Monster Earthquake Kills 8,000

A huge earthquake in Sumatra has caused tsunami's that have killed thousands:

A 10-metre-high wall of water set off by a huge earthquake drowned more than 8000 people in six countries, swept away scores of tourists and villagers on Thai islands and left thousands homeless in South-East Asia.
The region was bracing for more tidal waves from the after-shock after the underwater quake - at 8.9 on the Richter scale the world's fifth biggest in 100 years - sent a tsunami racing yesterday morning.
Multiple quakes started off the tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island and sent massive waves across the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, killing 4150 people in Sri Lanka, more than 2000 in India and hundreds more between the Maldives, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
Five-metre waves swept up to 100 tourists into the sea on Thailand's most popular tourist island, Phuket, at the resorts of Patong, Karon and Kata.
Another 100 tourists on diving holidays on islands off southern Thailand were missing, about 70 of them in the famed Emeral Cave. "We don't know whether they are dead or alive," an official said.

More coverage here. Links to Southeastern Asia bloggers here.

Update: The toll is now at 21,000 in nine countries. The widespread devastation makes me believe that this already high number will increase.