There have been many extraordinary eyewitness accounts of the disaster that unfolded as giant waves swept ashore after the earthquake. The following are a selection:
"It happened in cycles. There would be a surge and then it would retreat and then there would be a next surge which was more violent and it went on like that," Paul Ramsbottom, a Briton on holiday in a Phuket beach bungalow, told BBC World TV. "Then there was this one almighty surge. I mean literally this was the one which was picking up pickup trucks and motorcycles and throwing them around in front of us."
Simon Clark, a 29-year-old photographer from London who vacationing in Thailand on Koh Ngai island near Krabi, told Reuters: "Suddenly this huge wave came, rushing down the beach, destroying everything in its wake. People that were snorkeling were dragged along the coral and washed up on the beach, and people that were sunbathing got washed into the sea."
John Hyde, a Australian state lawmaker vacationing in Thailand, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television: "Just out of nowhere, suddenly the streets (were) awash and people just running and screaming from the beach."
"People were getting swept along still on their motorbikes," Simon Morse, another Australian tourist, told the ABC. "There were cars that had been picked up by the storm surge and they were getting pushed down the road, taking things out as they went."
Thai television showed scenes of devastation on one Phuket beach. Store fronts were damaged and cars and motorcycles were strewn around after being tossed about by the powerful waves.
A Thai man carried one elderly Western man in swimming trunks to safety on his back, ITV showed.
Boree Carlsson, a 45-year-old Swede on vacation in Thailand, told Reuters: "I just couldn''t believe what was happening before my eyes." He said he rushed into a hotel as the waves rolled into Patong Beach. The giant wave flooded the hotel lobby in a matter of seconds and dragged furniture onto the street. Carlsson was forced to wrap himself around a pillar to avoid being swept away. "As I was standing there, a car actually floated into the lobby and overturned because the current was so strong," said Carlsson, who works at another beachside hotel. "The water was up to my chest and I was holding onto my friend''s hand because he can''t swim."
P. Ramanamurthy, 40, a resident of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, told The Associated Press: "I was shocked to see innumerable fishing boats flying on the shoulder of the waves, going back and forth into the sea, as if made of paper. Many boats were upturned, but fishermen were still holding on to them. They also were pushed into the sea. It was shocking."
Security expert Will Geddes, vacationing in Phuket, told CNN: "The whole beach area and most of the town were under water. Beach villas were completely taken out. It was quite amazing to see." Those on the beach "had to run very quickly," he said, "and the water came in again and again on waves.
"When the water was about up to my ankles, about two seconds later it was up to my chest," he said. The entire process, he said, took about 20 minutes, but the first few waves -- taking about five to 10 minutes -- cause the worst damage.
Geddes said it was low tide when the waves struck -- which may have kept the damage from being worse. Geddes also said he felt the initial quake, which struck just off northern Sumatra and registered 8.9 magnitude -- the strongest earthquake on the planet in 40 years -- and it shook his villa "quite substantially."
部分词汇
eyewitness n.目击者, 见证人
giant n.巨人, 大力士, 巨大的动物或植物, 伟人, 天才
adj.庞大的, 巨大的
surge n.巨涌, 汹涌, 澎湃 vi.汹涌, 澎湃, 振荡, 滑脱, 松 vt.使汹涌奔腾, 急放
damage n.损害, 伤害 v.招致损害 n.[律] (用复数)赔偿金
sweptvbl.sweep的过去式和过去分词 adj.[电子]扫频的
