Rescue team awaits Asia request

International Rescue Corps said it is ready to help

A Scots-based rescue team is on stand-by to travel to southern Asia after thousands of people died following the biggest earthquake in 40 years.

International Rescue Corps, based in Grangemouth, said it was ready to help if required.

The 8.9 magnitude quake struck under the sea near Aceh in north Indonesia, generating a wall of water that sped across thousands of kilometres of sea.

More than 2,400 died in Sri Lanka, 1,870 in Indonesia and 1,600 in India.

Willie McMartin, of the International Rescue Corps, said it was ready to be deployed if and when required.

The tsunami has caused massive floods over thousands of square miles Willie McMartin International Rescue Corps

"We certainly hope that if we go, we go very soon and that we'd be helping with structural collapse," he said.

"There are reports of quite a few hotels that have been brought down, obviously there could be people trapped within them.

"It's typical earthquake damage. The tsunami has caused massive floods over thousands of square miles."

The IRC's volunteers assisted in the rescue and recovery operation following the fatal Stockline Plastics factory in Glasgow in May.

They were also deployed in Bam, Iran, almost exactly a year ago, following an earthquake.

Casualty figures are rising over a wide area, including tourist resorts on Thailand packed with holidaymakers.

Exact numbers of people killed, injured or missing in the countries hit, are impossible to confirm.

Hundreds are still thought to be missing from coastal regions and, in Sri Lanka alone, officials say more than a million people have been forced from their homes.

The Foreign Office has issued an emergency telephone number offering information on 0207 008 0000.