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Tsunami Waves Kill at Least 23,000

Aired December 27, 2004 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR: And that's it for us here on "AMERICAN MORNING," because we're plum out of time. I'm Rick Sanchez.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CO-ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins. And Carol Costello was with us and Andy and Toure.

SANCHEZ: All here.

COLLINS: All the gang kind of.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Holiday crew.

SANCHEZ: And you had the nicest thing to say about my co-host.

TOURE: I love Daryn Kagan.

SANCHEZ: Yes? The smile.

TOURE: So beautiful.

SERWER: Her ears are burning.

COLLINS: Daryn, it's a love fest up here.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Oh, my goodness.

SANCHEZ: We've been talking about you.

KAGAN: Christmas coming late. Thank you. You guys have a great day in New York City.

Rick, I'm carrying your load down here in Atlanta.

SANCHEZ: I'll be here with the kids.

KAGAN: OK. You enjoy New York City.

We'll get started. Let's take a look at what's happening right now in the news. The death toll rises in the nine south Asian countries devastated by tsunamis, at least 23,000 people are dead, hundreds of thousands are homeless. Yesterday's tsunamis were triggered by the strongest earthquake in the world in the last 40 years. It struck deep beneath the Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesia.

To Baghdad, the destruction is manmade. A suicide bomber has struck yet again. This time outside the headquarters of one of the main Shiia political parties. At least six people were killed and 33 injured. The blast was so powerful it also damaged five nearby buildings.

In Ukraine, opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko is celebrating what appears to be an insurmountable lead in that country's bitter elections. Yushchenko thanked his supporters, who protested outside the capital for weeks until the new election was granted. Yushchenko's Moscow backed opponent, who had been declared the winner of the first election, has not yet conceded defeat.

Well, the Christmas weekend is over. The travel headaches though, are far from over. Regional carrier Comair hopes to resume its full flight schedule by Wednesday. A computer malfunction forced the Delta subsidiary to cancel 1100 flights on Christmas Day. Meanwhile, U.S. Airways is delivering a mountain of luggage that was held up by weather delays and a sickout by baggage handlers, ramp workers and flight attendants.

And good morning to you, I'm Daryn Kagan. As you can see Rick Sanchez is working in New York City this week.

We get right to our top story, which is the devastation continuing to unfold in Southeast Asia after massive tsunamis hit. One U.N. relief official describes it as one of the worst natural disasters ever. Those tsunamis were triggered by the fourth most powerful earthquake on record. The death toll has topped 23,000 and that number continues to climb. In addition, to the dead, there are thousands injured, thousands missing, and hundreds of thousands who are homeless today.

The nine-magnitude earthquake was located about 100 miles off of Indonesia's Sumatra Island. Some of the tsunamis reached as far as 1,000 miles from the epicenter.

Only CNN is able to get reporters throughout the hard-hit areas right away. We have reporters covering the tsunamis aftermath in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Indonesia.

We're going to start with Satinder Bindra who joins us by videophone from Colombo, Sri Lanka -- Satinder.

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, Sri Lanka is bearing the brunt of this tragedy. As you mentioned, more than 10,000 people have been killed here. A million people have been displaced, and some 250,000 people are homeless. The homeless are streaming in to shelters like this one, where I am, 1,500 people have now taken shelter here in this Catholic Church.

And this center is symbolic of what is going on elsewhere in the country too, where thousands of such shelters are coming up. People are being fed. They're being clothed in these shelters. And ordinary citizens, ordinary Sri Lankans are coming in with donations of money, with donations of food.

Meanwhile, Daryn, a massive relief operation has been launched after Sri Lanka was hit by two massive tidal waves just yesterday. Today, I noticed that the airport, some dozens of Western tourists, they were injured. Many of them were emotionally quite shattered. And they'd been brought in to Colombo Airport from far-flung areas in this country.

Also, we noticed later on, the bodies of dead people from across the country are being brought in to Colombo and they're being handed over to relatives. So this operation continues, and officials are already warning us that even after numbers of dead have climbed, this number could go up possibly even higher over the next 24 to 48 hours -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, and Satinder if you could give us a bit of your personal experience. As I understand it you just happened to be in Sri Lanka on vacation with your family. What was it like for you and your family as this unfolded?

BINDRA: Well, the first thing that struck me was the story and the magnitude of the horror that was unfolding. Because I noticed waves coming in, hitting the beaches with great force and then just smashing everything. And then it was just like a giant vacuum cleaner in operation. Homes were just sucked away, Television sets. I noticed animals in the water, as well. A lot of debris. All that was sucked out to sea really, really fast.

And within a matter of hours literally all that debris was gone. So the force of the wave was very, very powerful. And these waves caused a lot of damage. The first wave to hit was not quite so powerful. But it was the second one to hit Sri Lanka that caused many communities to just suffer a lot of damage. Homes were just burst open like just ordinary play things. Boats were snapped literally like toothpicks. So the force of this water was quite powerful -- Daryn.

KAGAN: But you and your family, looks like you're safe and we appreciate you being there and bringing us those reports. Satinder Bindra, thank you.

Well, among those vacationing along the Sri Lankan coast, Chicago interior designer Nate Berkus. He has appeared frequently on the "Oprah Winfrey Show." Berkus said that he and a friend were sleeping in a beachfront cottage when the room was ripped off and the waters carried them off.

He spoke to CNN by phone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATE BERKUS, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: We were completely devastated yesterday morning around 9:00 in the morning. We desperately, desperately needed help from the government here. We're without water. We're without food. And many of us are injured. There are women and children here who are -- there's a pregnant woman with broken ribs.

The Sri Lankan army seems to only have a very few helicopters here that have touched down and taken away very few of the injured people. We've all been sleeping in a field throughout the nigh. And right now, I believe it's about 4:00 in the morning here. I'm with about a group about 60 tourists, as well as many locals.

And it's just been utter devastation. Bodies everywhere. And just really absolutely horrible, horrible devastation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Berkus says that he is scraped up but otherwise fine. His friend, however, is still missing.

We move on to Indonesia, not really certain the death toll. Communication has been wiped out in the hardest-hit area.

CNN's Atika Shubert joins us on the videophone from Medan, Indonesia -- Atika.

ATIKA SCHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, I'm in Medan, which is actually the entry point to Aceh, which the north of Sumatra. This is the area that was closest to the epicenter of the earthquake. Ironically when the quake first struck, death toll numbers were actually quite low coming out of Indonesia. It now appears, however, that the only reason for that is simply because communications were completely wiped out.

The president and the vice president have made visits to the area of Aceh. And the vice president come back just recently said that he believes the death toll in the city of Banda Aceh, the capital alone, could reach 10,000 thank you. He estimates anywhere between 5,000 to 10,000 people killed.

His description of the area just devastating. Bodies on the street. Buildings torn down. And what makes matters worse is that the infrastructure that was in place the military, the police, all the kind of search and rescue teams there, were also hit by the tsunami waves. So, really, the infrastructure completely wiped out, and at this point they're just trying to get as much aid, food clean water to the area as they can.

KAGAN: And what about the issue of clean drinking water? I imagine that would be a top priority -- Atika.

SCHUBERT: It definitely is a top priority. As you can imagine, there are a lot of fears that whatever drinking water there is available will be contaminated by the tsunami wave that came in. And because there are just so many killed, so many dead bodies literally just lying on the street, there's a lot of concern about sanitation. In additions to that, of course, tens of thousands have been missed. They're seeking shelter on higher ground. But as you can imagine, these kinds of conditions are simply not healthy.

There's a concern that there must be fresh water, food, and medicine brought in. Otherwise disease will set in.

KAGAN: A lot of challenges still ahead. Atika Schubert from Medan, Indonesia. One of the coastal areas devastated by the floodwater was Phuket, Thailand; one of Asia's most popular beach resorts. It draws visitors from around the world, and many are now among the missing.

Joining us by videophone is CNN correspondent Aneesh Raman -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, good morning. It has been some 36 hours since those two additional 30-foot waves, near moments between them, engulfed the coastlines here on Phuket Island. Drowning everyone in the ocean. And as they retreated, bringing many people with them. We are on the west coast of Phuket. This was the hardest hit area, the closest to that earthquake's epicenter.

The death toll today, more than doubling, now stands at 900, likely to go over 1,000. The reason for the jump; officials say that as of last night there was some 400 to 600 people thought to be lost at sea. It was unclear, though, if they were still alive. And efforts were being made all last night to try and save anyone that was. But this morning bodies began washing ashore. That is now continued throughout the day into tonight and likely to do so tomorrow.

Here on Phuket, the death toll around 130. And the hardest-hit area is a coastal town of Phang Nga, there over 500. The vast majority -- well, we shouldn't say the vast majority. But a good number of these are likely to be foreign tourists. This is as you say a popular tourist destination. One of the most popular tourist destinations in Southeast Asia. This is its peak season. This island could not have been more crowded. And it was filled with the vast majority, people from elsewhere.

The hospital that is still standing here is housing those that have survived. We went there today. Hundreds of people just in utter shock, some 22 nationalities: Americans, Koreans, Germans, New Zealanders, Australians, all just desperate to get home, Daryn. Just now starting to come to grips with the scenes of devastation that they have seen now over the past 36 hours.

KAGAN: And I would imagine that there's two challenges here. You have the domestic population and trying to deal with them. But also, as you were saying these tourists not only hurt and among the dead, but, so desperate to get home. But I would imagine that infrastructure has been compromised, as well.

RAMAN: It is. It's a very difficult situation for the Thai government right now. Quite unique, given the other countries that have suffered from the tsunamis. They really are dealing with two constituencies. You have the tourists, which make up the vast majority of people affected on Phuket, Phi Phi Island to our east, and even some of those coastal towns. But you also have a domestic population. They're calling this an unprecedented catastrophe. Something they've never dealt with before. So they're doing that they best they can.

In terms of the tourists, they are going out of their way to make sure the people who want to leave this area can. They have set up two massive tourist relief centers, one in Phuket, one in Bangkok. They are airlifting any tourist with severe injuries to six Bangkok hospitals that have been kept aside just for them. Free lodging being provided to tourists who make it out of here to Bangkok as they decide what to do.

So the Thai government very aware of the unique situation for tourists here, caught in a foreign line, amidst a culture and a language that they do not speak desperate for home, dealing with just stories of untold tragedy -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And we will continue to bring you those stories, Aneesh Ramen in Phuket Island, Thailand, thank you.

For more information visit our continuing updating website. Complete coverage is there of this disaster from eyewitness accounts to scientific animations and interactive limits. That special report can be found at cnn.com.

We're not done with our coverage of this crisis. In the next hour, an amazing survivor story from a reporter on the beach in Thailand with his family. Still to come this hour, more eyewitness accounts to the devastation in Asia.

Plus we're going to take a look back at how the tsunamis from the weekend measure up to past earthquakes.

And at the half hour, the science of tsunamis. An expert explains exactly how they happen and why.

And next hour the relief effort. We are going to talk to the leader of CARE International about getting medicine and food and shelter to the millions of people whose lives have been almost literally washed away, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We get back to our coverage now of the massive tsunami. Survivors of the tsunamis are describing the chilling events. Resort guests drowned in their hotel rooms by 30-foot waves, sailors running for their lives as the waves destroyed their beach boat.

Here now, more stories from witnesses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP))

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was driving. And then all of a sudden, a tidal wave came just about 10 to 12 meters high. And it hit all the trucks, houses, and it just sunk everything out. And within seconds, everything was back to the sea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The strength of the water crashed the window outside to the backside of the terminal. And we got out that way. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suddenly the water came in to between the door, and within two minutes, it was up to my breast. and the bed was swimming in the room. Everything was completely destroyed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The streets are broken, the shops and the beaches, everything is destroyed. It's terrible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it hit about 10:30, 10:45 in the morning here. We talked to another lady that was at the hotel. And actually her driver died, and she had to hold on to a tree. And the water went straight over her. She stayed there for quite a bit, then she went totally under water. But she was lucky to be able to hold onto the tree. She had rocks coming to her body. Her legs are damaged. They're just devastating. They're crying.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

KAGAN: Well, as we've been reporting the south Asia earthquake is the fourth strongest on record. Here now a look at the other big quakes. The world's strongest ever recorded, it was measured at 9.5. That was in Chile back in 1960. That was followed four years later by a 9.2 magnitude quake in Prince William Sound in Alaska, 1964. In 1957, a 9.1 quake jolted the Andrean Islands of Alaska. And then there was the weekend quake in Indonesia, which measured 9.0.

Let's bring in Orelon Sidney in. She is going to give us a little 101 on earthquakes.

First of all, where they hit in the world, and what you call the Pacinof (ph), what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Pacific Ring of Fire, that's the area where you get most of the very strong earthquakes in the world. And there's a specific reason for it. We've got a map that we're going to show you first and show you what we mean by the ring of fire.

Literally, the Pacific Ocean is ringed with trenches and faults. This is an area where the ocean plate, the actual ocean floor dives down beneath the continents. That means you get very deep earthquakes. You get very strong earthquakes.

We're going to kind of scroll the map up a little bit and you can see there on the left side there's the Challenger Deep, the deepest point of the ocean caused by this particular type of tectonic movement. As we move on over to the left, there's the Java trench. That's an area where, again, the Australian plate dives beneath the Pacific plate. And that's where this particular earthquake occurred. The stretch is along the entire island of Sumatra and then continues out almost to the Philippines, there's a separate plate for the Philippines. But that is one of the areas where you find very strong and generally very deep earthquakes.

Surprisingly, the reports that I've seen, this earthquake was very shallow. About six miles, that's shallow for an earthquake. Makes me wonder if there's maybe not a little sexy thing going on there; may be with some transform faults and that sort of thing. But in general this is where we long for the strongest types of earthquakes.

KAGAN: OK, we'll get into transform faults.

SIDNEY: A little bit later.

KAGAN: To explain the earthquake, how it feels and it travels we're going very high tech. And you've brought your Slinky.

SIDNEY: I brought my Slinky. I always say expensive weather equipment and I play with the box.

KAGAN: There you go. OK. I'm going to be your assistant here.

SIDNEY: You're my assistant.

KAGAN: You want me to hold this end.

SIDNEY: Just hold that down on the desk.

KAGAN: OK.

SIDNEY: What this is, is explaining how earthquake waves travel through the earth. Imagine this is the surface of the earth. You've got hundreds of feet of water above this now. But this is the surface of the earth. The first waves you get are called P-waves, primary waves. And they move just like sound waves. They're compression waves. Can you see how that's traveling right along the wave?

KAGAN: That's happening low beneath the surface of the ocean.

SIDNEY: This actually happens beneath the surface. And then, once these waves go, you get what are called S-waves, secondary waves. And these now are on the surface and they move laterally like this. So imagine your house is here, imagine this isn't under water. Imagine your house is sitting here. Your house is getting swayed back and forth, back and forth.

Now, the most dangerous waves though, are the ones that actually make lateral and vertical movements along the fault. That is an up and down movement that travels along the fault line. In the Alaska earthquake, this type of shaking and this type of shaking lasted for 41/2 minutes.

KAGAN: Which is a long time for anybody who's been in an earthquake.

SIDNEY: That's exactly right. Some of the vertical displacement was as much as 19 feet in some areas. So you can imagine, if you've got water here and this kind of motion going, you're going to generate some amazing waves. And that's the kind of waves that flow out from the center of the earthquake and then impact the land areas.

KAGAN: Which also explains one: the speed of these waves, and also how land areas so far away from the epicenter could have been effected.

SIDNEY: That's right. These waves actually stack up. As they get closer to land, they merge and create instead of several small waves, one big wave. So that's why we see the waves being so tall. And so devastating, as they move in to the coast.

KAGAN: And all the damage around Asia and all the death and destruction. Thank you for the explainer, Orelon. Appreciate it.

SIDNEY: You're very welcome.

KAGAN: We'll have U.S. weather coming up later.

SIDNEY: Yes. We will.

KAGAN: We do look forward to that.

Still to come, more reaction to the devastation. Plus we're going to look at the differences between earthquakes and tsunamis.

But first, we have other news ahead, including did shoppers make a difference this holiday season?

Allan Chernoff is looking at that -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN-FN CORRESPONDENT: A mixed holiday season, and I'll have details of the winners and losers coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, the gifts are given, the Yule log burned. Now that Christmas is over, retailers are hoping that post-holiday sales will coax a bargain shopping rebound to what they're calling a disappointing season. Our financial news reporter Allan Chernoff takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): Some bargain hunters were out before dawn Sunday morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, half off of, you know, wrapping and tissue and everything. So you have to have it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People who were there earlier than me who got, you know, you could tell it was picked over.

CHERNOFF: Indeed, analysts say discounted items may go quickly, since the majority of retailers were cautious going in to the holiday season and ordered modest inventory. For many stores, especially discounters, it has been a challenging season. The rising expense of gasoline, medical care, and a job market that's been slow to recover, all working against retailers. Now they're hoping post-holiday sales will provide a boost.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the best time really to shop after Christmas. That's where you find the best sales and everything. Where I look for my sales after Christmas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything's on sale. Everything.

CHERNOFF: But for luxury retailers, it has been a season of plenty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably the hottest items are massage chairs. Hydro massage chairs. They're flying out of here.

CHERNOFF: Designer fashion accessories and high-end electronics were popular gifts.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got a new pocketbook. I got an iPod. What else did I get?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tiffany.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got some Tiffany jewelry.

CHERNOFF: It will be several weeks before retailers report earnings from the holiday season. But at the upscale mall at Short Hills in New Jersey, the manager says sales were up about 7 percent from last year.

MIKE MCAVINUE, MGR., MALL AT SHORT HILLS: Cashmere has been really hot. Jewelry is traditionally hot this time of year. Specifically diamond, chandelier earrings, leather, shearling coats.

CHERNOFF: The wild card this season, gift cards. Their huge popularity has retailers hoping consumers will quickly redeem their cards and spend extra when they do so. Another post-holiday opportunity for retailers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: One indication of how popular gift cards were, MasterCard International is reporting that holiday sales for the entire period were up 8.1 percent compared to last year. A number well above all their estimates. But the MasterCard numbers include sales of gift cards. And retailers typically do not count gift cards in their numbers until they're actually cashed in -- Daryn.

KAGAN: But they already have the money in hand for the gift card, so why aren't they counting it?

CHERNOFF: Yes, it's a very good question. I think it really is mainly because of inventory. They want to keep track of their inventory. So when they sell an item, that's when they actually want to take it on its ledger and say OK, now we've actually sold the item, we can cash it in. But it certainly is a very good argument. They've gotten the money, so you would think they would want to count the sale.

KAGAN: Allan Chernoff, thank you for that.

Thousands of troops spent the holidays without their loved ones. But some were fortunate to talk to their family. You saw it right here on CNN. We're going to look back at some of the best of the heartfelt reunions coming up. Get the Kleenex ready for that.

Plus reminiscing through family photos. One Los angles man awaits word if his family survived the south Asian tsunami. His story is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired December 27, 2004 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR: And that's it for us here on "AMERICAN MORNING," because we're plum out of time. I'm Rick Sanchez.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CO-ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins. And Carol Costello was with us and Andy and Toure.

SANCHEZ: All here.

COLLINS: All the gang kind of.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Holiday crew.

SANCHEZ: And you had the nicest thing to say about my co-host.

TOURE: I love Daryn Kagan.

SANCHEZ: Yes? The smile.

TOURE: So beautiful.

SERWER: Her ears are burning.

COLLINS: Daryn, it's a love fest up here.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Oh, my goodness.

SANCHEZ: We've been talking about you.

KAGAN: Christmas coming late. Thank you. You guys have a great day in New York City.

Rick, I'm carrying your load down here in Atlanta.

SANCHEZ: I'll be here with the kids.

KAGAN: OK. You enjoy New York City.

We'll get started. Let's take a look at what's happening right now in the news. The death toll rises in the nine south Asian countries devastated by tsunamis, at least 23,000 people are dead, hundreds of thousands are homeless. Yesterday's tsunamis were triggered by the strongest earthquake in the world in the last 40 years. It struck deep beneath the Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesia.

To Baghdad, the destruction is manmade. A suicide bomber has struck yet again. This time outside the headquarters of one of the main Shiia political parties. At least six people were killed and 33 injured. The blast was so powerful it also damaged five nearby buildings.

In Ukraine, opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko is celebrating what appears to be an insurmountable lead in that country's bitter elections. Yushchenko thanked his supporters, who protested outside the capital for weeks until the new election was granted. Yushchenko's Moscow backed opponent, who had been declared the winner of the first election, has not yet conceded defeat.

Well, the Christmas weekend is over. The travel headaches though, are far from over. Regional carrier Comair hopes to resume its full flight schedule by Wednesday. A computer malfunction forced the Delta subsidiary to cancel 1100 flights on Christmas Day. Meanwhile, U.S. Airways is delivering a mountain of luggage that was held up by weather delays and a sickout by baggage handlers, ramp workers and flight attendants.

And good morning to you, I'm Daryn Kagan. As you can see Rick Sanchez is working in New York City this week.

We get right to our top story, which is the devastation continuing to unfold in Southeast Asia after massive tsunamis hit. One U.N. relief official describes it as one of the worst natural disasters ever. Those tsunamis were triggered by the fourth most powerful earthquake on record. The death toll has topped 23,000 and that number continues to climb. In addition, to the dead, there are thousands injured, thousands missing, and hundreds of thousands who are homeless today.

The nine-magnitude earthquake was located about 100 miles off of Indonesia's Sumatra Island. Some of the tsunamis reached as far as 1,000 miles from the epicenter.

Only CNN is able to get reporters throughout the hard-hit areas right away. We have reporters covering the tsunamis aftermath in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Indonesia.

We're going to start with Satinder Bindra who joins us by videophone from Colombo, Sri Lanka -- Satinder.

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, Sri Lanka is bearing the brunt of this tragedy. As you mentioned, more than 10,000 people have been killed here. A million people have been displaced, and some 250,000 people are homeless. The homeless are streaming in to shelters like this one, where I am, 1,500 people have now taken shelter here in this Catholic Church.

And this center is symbolic of what is going on elsewhere in the country too, where thousands of such shelters are coming up. People are being fed. They're being clothed in these shelters. And ordinary citizens, ordinary Sri Lankans are coming in with donations of money, with donations of food.

Meanwhile, Daryn, a massive relief operation has been launched after Sri Lanka was hit by two massive tidal waves just yesterday. Today, I noticed that the airport, some dozens of Western tourists, they were injured. Many of them were emotionally quite shattered. And they'd been brought in to Colombo Airport from far-flung areas in this country.

Also, we noticed later on, the bodies of dead people from across the country are being brought in to Colombo and they're being handed over to relatives. So this operation continues, and officials are already warning us that even after numbers of dead have climbed, this number could go up possibly even higher over the next 24 to 48 hours -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, and Satinder if you could give us a bit of your personal experience. As I understand it you just happened to be in Sri Lanka on vacation with your family. What was it like for you and your family as this unfolded?

BINDRA: Well, the first thing that struck me was the story and the magnitude of the horror that was unfolding. Because I noticed waves coming in, hitting the beaches with great force and then just smashing everything. And then it was just like a giant vacuum cleaner in operation. Homes were just sucked away, Television sets. I noticed animals in the water, as well. A lot of debris. All that was sucked out to sea really, really fast.

And within a matter of hours literally all that debris was gone. So the force of the wave was very, very powerful. And these waves caused a lot of damage. The first wave to hit was not quite so powerful. But it was the second one to hit Sri Lanka that caused many communities to just suffer a lot of damage. Homes were just burst open like just ordinary play things. Boats were snapped literally like toothpicks. So the force of this water was quite powerful -- Daryn.

KAGAN: But you and your family, looks like you're safe and we appreciate you being there and bringing us those reports. Satinder Bindra, thank you.

Well, among those vacationing along the Sri Lankan coast, Chicago interior designer Nate Berkus. He has appeared frequently on the "Oprah Winfrey Show." Berkus said that he and a friend were sleeping in a beachfront cottage when the room was ripped off and the waters carried them off.

He spoke to CNN by phone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATE BERKUS, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: We were completely devastated yesterday morning around 9:00 in the morning. We desperately, desperately needed help from the government here. We're without water. We're without food. And many of us are injured. There are women and children here who are -- there's a pregnant woman with broken ribs.

The Sri Lankan army seems to only have a very few helicopters here that have touched down and taken away very few of the injured people. We've all been sleeping in a field throughout the nigh. And right now, I believe it's about 4:00 in the morning here. I'm with about a group about 60 tourists, as well as many locals.

And it's just been utter devastation. Bodies everywhere. And just really absolutely horrible, horrible devastation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Berkus says that he is scraped up but otherwise fine. His friend, however, is still missing.

We move on to Indonesia, not really certain the death toll. Communication has been wiped out in the hardest-hit area.

CNN's Atika Shubert joins us on the videophone from Medan, Indonesia -- Atika.

ATIKA SCHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, I'm in Medan, which is actually the entry point to Aceh, which the north of Sumatra. This is the area that was closest to the epicenter of the earthquake. Ironically when the quake first struck, death toll numbers were actually quite low coming out of Indonesia. It now appears, however, that the only reason for that is simply because communications were completely wiped out.

The president and the vice president have made visits to the area of Aceh. And the vice president come back just recently said that he believes the death toll in the city of Banda Aceh, the capital alone, could reach 10,000 thank you. He estimates anywhere between 5,000 to 10,000 people killed.

His description of the area just devastating. Bodies on the street. Buildings torn down. And what makes matters worse is that the infrastructure that was in place the military, the police, all the kind of search and rescue teams there, were also hit by the tsunami waves. So, really, the infrastructure completely wiped out, and at this point they're just trying to get as much aid, food clean water to the area as they can.

KAGAN: And what about the issue of clean drinking water? I imagine that would be a top priority -- Atika.

SCHUBERT: It definitely is a top priority. As you can imagine, there are a lot of fears that whatever drinking water there is available will be contaminated by the tsunami wave that came in. And because there are just so many killed, so many dead bodies literally just lying on the street, there's a lot of concern about sanitation. In additions to that, of course, tens of thousands have been missed. They're seeking shelter on higher ground. But as you can imagine, these kinds of conditions are simply not healthy.

There's a concern that there must be fresh water, food, and medicine brought in. Otherwise disease will set in.

KAGAN: A lot of challenges still ahead. Atika Schubert from Medan, Indonesia. One of the coastal areas devastated by the floodwater was Phuket, Thailand; one of Asia's most popular beach resorts. It draws visitors from around the world, and many are now among the missing.

Joining us by videophone is CNN correspondent Aneesh Raman -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, good morning. It has been some 36 hours since those two additional 30-foot waves, near moments between them, engulfed the coastlines here on Phuket Island. Drowning everyone in the ocean. And as they retreated, bringing many people with them. We are on the west coast of Phuket. This was the hardest hit area, the closest to that earthquake's epicenter.

The death toll today, more than doubling, now stands at 900, likely to go over 1,000. The reason for the jump; officials say that as of last night there was some 400 to 600 people thought to be lost at sea. It was unclear, though, if they were still alive. And efforts were being made all last night to try and save anyone that was. But this morning bodies began washing ashore. That is now continued throughout the day into tonight and likely to do so tomorrow.

Here on Phuket, the death toll around 130. And the hardest-hit area is a coastal town of Phang Nga, there over 500. The vast majority -- well, we shouldn't say the vast majority. But a good number of these are likely to be foreign tourists. This is as you say a popular tourist destination. One of the most popular tourist destinations in Southeast Asia. This is its peak season. This island could not have been more crowded. And it was filled with the vast majority, people from elsewhere.

The hospital that is still standing here is housing those that have survived. We went there today. Hundreds of people just in utter shock, some 22 nationalities: Americans, Koreans, Germans, New Zealanders, Australians, all just desperate to get home, Daryn. Just now starting to come to grips with the scenes of devastation that they have seen now over the past 36 hours.

KAGAN: And I would imagine that there's two challenges here. You have the domestic population and trying to deal with them. But also, as you were saying these tourists not only hurt and among the dead, but, so desperate to get home. But I would imagine that infrastructure has been compromised, as well.

RAMAN: It is. It's a very difficult situation for the Thai government right now. Quite unique, given the other countries that have suffered from the tsunamis. They really are dealing with two constituencies. You have the tourists, which make up the vast majority of people affected on Phuket, Phi Phi Island to our east, and even some of those coastal towns. But you also have a domestic population. They're calling this an unprecedented catastrophe. Something they've never dealt with before. So they're doing that they best they can.

In terms of the tourists, they are going out of their way to make sure the people who want to leave this area can. They have set up two massive tourist relief centers, one in Phuket, one in Bangkok. They are airlifting any tourist with severe injuries to six Bangkok hospitals that have been kept aside just for them. Free lodging being provided to tourists who make it out of here to Bangkok as they decide what to do.

So the Thai government very aware of the unique situation for tourists here, caught in a foreign line, amidst a culture and a language that they do not speak desperate for home, dealing with just stories of untold tragedy -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And we will continue to bring you those stories, Aneesh Ramen in Phuket Island, Thailand, thank you.

For more information visit our continuing updating website. Complete coverage is there of this disaster from eyewitness accounts to scientific animations and interactive limits. That special report can be found at cnn.com.

We're not done with our coverage of this crisis. In the next hour, an amazing survivor story from a reporter on the beach in Thailand with his family. Still to come this hour, more eyewitness accounts to the devastation in Asia.

Plus we're going to take a look back at how the tsunamis from the weekend measure up to past earthquakes.

And at the half hour, the science of tsunamis. An expert explains exactly how they happen and why.

And next hour the relief effort. We are going to talk to the leader of CARE International about getting medicine and food and shelter to the millions of people whose lives have been almost literally washed away, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We get back to our coverage now of the massive tsunami. Survivors of the tsunamis are describing the chilling events. Resort guests drowned in their hotel rooms by 30-foot waves, sailors running for their lives as the waves destroyed their beach boat.

Here now, more stories from witnesses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP))

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was driving. And then all of a sudden, a tidal wave came just about 10 to 12 meters high. And it hit all the trucks, houses, and it just sunk everything out. And within seconds, everything was back to the sea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The strength of the water crashed the window outside to the backside of the terminal. And we got out that way. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suddenly the water came in to between the door, and within two minutes, it was up to my breast. and the bed was swimming in the room. Everything was completely destroyed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The streets are broken, the shops and the beaches, everything is destroyed. It's terrible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it hit about 10:30, 10:45 in the morning here. We talked to another lady that was at the hotel. And actually her driver died, and she had to hold on to a tree. And the water went straight over her. She stayed there for quite a bit, then she went totally under water. But she was lucky to be able to hold onto the tree. She had rocks coming to her body. Her legs are damaged. They're just devastating. They're crying.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

KAGAN: Well, as we've been reporting the south Asia earthquake is the fourth strongest on record. Here now a look at the other big quakes. The world's strongest ever recorded, it was measured at 9.5. That was in Chile back in 1960. That was followed four years later by a 9.2 magnitude quake in Prince William Sound in Alaska, 1964. In 1957, a 9.1 quake jolted the Andrean Islands of Alaska. And then there was the weekend quake in Indonesia, which measured 9.0.

Let's bring in Orelon Sidney in. She is going to give us a little 101 on earthquakes.

First of all, where they hit in the world, and what you call the Pacinof (ph), what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Pacific Ring of Fire, that's the area where you get most of the very strong earthquakes in the world. And there's a specific reason for it. We've got a map that we're going to show you first and show you what we mean by the ring of fire.

Literally, the Pacific Ocean is ringed with trenches and faults. This is an area where the ocean plate, the actual ocean floor dives down beneath the continents. That means you get very deep earthquakes. You get very strong earthquakes.

We're going to kind of scroll the map up a little bit and you can see there on the left side there's the Challenger Deep, the deepest point of the ocean caused by this particular type of tectonic movement. As we move on over to the left, there's the Java trench. That's an area where, again, the Australian plate dives beneath the Pacific plate. And that's where this particular earthquake occurred. The stretch is along the entire island of Sumatra and then continues out almost to the Philippines, there's a separate plate for the Philippines. But that is one of the areas where you find very strong and generally very deep earthquakes.

Surprisingly, the reports that I've seen, this earthquake was very shallow. About six miles, that's shallow for an earthquake. Makes me wonder if there's maybe not a little sexy thing going on there; may be with some transform faults and that sort of thing. But in general this is where we long for the strongest types of earthquakes.

KAGAN: OK, we'll get into transform faults.

SIDNEY: A little bit later.

KAGAN: To explain the earthquake, how it feels and it travels we're going very high tech. And you've brought your Slinky.

SIDNEY: I brought my Slinky. I always say expensive weather equipment and I play with the box.

KAGAN: There you go. OK. I'm going to be your assistant here.

SIDNEY: You're my assistant.

KAGAN: You want me to hold this end.

SIDNEY: Just hold that down on the desk.

KAGAN: OK.

SIDNEY: What this is, is explaining how earthquake waves travel through the earth. Imagine this is the surface of the earth. You've got hundreds of feet of water above this now. But this is the surface of the earth. The first waves you get are called P-waves, primary waves. And they move just like sound waves. They're compression waves. Can you see how that's traveling right along the wave?

KAGAN: That's happening low beneath the surface of the ocean.

SIDNEY: This actually happens beneath the surface. And then, once these waves go, you get what are called S-waves, secondary waves. And these now are on the surface and they move laterally like this. So imagine your house is here, imagine this isn't under water. Imagine your house is sitting here. Your house is getting swayed back and forth, back and forth.

Now, the most dangerous waves though, are the ones that actually make lateral and vertical movements along the fault. That is an up and down movement that travels along the fault line. In the Alaska earthquake, this type of shaking and this type of shaking lasted for 41/2 minutes.

KAGAN: Which is a long time for anybody who's been in an earthquake.

SIDNEY: That's exactly right. Some of the vertical displacement was as much as 19 feet in some areas. So you can imagine, if you've got water here and this kind of motion going, you're going to generate some amazing waves. And that's the kind of waves that flow out from the center of the earthquake and then impact the land areas.

KAGAN: Which also explains one: the speed of these waves, and also how land areas so far away from the epicenter could have been effected.

SIDNEY: That's right. These waves actually stack up. As they get closer to land, they merge and create instead of several small waves, one big wave. So that's why we see the waves being so tall. And so devastating, as they move in to the coast.

KAGAN: And all the damage around Asia and all the death and destruction. Thank you for the explainer, Orelon. Appreciate it.

SIDNEY: You're very welcome.

KAGAN: We'll have U.S. weather coming up later.

SIDNEY: Yes. We will.

KAGAN: We do look forward to that.

Still to come, more reaction to the devastation. Plus we're going to look at the differences between earthquakes and tsunamis.

But first, we have other news ahead, including did shoppers make a difference this holiday season?

Allan Chernoff is looking at that -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN-FN CORRESPONDENT: A mixed holiday season, and I'll have details of the winners and losers coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, the gifts are given, the Yule log burned. Now that Christmas is over, retailers are hoping that post-holiday sales will coax a bargain shopping rebound to what they're calling a disappointing season. Our financial news reporter Allan Chernoff takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): Some bargain hunters were out before dawn Sunday morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, half off of, you know, wrapping and tissue and everything. So you have to have it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People who were there earlier than me who got, you know, you could tell it was picked over.

CHERNOFF: Indeed, analysts say discounted items may go quickly, since the majority of retailers were cautious going in to the holiday season and ordered modest inventory. For many stores, especially discounters, it has been a challenging season. The rising expense of gasoline, medical care, and a job market that's been slow to recover, all working against retailers. Now they're hoping post-holiday sales will provide a boost.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the best time really to shop after Christmas. That's where you find the best sales and everything. Where I look for my sales after Christmas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything's on sale. Everything.

CHERNOFF: But for luxury retailers, it has been a season of plenty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably the hottest items are massage chairs. Hydro massage chairs. They're flying out of here.

CHERNOFF: Designer fashion accessories and high-end electronics were popular gifts.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got a new pocketbook. I got an iPod. What else did I get?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tiffany.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got some Tiffany jewelry.

CHERNOFF: It will be several weeks before retailers report earnings from the holiday season. But at the upscale mall at Short Hills in New Jersey, the manager says sales were up about 7 percent from last year.

MIKE MCAVINUE, MGR., MALL AT SHORT HILLS: Cashmere has been really hot. Jewelry is traditionally hot this time of year. Specifically diamond, chandelier earrings, leather, shearling coats.

CHERNOFF: The wild card this season, gift cards. Their huge popularity has retailers hoping consumers will quickly redeem their cards and spend extra when they do so. Another post-holiday opportunity for retailers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: One indication of how popular gift cards were, MasterCard International is reporting that holiday sales for the entire period were up 8.1 percent compared to last year. A number well above all their estimates. But the MasterCard numbers include sales of gift cards. And retailers typically do not count gift cards in their numbers until they're actually cashed in -- Daryn.

KAGAN: But they already have the money in hand for the gift card, so why aren't they counting it?

CHERNOFF: Yes, it's a very good question. I think it really is mainly because of inventory. They want to keep track of their inventory. So when they sell an item, that's when they actually want to take it on its ledger and say OK, now we've actually sold the item, we can cash it in. But it certainly is a very good argument. They've gotten the money, so you would think they would want to count the sale.

KAGAN: Allan Chernoff, thank you for that.

Thousands of troops spent the holidays without their loved ones. But some were fortunate to talk to their family. You saw it right here on CNN. We're going to look back at some of the best of the heartfelt reunions coming up. Get the Kleenex ready for that.

Plus reminiscing through family photos. One Los angles man awaits word if his family survived the south Asian tsunami. His story is coming up next.

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