A year to the day since the city of Bam in Iran was devastated by an earthquake, we now see an amazing catastrophe unfolding across south-east Asia following a massive quake west of Sumatra.

Tsunamis have hit a wide arc of countries around the north-eastern Indian Ocean, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. There appear to be thousands dead, and with it now being just eight hours since the quake occurred, we can expect the toll to rise much further. We still don't really know the extent.

Reports at this stage from Al Jazeera, Antara, Bernama, Xinhua and Press Trust of India.

Update 9.22pm: ChennaiOnline has extensive reportage of the disaster in that city and other coastal regions of Tamil Nadu.

Update 9.55pm: See the US Geological Survey report on the earthquake. More Indian reportage from Newindpress.com.

Update 11.05pm: Sri Lanka is already calling for international assistance. The Maldive Islands apparently are devastated. The coastline along Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh states have reported large numbers of casualties, and death tolls are rising in Indonesia and Thailand. I have seen no reports from Burma. Cocos Islands experienced a half-metre wave this afternoon. The north-west coast of Australia was put on alert but the tsunami did not reach there. The toll currently exceeds four thousand lives.

Eyewitness accounts from Chennai: Alienation, Adventures with Yardboy, Wannakam, Lightning Strikes Everyday, "Just Another Blog", "Useless Conversations.