Asian tsunami leaves press horrified

The destruction wrought by the tsunami that swept the coastal nations of South and Southeast Asia has shocked the press across the region and beyond.

While many try to come to terms with the sheer scale of the disaster, others call on governments to do all possible to help the victims and the regions devastated.

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Never has Sri Lanka faced a natural disaster on the scale that we witnessed yesterday... Sri Lankans had never really experienced earthquakes and tsunamis. They used to be phenomena confined to distant countries. We simply saw them on television or read about them in newspapers... Nature has dealt us a severe blow; but we should be united in the face of its ferocity to be brave and resilient in overcoming the consequences of the disaster.

Sri Lanka's The Daily News

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Cutting a swathe of death and destruction across the coastal areas of half a dozen littoral countries of the Indian Ocean, the titanic tsunami... has plunged the whole region into shock and grief... Nature's ferocity in the form of the tsunami is such a rare phenomenon in the South Asian region that unsuspecting people were completely unprepared for it... The death toll is the more poignant for the fact that the tsunami took more than two hours to reach the Indian coast - enough time to clear the most vulnerable areas, the beaches in particular, if only a warning had come.

India's The Hindu - published in Tamil Nadu state

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The quake-induced tidal surges were a new experience for the people of the coastal belt, who usually witness such devastation only on account of depressions and severe cyclones... In this hour of crisis in the coastal belt, the administration and voluntary agencies have to rise to the occasion to inspire confidence among panic-stricken people.

India's Deccan Chronicle - published in Andhra Pradesh state

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Disaster after disaster throughout the year... An immediate response from the government is needed. In a situation like this there is nothing that victims can do by themselves.

Indonesia's Republika

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Nature has indeed been unfriendly to us. The earthquake which hit Sumatra has left us utterly shocked, dumbfounded and sad.

Indonesia's Kompas

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Considering the devastation caused by the earthquake in Aceh province and the high number of casualties, we hope that aid, particularly from the central government, will reach the victims soon... Let us lend a hand to our brothers and sisters who have suffered from this natural catastrophe.

Indonesia's Waspada

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Mother Nature's greatest act of fury in half a century left Thailand mourning massive casualties and the destruction of its southern islands and coastal areas after giant waves triggered by an earthquake in Indonesia swept away lives, property and an economy that took decades to build.

Thailand's The Nation

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We hope that the domestic population, especially citizens who live and work in high-rise buildings, will draw lessons from this and reacquaint themselves with safety equipment for disasters... The government cannot abandon this problem and must carry out lessons on emergency escapes and safeguards.

Malaysia's China Press

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We may be thousands of kilometres away, but the tidal wave that wrought such death and destruction across Asia was felt on our shores too. The death toll and the damage of what can only be termed an act of God superseded anything ever wrought by demented terrorists. The lesson is that no amount of planning and disaster preparation can counter the angry elements. Yet there is no gainsaying the need for effective disaster-response preparation.

Kenya's Nation

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The extent of this disaster is no less than the flood disaster in eastern China which touched the hearts of very many Hong Kong people... so, in the spirit that all people belong to one family, right now is the time for Hong Kong people to extend aid and to act as Santa Clauses without the red hat.

Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily

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The earthquake which hit the Iranian town of Bam a year ago and left about 50,000 people dead touched the world's feelings and brought help from all directions. Even those who counted themselves among the ranks of the enemies were moved and sympathized with the victims. Without doubt, yesterday's earthquake in Indonesia will create a similar sympathetic mood.

Iran's Al-Vefagh

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BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.