TSUNAMI HITS ASIA: OVER 6,500 DEAD

The most powerful earthquake in the past 40 years caused a tsunami that crashed into coastlines across Asia yesterday,     1     (kill) more than 6,500 people in Indonesia, India, Thailand, Malaysia, and at least four other countries. Fishermen, tourists, hotels, homes, and cars     2     (sweep) away by huge waves     3     (cause) by the strong earthquake     4     reached a magnitude of 9.0. The undersea quake struck around 7:00 a.m., Sunday off the west coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island. In that area alone, at least 1,870 people were killed.

In Sri Lanka, some 1,600 kilometres west of the quake centre, the number of deaths stood     5     2,498, and one million more were affected by the tsunami, government officials said. Indian officials said as many as 1,900 had been killed along the southern coast. Another 254 were found dead in Thailand and 54 in three other countries. In southern Thailand, 1,900 people were hurt and many more were missing, local officials said. “I was having breakfast with my three children when water started filling my home. We had to leave everything and run to     6     (safe),” said Chandra Theeravit,     7     local Thai woman.

Thousands of people are still missing, and the number of deaths is expected     8     (grow) even     9     (high) over the next few days. Foreign aid is being organized for the tsunami-hit countries.     10    , dangerous conditions and damaged roads will make it difficult to deliver food and supplies.