The Command Post - Global Recon

Earthquakes and Tsunamis

The following is a repost of an article I posted at Sortapundit on December 26th, before beginning my guest-posting at the Command Post. It regards the mechanics behind the generation of tsunamis by tectonic events.

My professional opinion is that there will be no major tsunamis generated by this earthquake or any of its aftershocks. It has already been reported that there has been slight tsunami and high water activity, but nothing serious as of yet.

The following is an unedited copy of the original, with only Dec. 26th specific information removed.

It occurs to me that the general public learn much of what they know about tsunamis from Hollywood movies like The Day After Tomorrow - movies that tend to sacrifice fact for spectacular effects. I’m no expert, but I might as well use my soapbox to straighten out a few facts.

To begin, the tsunamis were a symptom of an earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale. To give you some sort of idea of the power released during a quake of this magnitude, it’s equal to about 32 billion tons of TNT. As residents of LA will be aware, the Richter scale is a base-10 logarithmic scale, which means that an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the scale will release many times more energy than an 8.0 quake.

The quake occurred just off the south coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where the Eurasian and Indo-Australian tectonic plates meet. Those of you who have a firm grasp of plate tectonics can skip over the next paragraph, but for the rest of you…

As you probably know, the surface of the earth is made up numerous sections known as tectonic plates. These plates effectively float on the dense, hot asthenosphere, a layer of the mantle in which the rock is hot enough to become pliable - to be able to deform without fracturing.

Now, these tectonic plates move incredibly slowly - usually less than a few centimetres every year, and it’s where they meet each other that we get problems. The Eurasian plate and the Indo-Australian plate meet each other at Sumatra. The Indo-Australian plate is being forced underneath the denser Eurasian plate at a rate of about 6cm each year at the Java Trench (here is a simplified animation of the process). The movements of the two plates are what cause earthquakes. The stresses caused by the two plates scraping together force pressure to build in the rock until it discharges all at once, literally snapping. The faultline slips perhaps 10-15m, causing the displacement of huge volumes of water. 15 metres doesn’t sound like much, but you have to realise that this is 15 metres movement over maybe 1,000km of plate margin.

The displaced sea water travels at speeds of up to 500mph, effectively invisible to the naked eye. The crest of the waves will only be a few feet high in open water, the only visible sign of the enormous volume of water speeding along under the surface.

The momentum of the waves means that they can travel vast distances with little loss of energy. The 1960 earthquake off the coast of Chile created a tsunami that had enough energy to travel 10,000 miles in 22 hours until it hit land in Japan, killing about 150 people. Update - the Sumatran tsunami has now crossed almost 3,000 miles of ocean, killing at least 9 people in Somalia.

As the waves approach land, and the sea floor rises, the water slows dramatically as the waves compress like an accordion, forcing them to pile up vertically. They draw water from the coastline, creating powerful undercurrents that can drag swimmers out to sea. The tsunamis don’t break like normal waves, but simply hit the coast like walls of water, destroying buildings, tossing boats into the air like toys, and smothering those who have been unable to escape under unimaginable volumes of water.

It’s folly to think of a tsunami as just a large wave. It’s much more accurate to imagine that it is an extension of the sea, conquering the land and pushing back the coastline, in some cases by hundreds of metres. The 1993 tsunami at Okushiri, Japan reached 32m in height - the same as an 8-storey building. You can’t hide from that, and you sure as hell can’t try to swim to the surface. All you can do is run.

Some of us have a head start. I wrote my dissertation on the gap in preparedness and aid for earthquakes between the developed and developing world and, tragically, most of the nations affected by today’s disaster have laughable warning systems. It’s been several years since I’ve looked into the subject but, last time I looked, India’s method of saving lives following tsunamis was to build refuges on stilts. Their warning system consisted of rusting air raid sirens from WW2. I hope they’ve improved in the last 5 years, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

The Pacific, in comparison, is relatively well-prepared for tsunamis. Underwater sensors can alert us to approaching tsunamis, giving people living on the Pacific Rim adequate time to find high ground or flee inland. Unfortunately, such systems are not widely used in the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal due to the cost of installing and monitoring the sensors, and the relative rarity of tsunamis.

Update on Southern India

The tsunami has seemingly passed from the media radar (aside from the places that George 41 and Bill 42 are visiting), but for those interested, you can read a first-hand account of what one small group was able to accomplish. There is also more here.

(Disclaimer: The subject of this post is my wife)

Earthquake near Sumatra

Near the tsunami source the earth is still shaking.

Alleged Friction with UN, NGO's on board US carrier

From Soldiers For The Truth, a report allegedly from an Anonymous Officer serving on board the USS Lincoln :

It has been three weeks since my ship, the USS Abraham Lincoln, arrived off the Sumatran coast to aid the hundreds of thousands of victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami that ravaged their coastline. I’d like to say that this has been a rewarding experience for us, but it has not: Instead, it has been a frustrating and needlessly dangerous exercise made even more difficult by the Indonesian government and a traveling circus of so-called aid workers who have invaded our spaces.
[…]
As I went through the breakfast line, I overheard one of the U.N. strap-hangers, a longhaired guy with a beard, make a sarcastic comment to one of our food servers. He said something along the lines of “Nice china, really makes me feel special,” in reference to the fact that we were eating off of paper plates that day. It was all I could do to keep from jerking him off his feet and choking him, because I knew that the reason we were eating off paper plates was to save dishwashing water so that we would have more water to send ashore and save lives.

Click to Read The Whole Thing, but bear in mind the source is unverified and (being anonymous) not independantly verifiable.

Photoblogging Southern India

My wife and the team she is with are finally back within internet range and have sent the first batch of pictures from Tamilnadu. Fr. Leo Michael writes:

In the village of Seruthur, the destruction was especially devastating. Villagers, with fear and hopelesness in their eyes sat in the middle of what was left of their homes...maybe one half of a wall, or a few remnant bricks from the foundations remained. Massive chunks of homes seemed to have been chewed off by the giant wave and spat out in another area. The villagers cried when they shared their stories of loss--life, home, livelihood. Most of the villager’s homes were wiped out. Kids fished debris out of the sea--pieces of metal they planned to haul into town in hope of getting some small change. Tiny sandals, schoolbooks, clothes, bricks and so much debris littered the seashore. Coconut trees were uprooted. A water pump stood 30 feet in the air; it was exposed where otherwise earth would have covered it to its handle. Boats were smashed in pieces miles from the shoreline.

In Nambiar Nagar, the starting point of tsunamis fury, we came upon a group of about a dozen men sitting in the remnant of a tsunami destroyed boat. When they saw us with our cameras, they made comments that many have come to take pictures, but no one has helped them. One man said, "We have no tears left to cry." Nearly each man had lost his mother or father, wife or a child. All lost their livelihood, as the wreckage of boats, strewn all over the village gave witness to their plight.

The picture below is about one-fifth of the harbor in Naggapatinam. This was taken some three weeks after the tsunami. All of the pictures can be viewed here.

Grassroots Relief in Tamilnadu

While the Indian government is making the news for their outreach to Sri Lanka and other countries in the wake of the disaster, some areas of their own country have been largely ignored.

With roughly .002% of the $23 million pledged by India to the reconstruction of Sri Lanka, three people (Full Disclosure: One of them is my wife) who traveled to Tamilnadu from Arkansas have accomplished everything from setting up trust funds for 100 children to replacing fishing boats, motors and nets for villages that lost everything. They’ve also set up accounts that local businessmen can borrow against that will allow them to restart their businesses and, more importantly, reemploy the workers who right now cannot support their families. One of the relief lessons learned has been that it’s not so important how much money you have to spend, but how you spend it.

Another thing that has been striking is the complete lack of religious tension. In an area inhabited by Hindus, Moslems and Christians they have seen no evidence of trouble between the communities. They’ve delivered aid in villages of all three faiths with no problems and have received the same, very warm, reception from all.

More details can be found here

First Hand Report - Tamilnadu, India

From indiainfo.com

Velankanni (TN): The pilgrimage town of Velankanni in Nagapattinam district, that used to be flooded with devotees from across the country, today wears a deserted look! With roofless and broken shops on either side of the road and debris strewn all over the beach, this coastal town is now a far cry from what it used to be two weeks back.

Around 650 people lost their lives and 961 went missing when the killer tsunami struck Velankanni, the day after Christmas. Majority of those missing are pilgrims who had come to renowned Velankanni Mother Mary shrine, one of the most famed Christian pilgrimage centres in South India.

I just received a call from my wife, who is staying in Velankanni, that certainly confirms this and worse. There are stacks of fishing boats that she says look like someone knocked over a stack of dominoes. Shelter, however is the most pressing problem. At the ophanage they visited today, there is a concrete pad in the courtyard where entire families are sleeping. No bedding, no cover. As the above linked story states and they have confirmed, the government is not paying benefits to the families of the missing. Only those who can show proof, such as a picture of the body. This can be difficult as many were simply swept out to sea. They are, however, still finding bodies on a daily basis, but the state of decomposition would probably preclude identification.

First Hand Report - Tamilnadu, India

My wife, our Rector and his wife are now on the ground in India. I am receiving updates via phone and email from them and will hopefully have some pictures and maybe even video soon.

Our Rector is a native of Bangalore and spent twenty years as a priest working in the fishing villages along India’s eastern coast. The relief effort is being targeted towards two orphanages that were devastated in the disaster, and the surrounding community.

At last report, they are on the road between Chennai and Naggapatinam near Cuddalore, and the visible signs of the tsunami increase the father south they travel. Those they’ve been in contact with in Naggapatinam say that very little aid has made it to the area, beyond potable water.

I will post further reports as I receive them and you can get more details here.

First Person Report from Banda Aceh

Via the blog Argghhh!, ( and a Hat Tip to EagleSpeak, a blog by a retired USNR Captain, ie 1-step-below-Admiral) “the following is a letter from a member of the USS Abraham Lincoln off Indonesia who is aiding in the relief effort.” :

I just spent three days ashore at Banda Aceh working to assist all of those in dire need in Indonesia. I thought you might like to hear what we have been doing.

Stationed aboard the Abraham Lincoln we were in port [at] Hong Kong on the morning of 26 Dec when we heard of the massive earthquake and devastating Tsunamis in the Bay of Bengal. As soon as we were aware of the horrible destruction we departed Hong Kong and headed South at best speed - without any official request from governments.

As we proceeded, we were completely unaware of what we could do or even if we would be needed, but we continued through the Strait of Malacca enroute to Indonesia and Thailand. Our mission was quickly defined and we were tasked to assist Indonesia as best [and] as able. To do so we requested volunteers aboard the ship to assist. The response as you can imagine was overwhelming as all sailors want to do is help any way possible. We also knew that this would be a job for the SH-60 Helicopters we have aboard.

We arrived off the north shore of Indonesia on the morning of January 1st. I was in the first wave of helos sent ashore to establish a logistical hub and move supplies from Banda Aceh airport - only a few miles from the destroyed north coast of the island. Not knowing what to expect as we lifted off the deck, we were quickly given a glimpse as we could see numerous corpses floating in the water. There were large clusters of debris that looked like one time houses floating in piles scattered all over the ocean. As we approached the decimated shore we saw a cargo ship that was at least 300 feet long capsized on the beach. Proceeding further inland we were amazed that the coastal town was gone. You could see outlines of where foundations once were, but as the earthquake shook them loose, the Tsunamis washed everything out to sea. As we continued inland, the devastation was evident more than 2 miles from the coast. We then approached very green and lush mountains - a sharp contrast to the leveled brown terrain of the decimated coast. We climbed in the helos over these 2,000 foot peaks and entered an area of surreal, beautiful countryside. We arrived at the airport to a scene of confusion and near chaos. Six days after the disaster and there was no infrastructure in place to assist these people. About 500 displaced Indonesians who had survived had made their way to the airport in search of a flight out of the area - southeast to the safe havens of Medan or Jakarta where there is little or no damage. Upon arrival, there was one only other American military member at the airport - an Army Major who had made his way up from the Embassy in Jakarta. A few Australians were already there and had set up a basic logistics hub to accept supplies. The Indonesian military had a base here as well and were accepting supplies but had no way other than trucks which could not travel on the destroyed roads to move the food and water.

Being a Prowler pilot with NO helicopter flying abilities, I was sent in to be the Carrier Air Wing Two liaison to move supplies. Realizing there was no one to liaise with, myself and my squadron mate, Lt _________ became the primary coordinators to make this relief effort happen. Arriving at 0900, we were able to coordinate with the Indonesians and the NGO’s (Non-Government Organizations), and within an hour have our first load of relief supplies moving down the west coast. The two primary NGO’s, USAID and IOM (International Organization of Migration) have been invaluable in the establishing of assistance. They have a small medical tent with trained doctors capable of triaging and stabilizing patients. USAID has amazing logistical support to gather supplies from all over the world. The one thing both of these organizations lacked was the ability to distribute supplies to the people in need. That is were we came into play.

We have set up a system now to have twelve of our Helicopters flying from sunrise to sunset to assist. We have been carrying everything from biscuits, rice, noodles, milk, water and medical supplies. We transport doctors and medical staff as well. The Indonesian people are in need of everything. Their homes along the coast have been washed away and we are finding them wondering aimlessly with no ability to acquire food, water or badly needed medical assistance. They all lack the ability to communicate as all phone lines are destroyed and there is no electricity. As our pilots drop off these supplies there are stories of the Indonesians hugging them with relief and joy. Our pilots then fly North to return back to Banda Aceh for resupply and they are finding small pockets of personnel who do not have any aid. They are able to pick many of them up and fly them to Banda Aceh. Most are near death. Yesterday we had a helo land with seven badly injured or dehydrated personnel all in critical condition. One was a seven year old little girl. The doctors told me we saved her life as she would not have lived through the night. I couldn’t help but think of my beautiful daughters and it was then that I realized the gravity of what we really were doing.

We will continue this effort as long as we are needed. It is difficult to imagine shifting back to fixed wing flight ops and leaving the area any time soon as the work to be done is almost insurmountable. We have been working hard with the hordes of press who badly need to tell this story. I enlisted the support of my squadron mate, LCDR __________ to specifically deal w/the media. With every flight or two that we send down the coast, we embark a two man journalist team, as well as member of the IOM to coordinate with any injured or displaced persons who need our help. Yesterday we hosted Dan Rather and his CBS crew for a 60 minutes evening magazine special he was doing that should air sometime this week in the states. I had breakfast with Mr. Rather aboard the carrier as we discussed the days’ events and what he would like to see. He and his staff’s graciousness and professionalism impressed me. We have flown Mike Chinoy from CNN and correspondents from all the major US and international networks and newspapers. If something is coming from Banda Aceh, the US Navy has helped them get their story.

I must say a few words about the volunteer effort here - it is truly an effort of amazement. I see on the news the incredible outpouring of support from the US - it is a wonderful and necessary thing. The effort here at sea is equally as impressive. These young sailors are all extremely eager to get ashore and do whatever is needed despite the threat of disease and the obvious destruction. My squadron alone has already put numerous sailors ashore to assist with the loading and moving of the helos. I have never been so proud to be a member of the US military. We often are focused on keeping the peace and deterring evil acts. To now be able to have a direct impact in saving lives and attempt to rebuild a society is a testament to the United States’ amazing resolve and capabilities. I thank you all for your efforts and your support. Please continue to keep the Indonesians in your thoughts and prayers. As of today this country alone is approaching 100,000 deaths from this disaster- we need to do all that is possible to mitigate any further suffering or loss of life.

Send the Marines

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

The United States military has stepped up its relief effort for victims of the tsunami in Indonesia.

For the first time, US marines have set foot in Meulaboh on Aceh’s west coast, bringing much-needed supplies.

Just hours after a US helicopter crashed, suspending delivery of aid to the isolated town of Meulaboh, 300 marines arrived by hovercraft with water, rice, and timber.

More marines are expected to arrive in the next two days, along with engineers.

They will also bring heavy machinery to help rebuild the devastated town, which lost almost 30,000 of its residents.

Emphasis added by me. See Op-Ed article about the significance of this.

Islamist Group Banned from Aceh Airport

Updating a previous post, from the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

The Indonesian military has banned an Islamic militant group from offering aid to refugees at Banda Aceh’s main airport.

The leader of Indonesian Mujahedin Council, also known as MMI, is the radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, currently on trial in Jakarta on terrorism charges.

The council was one of many groups offering aid at Banda Aceh airport.

It agreed to leave the site at the request of the Indonesian Army, which wants to rearrange its airport operations.

Bashir is facing the death penalty for his alleged involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings and an attack on a hotel in Jakarta in 2003.

A spokesman for MMI says the organisation was not interested in causing trouble with foreign groups and was only intent on helping with relief efforts.

Indonesian Toll May hit 130,000

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Authorities in Indonesia now believe as many as 130,000 people were killed in the Boxing Day tsunamis.

More than 2,500 bodies are now being recovered daily from the wreckage of what remains of the worst devastated area of Banda Aceh.

More than 30,000 bodies have been pulled out so far.

Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare, Alwi Shihab, has announced that between 80,000 and 130,000 people are thought to have died in the country’s Aceh province.

A true figure may never be known.

Mr Shihab says as many as 450,000 other people have also become refugees in their own country.

They are officially known as internally displaced persons.

Meanwhile, a convoy of trucks has set out from the Indonesian capital Jakarta for a 2,500-kilometre overland trip to the northern tip of Sumatra.

The area was one of the worst hit by the tsunami and tens of thousands of survivors are still in desperate need of help.

Bill Hyde from the International Organisation for Migration, which is organising the aid convoy, says the airport facilities in Banda Aceh cannot cope with the load.

“The volume of international relief aid that’s come into Jakarta has simply overwhelmed the air coordinator,” he said.

“The number of flights that are flying up to Banda Aceh and the region are more than the airports can handle at any time.

“So as the aids [are] backing up and the need there’s great, we had to include overland convoys as well.”

See Op-Ed page for technical analyses of why the death toll may never be known, the bottlenecks in reticulating aid, and an in-depth analysis of Banda Aceh airport capability.

U.S. Helicopter With 10 Aboard Crashes in Banda Aceh

A U.S. helicopter with 10 people on board crashed near the Banda Aceh airport Monday while on a tsunami-relief operation, a U.S. military spokesman said.

It was not yet known if anybody was killed or injured, said Joe Plenzler, a U.S. military spokesman in Medan, 250 miles southeast of Banda Aceh.

The SH60 helicopter ) crashed in a rice paddy about 500 yards from the airport in Banda Aceh, the main city on Indonesia’s tsunami-battered Sumatra island, as it was trying to land, he said.

Read more…

Update: The Fox story now says least two U.S. servicemen were injured in the crash.

Tsunami survivor found in Sri Lanka

After 13 days trapped under the rubble of a seaside shop, a man believed to be in his 60s Saturday was rushed to a hospital in the southern Sri Lankan city of Galle, able only to mumble his name.

Doctors at Karapitiya Hospital said he is suffering from pneumonia and severe hydration, but will certainly live.

“Miracles do happen,” Dr. Chandra Pala Mudanngake said.

He was found around 3 p.m. (4 a.m. ET) in Galle’s market area, which was wiped out by the December 26 tsunami.

Read more..

Aid Triple Telecast in Australia

From The Australian :

Australian commercial television networks put aside traditional rivalries for the first time tonight to simultaneously broadcast a fundraising concert for victims of the Boxing Day tsunami.

Thousands of people gathered at the Sydney Opera House and millions were expected to watch the concert on television as celebrities manned telephones in Melbourne to accept donations for World Vision.

With ratings on hold, personalities from the three major networks, including Nine’s Ray Martin and Eddie Maguire, Ten’s Rove McManus and Seven’s Sunrise team, helped present the two and a half hour event.
[…]
By around 7pm AEDT, Australians had donated $1.6 million through telephone and SMS pledges.

A 10-year-old boy donated his $40 Christmas gift, a New Years’ party raised $800, an Australian Navy ship raised $195 and one couple asked guests at their wedding to give donations rather than gifts.

World Vision head Tim Costello said people around the world were saying Australia had set the benchmark for tsunami aid.

“For perhaps the first time in our history, Australia actually is so far out in front it’s magnificent,” he said.

For US readers, it’s as if CBS, NBC and ABC all decided to broadcast the same program, with the same presenters, simultanously. Absolutely unprecedented.

Maybe Eurovision might like to do the same, hmm? Yes, that is a challenge.

UPDATE : From The Australian :

World Vision said today the tally from last night’s Reach Out to Asia event had reached $20,116,000 at 2am (AEDT) today. The money was pledged via phone, website and SMS.

However, the $20 million total is expected to climb, with phones remaining open today.

The pledges come on top of more than $120 million in private and corporate donations made to Australia’s aid organisations.

Latest Figures - 165,000+

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

The number of people killed when an earthquake and tsunamis devastated Indian Ocean coastlines on December 26 has passed 165,000 as more deaths were confirmed.

In Indonesia, which bore the brunt of the disaster, the death toll has climbed to 113,306, the Social Affairs Ministry’s relief coordination centre told AFP on Friday.

The United Nations has warned that tens of thousands more dead may be as yet unaccounted for in Indonesia.

The figure, given by the head of the relief coordination centre, Haji Daeng, raises the number of people confirmed killed in Indonesia by nearly 20,000 from the previous day’s tally of 94,200.

In Sri Lanka, 30,615 were confirmed killed, the Government said. Another 4,356 people were still missing.

In neighbouring India, the official toll stood at 9,995 people confirmed dead, but the number of missing dropped to 5,679, most of them presumed dead.

Interior Ministry figures for Thailand put the death toll at 5,291 - 2,568 Thais, 2,510 foreigners and 213 whose indentity could not be determined.

The number of people listed as missing fell sharply to 3,570 - 1,143 foreigners and 2,427 Thais - down from nearly 3,716, as some people were found to have made reports of missing people at several centres, an official said.

Burma’s Prime Minister Soe Win said on Thursday 59 people were killed in the tsunamis and more than 3,200 left homeless.

This was down from the UN’s estimated 90.

At least 82 people were killed and another 26 were missing in the Maldives, a Government spokesman said.

Sixty-eight people were dead in Malaysia, most of them in Penang, according to police, while in Bangladesh a father and child were killed after a tourist boat capsized in large waves, officials said.

Fatalities also occurred on the east coast of Africa where 298 people were declared dead in Somalia, 10 in Tanzania and one in Kenya.

"Core Group" To Disband, U.N. Taking Over Tsunami Relief

CNN reports thst U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told donors that the United Nations will take over coordination of tsunami relief and reconstruction efforts from the core group of nations.

Powell announced that the “core group” launched to coordinate tsunami relief efforts was being disbanded:

The group would instead be folded under the United Nations’ oversight of the daunting relief and reconstruction effort, Powell told a conference of tsunami relief donors in the Indonesian capital on Thursday.

U.S. officials had insisted the group — consisting of the United States, Australia, Japan and India — would be complimentary to U.N. efforts.

But those officials now say given the urgent need to improve coordination and reduce confusion in the relief and reconstruction effort, that it was decided the “core group” was no longer necessary.

“The core group helped to catalyze the international response,” Powell said, according to a prepared text released by the State Department.

“Having served its purpose, it will … now fold itself into the broader coordination efforts of the United Nations.”

U.S. President Bush formed the international coalition on December 29 to respond to the massive tsunami that wreaked havoc along the coastlines of the Indian Ocean.

From California Yankee.

Jakarta Summit Opens

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

An emergency summit on the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster has begun in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

Even before the presidents and prime ministers had spoken at the meeting, a draft statement on the outcome was already circulating.

It welcomes debt relief for devastated countries and supports an early warning system for tsunamis.

The document also calls for stronger coordination and cooperation of relief efforts.

UPDATE : Well, that was quick. From The Australian :

World leaders have welcomed debt relief for countries hit by the December 26 tsunami disaster, and supported the creation of a tsunami early warning system in a declaration at the end of a crisis summit in Jakarta.
[…]
The declaration by delegates of the 26 nations and groups attending the Jakarta summit also requests the UN to mobilise the international community and calls for stronger coordination and co-operation of relief efforts.

The group asked the UN “to convene an international pledging conference for the sustainability of humanitarian relief efforts” and explore establishing a standby arrangement “for immediate humanitarian relief efforts”.
[…]
It says resources should be urgently mobilised to meet the emergency relief needs of victims and the affected countries and emphasises the importance of national rehabilitation and reconstruction programs.

The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and related international financial institutions should provide the necessary funds “for the viability and sustainability of those programs”.

The delegates agreed on the establishment of a regional tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean and South-East Asia.
[…]
The statement also said public education and awareness and participation in disaster prevention and mitigation should be promoted.

NGOs want In on Conference

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Aid groups have criticised Indonesia for leaving them out of a major summit on the tsunami disaster.

World leaders including Prime Minister John Howard, United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State Colin Powell are all due to attend the one-day meeting in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

But a grouping of non-governmental bodies say deserve the chance to offer input into how to cope with the disaster.

“I’m disturbed at not being invited,” Emmy Hafild, secretary-general of Transparency International Indonesia, said.

“Since our activists are on the ground, they can give accurate assessment of the situation and how to improve the coordination of aid.”

Oxfam Australia policy director James Ensor says it would be useful for major international aid organisations to attend.

Others have been more outspoken, accusing vested interests of hijacking the conference.

Debbie Stothard, a coordinator with the Altsean Burma Group, says participants have closed off the summit to ensure they retain control of incoming aid cash.

“This is a big money conference. Governments from affected countries will be interested in securing a share of the resources and it is not in the interest to them to include groups that may provide alternate views or plans,” she said.

Rafendi Djamin, coordinator with Indonesian non-governmental organisation Coalition for International Human Rights Advocacy, says he is surprised at being left out in the cold.

“It could be that the organisers do not want to hear critical comments,” he said.

“It will not stop us [the organisation] from carrying out the humanitarian work.”

He says he will head to the Jakarta Hilton conference centre venue to see if his organisation will be allowed to participate, even as observers, at the last minute.

Other activists are vowing to gather outside the conference centre and hold a protest demanding rich nations cancel all debts to affected countries, without imposing any conditions.

Oh Joy, another Protest. That’ll really help.

UN Warns Against Fighting

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

The United Nations has warned governments and rebel groups in Sumatra, Sri Lanka and Somalia to keep the peace or risk being cut-off from aid to the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

”We have a message to the parties to the conflicts: Suspend your conflict and work together with us to help your own people,” UN emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland said.

Peace now prevailed in areas of northern Sumatra’s Aceh province torn by a separatist rebellion; a cease-fire prevailed in the parts of Sri Lanka controlled by the Tamil Tigers separatist movement, and feuding warlords were not fighting in “the better part of Somalia,” Mr Egeland told reporters.

“We need that cease-fire, that peace, to hold because if new conflict breaks out, we cannot help the people,” he said.

U.N. Warns Tsunami Death Toll Could Reach 300,000

Reuters reports the World Health Organization warns that the tsunami death toll could double to about 300,000 unless survivors received clean water and other basic services by the end of the week.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it had sent emergency treatment to the region for diarrheal diseases such as cholera and dysentery but while the aid was reaching many locations, access to safe drinking water remained inadequate.

“If basic needs … are not urgently restored to all populations by the end of this week, WHO fears that outbreaks of infectious disease could result in a similar number of fatalities as occurred due to the direct impact of the tsunami,” the U.N. agency said in a statement on the Internet.

From California Yankee.

Indonesia Starts Building Refugee Camps

Indonesia’s government has started breaking ground on four camps around Banda Aceh, the main city in northern Sumatra, for the estimated 1 million people left homeless by the tsunami.

The Associated Press reports that Michael Elmquist, who heads the U.N. relief effort in Aceh said the U.N. plans to provide tents and equipment for up to 500,000:

The existing camps are overcrowded and lack facilities. Indonesian authorities have agreed the new camps will have clean drinking water and latrines, Elmquist said.

“The camps that are here have been improvised by the people themselves,” he said. “But these are definitely not according to our standards. The sanitation is totally insufficient.”

From California Yankee.

Shots Fired in Aceh

From The Australian :

The Indonesian military is continuing to wage war with separatist rebels in the hills of Aceh as world leaders put the finishing touches to a multi-billion-dollar aid and investment package for the devastated province.

As international military and medical teams stepped up relief efforts yesterday in Aceh, where the tsunami killed up to 100,000 people, an Indonesian military spokesman confirmed that only two-thirds of the military’s 40,000-strong force in the province was taking part in the relief effort while the remaining third was engaged in military operations against insurgents.
[…]
“They are still conducting an incessant military operation,” a rebel spokesman, Teuku Jamaika, told The Australian from his base somewhere in the Aceh hills. “There’s no difference between before and after the tsunami.”
[…]
Colonel Djazairi Nachrowi, the head of information analysis at the national military headquarters, said there had been no ceasefire, despite an offer from rebel leaders exiled in Sweden to suspend hostilities until Aceh had recovered.

“At first we thought positively, that GAM (the Free Aceh Movement) had a conscience, and would not use the situation like this, but it turned out they held up (aid transport),” Colonel Nachrowi said.

“We are not offensive, we are defensive.”

There had been no outright attacks on the rebels, he said.

“Some TNI (Indonesian military) troops tried to escort a truck filled with aid,” he said.

“When they were on their way there was an indication they would be held up, so there was an exchange of fire. It’s not TNI attacking GAM, but an exchange of fire because humanitarian aid was held up.”

The Colonel has obviously been promoted since his last announcement (the one before finding out that the garrisons had been wiped out) that said something quite different :

“We continue to launch raids into suspected GAM (Free Aceh Movement) areas and our vigilance remains high “

But they’re defensive raids.

Another Miraculous Escape

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

An Indonesian man has been rescued by a passing ship after surviving for eight days afloat on an uprooted tree floating in the Indian Ocean.

Rizal Shahputra, 23, from the devastated province of Aceh, lived off rainwater and coconuts that floated by.

Apart from some cuts on his legs, he appeared amazingly healthy when he arrived in Malaysia’s western Port Klang aboard a container vessel.

“When I saw him I was very surprised,” said Huang Wen Feng, a crew member of the Malaysian cargo ship that picked him up on Monday evening 100 nautical miles out to sea.

“He waved at me, he was standing on what look like a tree.”

Rizal said he was cleaning a mosque when the tsunami struck his village.

“Everybody sank, my family members sank. There were bodies around me,” he told reporters.

Huang, whose ship was returning from South Africa, said Rizal was healthy when picked up and had normal body temperature despite the ordeal, but he was later sent to hospital for checks.

It was the second tsunami rescue by Malaysian ships.

On Friday, a Malaysian tuna-fishing boat rescued a 23-year-old woman from Aceh who had clung on to the trunk of a palm tree for five days after being swept out to sea.

Indian Rescuers Shot At

With Bows and Arrows.

From the BBC via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Dozens of tribespeople, armed with bows and arrows, have fired at an Indian coastguard helicopter dropping food and water over the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

More than 6,000 Andaman and Nicobar islanders are dead or missing and it was feared the tribes had been wiped out.

The Indian coastguard helicopter was flying low over Sentinel Island to drop aid when it came under attack.

Dozens of tribesmen fired bows and arrows at the helicopter, a traditional warning that outsiders are not welcome.

See Op-Ed on the difficulties of counting casualties in the Andaman Islands. This response was not unexpected.

Water Buffalo Closes Aceh Airfield

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation):

The main airport in Aceh, which was closed after a cargo plane hit a buffalo, has been cleared and aid efforts have resumed.

Specialised lifting equipment had to be brought in by helicopter from Singapore to remove the cargo plane.

“I’m really proud that these people were able to pull this thing out of here in such short time and get this airport back open and ready for business,” US military spokesman Captain Matt Klunder told CNN.

“Fortunately we had enough aid and supply gear that we were not set back, tomorrow would have been an horrendous problem,” said Captain Klunder.

“Fortunately now we’ve got this movement, we’ve cleared the airport, we will be ready for business, ready to go.”

A Boeing 737 cargo plane skidded off the Banda Aceh runway overnight, holding up relief work.

Seven aircraft ferrying 35 medical officers, volunteers and medical supplies from Jakarta were stranded in the Indonesian capital by the accident, although helicopters in Aceh were able to continue to airlift stockpiled aid.

Elephants Aid Thai Rescue Teams

From The Australian :

Almost a kilometre inland from the Khao Lak beachfront, where the shells of smashed tourist resorts have been meticulously combed by earthmovers and mechanical shovels, two elephants are helping the search for the overlooked victims.

Sood Lho (Handsome) and Phrai Wang (Jungle Palace) are working the banks of a fetid, junk-filled swamp that until Boxing Day was an irrigation dam for surrounding vegetable gardens and rubber trees.

Sood Lho is resting after lifting broken trees and other heavy debris from the body of a young Thai man.

“We find them by the smell,” says Kerg-Reut Khaolamai, manager of the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Krual, as the body is bagged and carried out.

“Then the elephants clear the way and lift them out. They have not done this kind of work before.”
[…]
Phrai Wang and Sood Lho were trucked down from Ayutthaya two days ago.

Mr Kerg-Reut says he realised as he watched the news that elephants — even “tourist elephants” like these — could get easily into places where heavy machinery could not.

Two more of his animals were being trucked down to Khao Lak yesterday.

Pirate Threat to Aid Getting Through

From The Australian :

The massive Asian tsunami relief operation faces absolute chaos and “a wall of devastation” in Indonesia, as well as the threat of plunder by pirates, relief groups warned yesterday.

As aid logjams began to ease at Asian airports, bursting with hundreds of tonnes of emergency supplies, it was the destruction left by nature that was proving the biggest obstacle to the $US2billion ($2.57billion) relief operation, the biggest since World War II.
[…]
“Boats are used to deliver relief goods, but pirates are a real concern off the west coast,” the UN Joint Logistics Centre said in a report on tsunami relief operations in Indonesia.
[…]
Military forces have swung into rescue mode, with ships, aircraft, and thousands of troops, especially medical specialists, deployed from the US, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Germany, India, Pakistan, China and Japan.

The US alone has sent 12,000 personnel, mainly in a 12-ship naval fleet.

The UN Joint Logistics Centre, setting up operations in Jakarta, said a request for more military aid was likely to include a call for helicopter carriers for Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

It would also need five air-traffic control units and fixed-wing aircraft capable of short take-off and landing and 100 boats or landing craft.

See earlier TCP Op-Ed Article which predicted the need for Air Traffic Control and Helicopters.

I suspect the Royal Thai Navy’s Helicopter Carrier Chakri Nareubet (Princess Royal) may be making an appearance - but as she’s been inactive since the Asian Meltdown due to lack of funds, probably not for a while.

Australian/New Zealand Military Aid

From the Australian Department of Defence :

The ADF [Australian Defence Force] has now committed the following assets and personnel to Operation Sumatra Assist:

In Indonesia

• 4 C-130 Hercules transport aircraft (plus 1 RNZAF C-130)
• 2 C-130 Hercules transport aircraft to an air bridge between Australia and Indonesia.
• 1 Boeing 707 transport aircraft
• 1 Beech 350 ‘King Air’ light utility aircraft
• Water purification plant
• Medical teams
• Engineering personnel
• Logistics/loading personnel

• HMAS Kanimbla - ETD Sydney 31/12/04 and then from Darwin 8/1/05 with a planned arrival off Aceh around 14/1/05
  • 2 Sea King helicopters
  • 2 large landing craft (LCM8)
  • Medical facilities and personnel
  • Accommodation
  • Communications
  • Stores
  • Self-sustaining floating base
• Field hospital (Health Support Company) - ETD Sunday 2 January 2005
  • 55 beds
  • Surgeons
  • Intensive care
  • Resuscitation
  • X-Ray facilities
  • Pathology
• 4 UH-1H Iroquois helicopters

UPDATE : From the ADF’s News section : As of 2nd December, there are now 7 RAAF C-130’s operating in Indonesia, not 4. The ADF is running a little slow upating their web site.

Hero Arrested on Return

From The Australian :

A Gold Coast man hailed a hero for saving more than a dozen people during the tsunami disaster has been arrested on home invasion charges on his arrival back in Brisbane.

The hero’s homecoming for Thomas David Connell turned sour when police detectives greeted the 32-year-old businessman dubbed “the good samaritan of Patong Beach” with handcuffs as he arrived at Brisbane Airport today.

Mr Connell, who earned the title for his rescue role during the tsunami disaster in Phuket, Thailand, was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm while in company and entering a dwelling with intent.

The charges stem from his alleged involvement in a home invasion on the Gold Coast in 2002.

“To be a life saver, saving 20 people, and then come back to my own country and I’m going straight into a bloody jail cell with hoodlums all day, I’m not a bloody hoodlum,” Mr Connell told Channel 10.

Police said they recognised Mr Connell, whom they had been hunting for two years, after he’d given a television interview that aired last Monday.

Mr Connell said he spent the day in a watchhouse suffering flashbacks of his ordeal.

“It’s mistaken identity, they’ve got the wrong person,” he said.

The Darker Side

Amidst all the stories of heroism and humanity by the relief workers, there are some stories showing that we’re a very imperfect species.

From Reuters via The Australian :

Rapists are preying on survivors of Sri Lanka’s deadly tsunamis, taking advantage of lax security at refuge centres for those made homeless in the disaster, a women’s collective said today.

The group urged authorities to immediately improve security at refuge centres and to establish a means for victims to press charges against their assailants.

“We have received reports of incidents of rape, gang rape, molestation and physical abuse of women and girls in the course of unsupervised rescue operations and while resident in temporary shelters,” the Women and Media Collective group said in a statement.

From the AFP via The Australian :

A 12-year-old Swedish boy injured in the tsunami that struck South-East Asia may have been kidnapped from a hospital in Thailand, a Swedish newspaper has reported.

Swedish and Thai police are cooperating to find the boy, Kristian Walker, the Expressen reported.

“Kristian was here in the hospital. He was taken away by a man,” the paper quoted Kampongsree Somprutthana, a hospital doctor, as saying.

Kristian’s father, Dan Walker, and his grandfather, Daniel Walker, found several witnesses who recognised the boy who mysteriously disappeared from the hospital 30km from Khao Lak, one of Thailand’s worst-hit holiday resorts.

The man he may have left with was described as “European-looking, with a moustache and a red shirt”.
[…]
The report comes a day after the Swedish branch of non-governmental organisation Save the Children, Raedda Barnen, warned that children who ended up alone after the natural disaster were potential targets for sexual abuse by pedophiles.
[…]
There were already “indications” that surviving children had been sexually abused in Sri Lanka, one of the countries suffering worst from the tsunami, Ms Petri Gornitzka said.

Again, from the AFP via The Australian :

Emails falsely asking for donations for victims of last week’s killer tsunami are doing the rounds in Hong Kong.

Police and charity workers said today the fraudulent messages claims to be from Oxfam and urges donors to deposit money into a bank account in Cyprus, they said.

It was not known whether anybody had been fooled by them, a police spokeswoman said.
[…]
Oxfam Hong Kong spokeswoman Christy Ko said the emails were a sick attempt to extort money from people at a time of tragedy.
[…]
“It was a very badly put together email, I don’t think many people would have been fooled,” she said.

The Evil are often Stupid. Hong Kong is now part of the PRC, and they punish stuff like this with a bullet to the back of the neck - then bill the criminal’s family for the cost of the ammunition.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Concerns have been raised in Indonesia that children orphaned by the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Aceh are being taken away by unidentified adults claiming to be relatives, or wanting to adopt them.

North Sumatran authorities have assigned Riza Mutiara, the coordinator of the Medan-based Aceh Sepakat non-governmental organisation, to take care of Acehnese children who lost their parents.

Ms Mutiara says that since refugees began flooding into Medan last Tuesday, about 50 children have been taken away by unidentified people.

Last Friday, Raja, a 5-year-old boy who lost his parents in the earthquake was among hundreds of Acehnese on board a Hercules transport plane that landed at an Air Force base in the North Sumatra provincial capital of Medan, where many have taken refuge.

He has become a focus of attention, his story appearing on the front pages of local newspapers in the past few days.

Soon after his arrival, a couple who claimed to be his parents tried to take him away but they were stopped by Ms Mutiara, who noticed that the couple did not look Acehnese.

Suspicious of their intentions, Ms Mutiara put several questions to them.

The man and woman, who were accompanied by another man who replied to most of Ms Mutiara’s questions instead of them, argued they had the right to take custody of the boy.

The conversation soon turned into a quarrel, attracting the attention of a military policeman, who took the couple to his post for questioning.

The man who had accompanied them disappeared.

Under questioning, the couple finally confessed they were not Raja’s parents, but claimed they lived next door to his family.

Ms Mutiara suspected that the couple had in fact been paid by someone, perhaps a member of a child-trafficking syndicate, to collect the child.

UPDATE : From The Australian :

Tasmanian police have announced an investigation into a website that purported to be collecting donations for the Red Cross tsunami fund and carried a postal address in the Hobart suburb of Glenorchy.

The website, www.incybernet.com, had featured the Red Cross appeal logo, but was inaccessible by late yesterday due to increased web traffic. It claimed to have raised $10,000 for victims of the disaster.

A Red Cross spokesman said the aid group had never heard of Incybernet, nor had the Australian Council for International Development, which maintains a list of all major charities.
[…]
Authorities in Singapore and India warned of hoax mobile phone text messages that claimed a “very dangerous virus” was being spread via seafood in the regions affected by the tsunami.

The message read: “Alert everyone: very dangerous virus, Zulican virus is spreading through seafood. So please avoid eating seafood and pass this message to all of your friends.”

But officials said the Zulican virus did not exist and that eating fish in affected regions remained safe.

Australia, unlike the PRC, doesn’t have the Death Penalty. But I think the odds of anyone caught and convicted for this swindle surviving the first year of a prison term with all bits intact are low-to-nonexistent.

Earthquake: How to Help [Updated 1/1/05]

Please, please check the comments for many more worthwhile charities, organizations and relief drives. I’m having a hard time keeping up with the emails and comments, so scroll through until I have enough time to add them all to this list.

Also, there are people asking about going over to the area to help out - I have no idea where to direct them. If anyone knows who to contact if you want to go there, please leave a note in the comments.

Please check this blog (Tsunami Help) frequently for important phone numbers if you or someone you know are trying to find friend or relatives who are missing in the area.

FYI: A list of international relief organizations and their overhead costs.

Feel free to use our forums to discuss anything related.

• India: Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, by bank transfer, or by credit card

• Sri Lanka: Reliefweb (United Nations office)

• The Canadian Catholic Organization for DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE (CCODP) is accepting funds to aid victims

• Sustainable Development and Ecological Development Society seeks to raise $100,000 for affected population in India.

• Canadian Red Cross is calling for cash donations

To be updated - if you know of any rescources for sending donations, please leave a link in the comments.

• Red Cross/Red Crescent is accepting donations

• Via Tim Blair: Jay Manifold has a list of relief organizations you can donate to; Indian blogger Chanakya has some links, also.

Updates - 12/27 7am EST

• Here’s a list of banks in India that are taking donations

• Oxfam is taking donations

* Save the Children is creating an Asia Earthquake/Tidal Wave Relief Fund

• CARE Australia has launched an earthquake appeal

• From the TCP Forums:

Thai Red Cross
Siam Commercial Bank - Red Cross Branch
Acct: 045-248899-3
Swift: SICROTHBK

Have your bank use the note section to note that the donation is for Relief in Phuket.

The Thai Ministry of Health is the lead agency, and they are looking for volunteers, especially those who speak Italian, French or German. There is a shortage of medical supplies and storage facilities for bodies.
All donations are appreciated.

• AmeriCares is accepting donations

Update:

Local residents have set up the Southeast Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog, which has lots of information on how to help the victims and important phone numbers, as well as updates on the situation.

—-Updates 12/28 6:30 am EST——-

• Oxfam donations page

• Mercy Corps

• Singapore Red Cross

• Indian Red Cross

• AID India

• The Tamil Association of Colorado is collecting relief funds. Make checks out to: Tamil Association of Colorado. In the memo, write “Tsunami Relief Fund.” Send to: PO Box 270243, Littleton, Co 80127. The organization’s e-mail address is: tamilcolorado@yahoo.comTo donate to the International Red Cross, call 800 HELP NOW, or log onto DenverRedcross.org and designate funds for “International Response Fund.” [via TalkLeft]

• Stand Up For Penang relief fund

• Indian Association of North Texas

Religious Charities: [List via Ilyka]

*Christian Aid

• American Jewish World Service

• Catholic Relief

• American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee

• International Orthodox Christian Charities

• Islamic Relief

• BAPS Care International
  Contact: Shailendra Adroja; 1-732-744-1744
  Checks payable to:
  BAPS Care International
  can be mailed to:
  195 Main Street Suite 304
  Metuchen, NJ 08840

• The National Federation of Indian-American Associations
  Contact: Rajen Anand (703) 642-3156, (562) 537-1077
  Checks (tax-deductible) will be sent to the International Red Cross for the use of ALL victims in all countries.
  Checks payable to:
  NFIA
  can be mailed to:
  6912 Winter Lane
  Annandale, VA 22003

• The Hindu Temple Society of North America
  Contact: Dr Uma Mysorekar (718) 460-8484
  Checks (tax deductible) payable to:
  The Hindu Temple Society of North America
  can be mailed to:
  Hindu Temple Society of North America
  45-57 Bowne Street
  Flushing, NY 11355

[last three agencies courtesy of Tsunami Help blog]

Also via Tsunami Help blog:

A united fundraiser is being planned by IDRF, Philadelphia in association with CIO, Bharatiya Temple, and Local organizations of Indian-Americans. IDRF is soliciting contributions for the relief and rehabilitation of Tsunami victims. IDRF has already released $10,000 towards immediate relief efforts and will match dollar-to-dollar for donations up to $50,000.

See here for details.

—Update 9am EST——

The following list is courtesy of Solonor - there may be some overlapping.

Action Against Hunger

247 West 37th Street, Suite 1201

New York, NY 10018

212-967-7800

http://www.aah-usa.org

American Jewish World Service

45 West 36th Street, 10th Floor

New York, NY 10018

800-889-7146

http://www.ajws.org

ADRA International

9-11 Fund

12501 Old Columbus Pike

Silver Spring, MD 20904

800-424-2372

http://www.adra.org

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC Crisis Fund)

1501 Cherry Street

Philadelphia, PA

215-241-7000

http://www.afsc.org

Catholic Relief Services

PO Box 17090

Baltimore, MD 21203-7090

800-736-3467

http://www.catholicrelief.org

Direct Relief International

27 South La Patera Lane

Santa Barbara, CA 93117

805-964-4767

http://www.directrelief.org

Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres

PO Box 2247

New York, NY 10116-2247

888-392-0392

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org

International Medical Corps

1919 Santa Monica Boulevard Suite 300

Santa Monica CA 90404

800-481-4462

http://www.imcworldwide.org

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

PO Box 372

CH-1211 Geneva 19

Switzerland

41-22-730-4222

http://www.ifrc.org/

International Orthodox Christian Charities

Middle East Crisis Response

PO Box 630225

Baltimore, MD 21263-0225

877-803-4622

http://www.iocc.org

Lutheran World Relief

PO Box 17061

Baltimore MD 21298-9832

800-597-5972

http://www.lwr.org

MAP International

2200 Glynco Parkway

PO Box 215000

Brunswick, GA 3121-5000

800-225-8550

http://www.map.org

Mercy Corps

PO Box 2669

Portland, OR 97208

800-852-2100

http://www.mercycorps.org

Northwest Medical Teams

PO Box 10

Portland, OR 97207-0010

503-624-1000

http://www.nwmedicalteams.org

Operation USA

8320 Melrose Avenue, Ste. 200

Los Angles, CA 90069

800-678-7255

http://www.opusa.org

Relief International

11965 Venice Blvd. #405

Los Angeles, CA 90066

800-572-3332

http://www.ri.org

Save the Children

Asia Earthquake/Tidal Wave Relief Fund

54 Wilton Road

Westport, CT 06880

800-728-3843

www.savethechildren.org

US Fund for UNICEF

333 East 38th Street

New York, NY 10016

800-FOR-KIDS

http://www.unicefusa.org

World Concern

19303 Fremont Ave. N

Seattle, WA 98133

800-755-5022

http://www.worldconcern.org

World Relief

7 E. Baltimore St.

Baltimore, MD 21202

443-451-1900

http://www.wr.org

World Vision

PO Box 70288

Tacoma, Washington 98481-0288

888-56-CHILD

http://www.worldvision.org

—-

• Writer’s Cafe Relief Fund

• Southern Baptists and other Christians can help by sending financial gifts for aid through the IMB disaster relief fund. Send gifts designated “Asia Earthquake Disaster Relief” to the International Mission Board, P.O. Box 6767, Richmond, Va., 23230 (to give online, go to the International Mission Board’s website, www.imb.org, and click on “Give Now” in the box highlighting this story). All funds given will go to relief efforts; none will be used for administrative costs. [via here]

—Updates 8:22 pm EST—

Amazon is taking donations

The Blogger Tsunami Challenge

—-Updates 12/29———-

NYT has an extensive list of agencies sending relief

Another long list, from Deseret News.

From blogger Scott Ott: Asian Disaster Relief Via Evangelical Agency

The band Linkin Park has set up (via Red Cross) Music for Relief

Another list, from Christian Science Monitor.

More here.

See this post for the Blogger/AdSense campaign.

12/31

Network for good has a good list, broken down by what each agency is doing.

Association for India’s Development website is tracking volunteeers who want to go to the region to help out.

In email from the UJA Federation:

In response to the devastating tsunami in South Asia, UJA-Federation of New York has set up a special emergency mailbox to collect funds for relief efforts. Donations can be made online at www.ujafedny.org/tsunamirelief, by
sending a check made payable to “UJA-Federation - Tsunami Relief Fund” to:
UJA-Federation of New York
P.O. Box 27877
New York, NY 10087-7877

or by calling the Donor Center at 1.212.836.1880 with credit card information.
More information about the Tsunami Relief Fund can be found at
www.ujafedny.org. One hundred percent of the funds c