ABC Asia Pacific - News - Tsunami toll climbs in Asia as UN warns of disease epidemic - Text Only

ABC Asia Pacific - News - Tsunami toll climbs in Asia as UN warns of disease epidemic - Text Only: "Tsunami toll climbs in Asia as UN warns of disease epidemic 27/12/2004 17:49:21 The death toll is quickly rising from tsunamis that have devastated widespread coastal areas of South and South East Asia. An underwater earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra peaked at 9.0 on the Richter scale on Sunday morning, creating waves as high as 10 metres. In total, more than 15,000 people have died in seven countries. The toll in Indonesia is approaching 4,500, while in Sri Lanka more than 4,800 people are dead, with thousands more missing. Sri Lanka has launched a massive humanitarian operation, with all of the country's 20,000-strong army, navy and airforce ordered to report for work to support the search and rescue operation. Meanwhile officials in southern India have been quoted as saying more than 5,000 people have been killed in the region, and as many as 2,000 in the country's Andaman and Nicobar islands. And in southern Thailand at least 460 people have been killed and more than 3,800 injured - many of them foreign tourists. Thailand's prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, has warned he expects the death toll to rise. The earthquake was the world's biggest since 1964 and the fourth-largest since 1900. UN warns of health epidemic The United Nations has warned of epidemics within days unless health systems in Asia can cope with the thousands of dead and injured from the tsunamis. Aid agencies from around the world have rushed staff, equipment and money to southern Asia after the tsunamis, triggered by a massive underwater earthquake, pummelled coastal communities in at least six countries on Sunday. The UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, says the longer term effects may be as devastating as the tidal waves. 'We could have epidemics within a few days unless we get health systems up and"