The day after Chrisnmas was a day of Daeth and Destruction to large number of people all over Asia. Tsunamis generated by a mega earthquake epicentered north of Sumatra hit the coasts of Malaysia, Thailand, Southern India and Sri Lanka. These waves travelled further afar to Somalia and the coast of Africa. Perhaps these were the most powerful tunamis of the last hundred years. The most tragic part of this is the utter failure of the Givernments of India, Thailand, and Sri Lanka to issue Tunami warnings to their coastal population. India which boasts of a large scientific establishment was found totally at a loss. Even an undergraduate student knows that an earthquake in the sea generates tsunami waves. Yet the Central Government at New Delhi issued no warning, thereby showing callous disregard for the loss of life. It appears that since the state which bore the brunt of the attack is ruled by an opposition party, the coalition partners used the tragedy to discredit the state government.
In Sri Lanka the tsunami wave has hit the coastal facilities of a powerful Tamil rebel group. There is wide spread feeling that the Government of Chandrika may try to use this Natural calamity to weaken the Tigers further. It is un fortunate that in the two of the biggest tsunami zones has already begun to draw political mileage from this calamity.
The loss of life would have been minimised had the Central Government issued timely warning. The US geological survey had put up the warning on its web site, but unfortunately this information was not relayed to the people on time.