December 26
10:22pm, December 26 - His Majesty's grandson among those missing, The Nation
As 2Bangkok.com was told at 9:57pm, Bhumi Jensen, son of HM The King's eldest daughter, is missing and feared dead.
10:19pm, December 26 - Emergency phone numbers for information on tsunami victims and relief effort, The Nation
9:57pm, December
26 - Sources inform 2Bangkok.com that an announcement will soon
be made about the death of a high-ranking individual in the disaster.
Local media will not report the death until it is 'officially announced.'
9:50pm, December 26 - Sources inform 2Bangkok.com that Prime
Minister Thaksin has arrived in Phuket to inspect the relief efforts.
9:42pm, December 26 - CNN
International, citing "Thai officials," reports the death
toll in Thailand is at least 400. (The Nation website still
is reporting 198 dead. The Bangkok Post does not feature
breaking news on its websites. Its readers will find a story on
its website from this morning about heavy fog.)
9:27pm, December 26 - Thai TV is showing video from "Phuket
and Koh Phi Phi" showing tourists carrying stretchers with
injured people to a helicopter.
9:18pm, December 26 - 60
photos of the destruction in the Phuket area - Don't
miss these photos: 1
and 2
8:36pm, December 26 - Although the post dates on these
articles are 8:07pm, 7:26pm, and 7:21pm, they did not appear on
the site until after 8:30pm.
Earthquake death
toll mounts - TNA
Nearly 4,000
tourists stranded on Koh Phi Phi - TNA
Fate of tourists
in Emerald Cave still unknown - TNA
More than 4,000 Thai and foreign tourists were left stranded
on the southern resort island of Koh Phi Phi this morning after
fierce tidal waves crashed into the southern coast, killing at least
55 and injuring hundreds more...
8:14pm, December
26 - CNN International reports
the Phuket Airport has reopened after being flooded for most of
the day. Over 100 scuba divers are missing and over 1000 still missing
overall.
7:15pm, December 26 - Good photos
from the Thai-language press: Daily
News and Manager
(amazing photos of a ruined fishing village and ships piled up).
It appears the MCOT/TNA, Siam Turakij, and Matichon
websites have been knocked off-line by high traffic.
7:02pm, December 26 - 158 deaths and 1,913 cases of injuries reported at hospitals, The Nation, December 26, 2004
5:02pm, December
26 - CNN International reports 200 dead on Phi Phi Island.
4:48pm, December 26 - (from
Casualty
toll reaches 84 dead, 400 wounded so far after tsunamis hit southern
Thailand, The Nation) ...A maritime police officer
who asked not to be named said the casualties in Phi Phi could be
far higher as the huge tidal wave decimated much of the development
on the small island.
"Everything was washed away except two large hotels on Phi
Phi Don island," the officer said after speaking with a Phi
Phi resident by telephone.
Reuters reports that more than 100 tourists on diving holidays are
missing on islands off southern Thailand following Sunday's tsunamis,
about 70 of them in the famed Emeral Cave, a tourist official said...
4:05pm, December 26 - CNN international
is reporting that Thailand is facing a major disaster. They say
that Krabi has 48 confirmed dead and 60 injured. Also that four
tidal waves, one up to 10 meters high, have hit Phuket today and
there is no word about the fate of Phi Phi Island at this time.
3:26pm, December 26 - AP: The
U.S. Geological Survey says the 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Indonesia
is the largest in the world in 40 years.
3:15pm, December 26 - Photos
of Phuket damage
3:01pm, December 26 - Now it
is Magnitude
8.9
2:59pm, December 26 - The
Nation posts its first on-line
bulletin
2:32pm, December 26 - Many
missing at sea off Thailand - AP
...Watcharat Hospital in Phuket was full, with many foreigners
coming from hotels on popular Kamala and Patong beaches, said a
hospital official who declined to be named.
The tourists have told hospital officials that they were sitting
on the beach when the tsunami suddenly appeared. They said a lot
of people died, and at least 30 boats filled with tourists were
lost at sea...
1:45pm, December 26 - At
least 10 people confirmed killed by tsunami in Thailand - Kyodo
1:24pm, December 26 - Foreign
tourists missing as tidal waves slam Thailand's Phuket resort
- AFP
...Phuket's major beach town, Patong, was flooded and extensive
damage had been reported from a series of two-metre (6.5-foot) high
waves that slammed the tropical island's west coast at about 8:30
am (0130 GMT), a rescue worker said...
"Tourists were also on the (nearby) beaches of Karon, Kata
and Kamala when a giant wave suddenly hit and swept everything up
into the sea," he added.
He said all shops, kiosks and hotels along Patong beach were damaged
by the tsunami, which were the likely result of a massive earthquake
that struck west of the Indonesian island of Sumatra early Sunday,
which the US Geological Survey said measured 8.5 on the Richter
scale.
Several international hotels were completely evacuated on emergency
police orders. Hotels on Patong were not answering their telephones...
1:09pm, December 26 - Thai
government: Four tourists dead after major earthquake hits northwest
Indonesia - AP
...The center also reported that people were swept off a Phuket
beach by tidal waves surging as high as five meters (16 feet) after
an 8.5-magnitude earthquake hit near the Indonesian island of Sumatra...
9:49am, December 26 - The earthquake
is being reported as magnitude
8.5. Note there are already nine
reports of the quake being felt in Bangkok.
9:30am, December 26 - The earthquake
is being reported for the first time on CNN International.
8:35am, December 26 - This must
be the earthquake that caused it: Magnitude
8.1 - Off the west coast of Northern Sumatra
8:34am, December 26 - 2-3 second
aftershock felt.
8:10am, December 26
- Earthquake felt in Bangkok. On the ninth-floor of a 13-floor building,
we could distinctly feel the building sway with a circular motion
for about four seconds. Hanging telephone cables also swayed. We
looked out the window and it seems that people at ground level were
not aware of the shaking. Updates to come.
2B newsfeed: About the 2B newsfeed - January 3 - January 2 - January 1 - December 31 - December 30 - December 29 - December 28 - December 27 - December 26