Penang, northwest Malaysia (AFP)

In Malaysia 42 people, including many elderly and children, were killed, officials said.

Many more people, mainly picnickers and fishermen, were missing from the worst-hit area on the holiday resort island of Penang , the rescue officials said.

Penang Traffic Police Chief Wan Abdullah told AFP that 32 bodies had been found on the island, adding that “we expect to recover more bodies.”

The official Bernama news agency said at least 10 bodies were found in neighboring Kedah state.

In Penang , along the Tanjung Tokong road where land reclamation work was taking place, two five-meter-long (15 feet) fishing boats were flung about 13 meters by the huge wave onto a road.

Along the Kuala Muda coast of Kedah state bordering Thailand , 10 people died when a tsunami roared through several villages, Bernama said.

A police spokesman said a four-to-six-meter high wave destroyed about 1,000 houses and affected about 5,000 people, it said.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak described the tidal waves as “ disaster never seen before in Malaysia 's history.”

He ordered evacuations from high risk areas as a precautionary measure and would visit the affected areas on Monday.

The areas hit by the tidal waves are in northwestern Malaysia , separated by the Malacca Strait from Indonesia 's Sumatra island.

At least nine states on the Malaysian peninsula felt the tremors early on Sunday, Low Kong Chew, director of Malaysia 's meteorological services seismology division, said in a statement.

A British tourist and 14 other people died in the low-lying Maldives , officials and residents said.

In Bangladesh a father and child were killed after a tourist boat capsized from large waves, local officials said.

• Click to watch destruction scenes across Asia