Overview
- Authorities report more than 1,400 dead across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia, with at least 753 in Indonesia, 465 in Sri Lanka, 185 in Thailand and 3 in Malaysia, and over 1,000 people still unaccounted for.
- Indonesia remains the epicenter, with roughly 650 missing, about 1.5 million displaced, extensive road and bridge collapses, more than 2,600 injured and three hospital ships dispatched to Sumatra.
- Sri Lanka has declared a state of emergency and appealed for international assistance as hundreds remain missing and strained public services face mounting needs.
- Thailand reports steady recovery progress in the south, restoring power and water in most areas and distributing over 1 billion baht in compensation to more than 120,000 affected households.
- Scientists link the event’s severity to warmer oceans and shifting weather patterns, while deforestation and poor land-use planning heightened impacts; independent estimates put losses near $4 billion and count hundreds of damaged schools and bridges.