Sunday, January 23 2005 14:13 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Jakarta: The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Indian Ocean nations passed 2,27,000 today (Jan 23, 2005) with another 7,000 deaths being reported by Indonesia's Health Ministry.

Indonesia was hardest-hit by the December 26 quake and tsunamis, with 1,73,981 confirmed deaths, the Health Ministry said.

Thailand's toll crept up to 5,373 confirmed dead. A further 3,000 people were listed as missing, more than 1,000 of them foreigners.

The toll in Sri Lanka, which was second hardest hit by the catastrophe, stood at 30,920, according to the Centre for National Operations. The number of missing has dropped to 5,565.

Myanmar has said 59 people were killed in the tsunamis, against an estimated 90 deaths according to the United Nations.

At least 82 people were killed and another 26 were missing in the Maldives.

Sixty-eight people were dead in Malaysia, most of them in Penang, according to police, while Bangladesh reported two deaths.

Fatalities also occurred on the east coast of Africa where 298 people were declared dead in Somalia, 10 in Tanzania and one in Kenya.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake west of the Indonesian island of Sumatra measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, making it the largest quake worldwide in four decades.