Reports are still coming in, heavy casualties from tsunamis are reported as far away as Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhangla Dhesh, and Indonesia.

The US Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Centre put the tremor at 8.5, which would make it one of the largest in history, off the west coast of Sumatra while the Strasbourg Observatory in France said the tremor hit 8.0 and was located north of the island. Jakarta's Meteorology and Geophysics Office put the quake at 6.8 saying it was centred in the Indian Ocean, 149 kilometres south of Meulaboh, a town on the western coast of Aceh.

Sri Lanka's eastern and southern coastline was one of the worst hit areas, with rescuers saying at least 162 people had been killed by tidal waves that battered villages.

Police in India said at least 26 people died when a wall of water caused by the the quake struck the country's south-eastern shores.

Sri Lankan relief official M.D. Rodrigo said workers found at least 150 bodies in the Muslim village of Muttur while another 10 were found in the town of Trincomalee which went under several feet of sea water.
[...]
BBC reporter Roland Buerk was in southern Sri Lanka when the waves struck.

"We made our way out of the hotel through the incredible rushing waters," he said.

"First of all we climbed up into a tree for a couple of minutes, but then that began to fall down because of the water. We were swept along for a few hundred metres, tried to dodge the motorcycles and refrigerators and the cars that were coming with it and finally about 300 metres inshore we managed to get hold of a pillar which we held onto and then the waters gradually began to subside.

"But this has caused incredible devastation here, there are cars in trees, buildings destroyed."
[...]
Western Australian MP John Hyde is holidaying in Phuket and he says the tidal waves caught people off guard.

"People are doubly stunned because at 8:00am, when the first earthquake came, a couple of people came out and talked, and people seemed to go back for breakfast or go down to the beach and then two hours later, bang, the first tidal wave came through," he said.

"Out of nowhere, suddenly the streets are awash and people just running and screaming from the beach. Our hotel is about 150 metres from the beach, and the water was lapping on the doorsteps, one metre above the road."
[...]
Waves up to five metres high hit the coast of Aceh forcing hundreds to flee to higher ground. Witnesses said the toll was expected to rise.