Eternal life is not an article of faith but a law of the universe as true as any law of physics.

December 28, 2004

Quake prompts enormous aid effort Tuesday, 28 December, 2004, 17:42 GMT

Kanammal, from Tamil Nadu, is in shock after losing her husband

One of the world's largest relief efforts is under way to help the millions of victims of the Asia quake, which killed more than 50,000 people.

International disaster assessment teams have fanned out to the affected countries and local agencies are distributing emergency aid.

The UN says it faces an unprecedented challenge in co-ordinating distribution of aid to some 10 nations at one time.

A huge undersea quake triggered sea surges, leaving millions homeless.

The disaster zone is now threatened with outbreaks of disease, which the UN health agency has warned could double the death toll.

Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India and Thailand were among the worst hit by Sunday's 9.0 magnitude earthquake, which sent huge waves from Malaysia to Africa.

Click here for map of affected area

The extent of the disaster in some remote regions is not yet known but, as rescue workers discover more bodies, the true extent of the tsunami's devastation is becoming clearer:

CONFIRMED DEATH TOLL

Sri Lanka: 18,706 dead

Indonesia: 27,174 dead

India: 4,371 dead

Thailand: 1,516 dead

Maldives: 52 dead

Malaysia: 44 dead

Burma: 30 dead

Bangladesh: 2 dead

Somalia: 100 dead

Kenya: 1 dead

Seychelles: 3 dead

Tanzania: 10 dead

At-a-glance: Countries hit

Clinton warns about aid chaos

Indonesia's government says the country's death toll has reached 27,174

Parliamentary elections in the Maldives, scheduled for Friday, are postponed, as a government official warns the cost of damage could exceed the island nation's annual GDP

About 7,000 people are feared dead in the low-lying Andaman and Nicobar islands, say Indian officials, with 20% of the population on one island, Car Nicobar, believed killed

The bodies of more than 700 mainly foreign tourists have been found in the Thai resort of Khao Lak - the government says the death toll in Thailand may rise to about 2,000.

UN emergency relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland said on Tuesday said the organisation would probably make its largest ever appeal for humanitarian funding.

He told the BBC that the damage was "beyond comprehension".

"A tsunami of this size happens once in a generation only," he said.

"The first wave of destruction has caused tens of thousands of deaths, but the second wave of misery is really caused now by the water and sanitation systems."

In Geneva, World Health Organization (WHO) expert David Nabarro told reporters "there is certainly a chance that we could have as many dying from communicable diseases as from the tsunami".

Clearing the dead

In Sri Lanka alone, more than one million people are displaced and aid workers are under pressure to ensure they have clean water and sanitation to prevent an outbreak of disease.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Click below to visit the websites of agencies carrying out relief work

Cafod

Care International

International Federation of the Red Cross

Medecins Sans Frontieres

Oxfam

Save The Children

Unicef

World Vision

Disease 'could swamp zones'

The local UN agency has opened up its relief stockpiles, but the BBC's Roland Buerk says there is little sign as yet of aid supplies in the south-west town of Galle.

People in both Sri Lanka and in Indonesia have been scrambling through mud and ruins looking for food and water, correspondents report.

Mr Egeland said hundreds of planes carrying emergency aid would be airborne over the next couple of days.

Flights carrying emergency supplies from nine countries, including Britain, France and the US, were due to arrive in Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

Many tourists are among Thailand's dead

Coastal communities across South Asia - and more than 4,000 km away in Africa - were swept away and homes engulfed by waves up to 10m high after the quake created a tsunami that sped across the ocean.

Many of the victims had no warning. Fishermen were swept off boats, and tourists were washed from the beaches.

Sunday's tremor - the fourth strongest since 1900 - had a particularly widespread effect because it seems to have taken place just below the surface of the ocean, analysts say.

Tsunamis generated by earthquakes can travel at up to 500km/h. Quake prompts enormous aid efforthttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4129371.stm

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How the quake unfolded

IN PICTURES

Quake devastation Latest pictures of the terrible effects of the tsunami across the Indian Ocean region

Your pictures: Asian sea surges

EYEWITNESS

Reporters' log: Asia disaster

Desperation in Galle

Patong salvage starts

Swallowed up by the savage sea

Tragic calm follows Aceh chaos

Andaman tragedy

Survivors' tales First-hand accounts

Latest images of the devastation in quake-ravaged Asia

Reporters' log: Asia disaster

UK charities bolster quake relief

Sri Lankan expatriates offer help

In quotes: Witness accounts

ANALYSIS

Shaking earth Why earthquakes happen - animated guide

World helps - but will it forget?

Tsunami among worst disasters

Disaster hits S Asia economy

shriadishakti , "jagbir singh" <adishakti_org> wrote:> > Wishing all a Happy New Year, notwithstanding the great tsunami tragedy in Asia that reminds us to transcend life's samsara.> > (The following is taken from a post by Semira at another forum. Hope SYs will read it regularly to understand its very deep meaning. Thank you Semira for this priceless gem that will take some time for me to comprehend with clarity.)For everybody of all religions and none;Some words in which hope may be found at a time of devastating bereavement for many thousands of people, following the tragedy of the Asia Tsunami.'He understood that eternal life was not an article of faith but a law of the universe as true as any law of physics. The universe is an efficient creation; matter becomes energy; energy becomes matter; one form of energy is converted into

another form; the balance is forever changing, but the universe is a closed system from which no particle of matter or wave of energy is ever lost. Nature not only loathes waste but forbids it. The human mind and spirit, at their noblest, can transform the material world for the better; we can even transform the human condition, lifting ourselves from a state of primal fear , when we dwelled in caves and shuddered at the sight of the moon, to a position from which we can contemplate eternity and hope to understand the works of God. Light cannot change itself into stone by an act of will, and stone cannot build itself into temples. Only the human spirit can act with volition and consciously change itself; it is the only thing in all creation that is not entirely at the mercy of forces outside itself, and it is therefore, the most powerful and valuable form of energy in the universe. For a time, the spirit may become flesh, but when that phase of its existance is at an end, it will be

transformed into a disembodied spirit once more.'Taken from the novel, 'Sole Survivor' by Dean KoontzLife is a passage, and we need not fear death. Faith and hope will help overcome suffering and loss.Sincerely, Semira