1:59 a.m. Central European Time (all times in CET):

A severe earthquake strikes off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Sunday morning just before 8:00 a.m. local time. A resident of the region alerts a local radio station and says that nine people were killed by a tidal wave. There was no immediate official confirmation but many coastal residents reportedly flee to higher ground.

The first reports concerning the strength of the earthquake are contradictory. While the Indonesian authorities report an earthquake with a strength of 6.6 on the Richter scale, United States geologists say the quake reached 8.1 on the Richter scale.

The trembler also registered in the neighboring countries of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Buildings shook in the Thai capital of Bangkok, almost 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) away as well as in Singapore, 950 kilometers (590 miles away).

The first reports of damage from Indonesian authorities indicate heavy damage to bridges in the northern province of Aceh in the northern part of Sumatra. Power and telephone service is cut off and residents of the provincial capital Banda Aceh report heavy damage to buildings.

According to the press spokesman of the Meteorological and Geophysical Office in Jakarta, Indonesia, the epicenter was about 66 kilometers (41 miles)off the coast of Sumatra and about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) below the surface of the ocean and well below the ocean floor. Shortly following the main quake, several severe aftershocks followed.

Shortly afterward, a strong earthquake was registered in Bangladesh near the harbor town of Chittagong. According to geologists there, the trembler lasted one and a half minutes long and reached a magnitude of 7.3. Just as in Sumatra, the residents ran out onto the streets in panic.

4:32 a.m. CET: Geophysicists and meteorologists from Jakarta confirm that the quake had triggered the five-meter-high tsunami waves that hit land on the coastal region of Aceh in Sumatra.

4:43 a.m. CET: The number of victims is still assumed to be just nine; there still has been no official confirmation, however. The first reports of deaths from the tourist resort island of Phuket in Thailand come in. Exact numbers are not given.

US authorities communicate the exact strength of the first quake off the northwest coast of Sumatra: A magnitude of 8.9 instead of the original report of 8.1. With that, the quake becomes the most violent since 1964 and the fifth strongest since 1900.

Seismologists register yet another earthquake of 7.3 magnitude near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. At roughly the same time, the tsunami slams into Sri Lanka and South India, destroying beaches, villages and coastal cities. Often, the water recedes immediately, but leaves behind destruction and death. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Bangladesh also fall victim to the tsunami.

4:58 a.m. CET: 150 dead are reported from Sri Lanka. Thai authorities confirm that at least four tourists died on the holiday island of Phuket.

The South Indian city of Madras is shaken by a minor earthquake.

5:37 a.m. CET: In Sri Lanka, 3,000 people are missing and six villages are reported completely destroyed. The southern part of the country is hit especially hard. The damage in both the southern Indian city of Chennai and on the tourist island of Phuket is much worse than originally reported.

In South India, the number of victims begins climbing; 40 dead in the city of Chennai alone.

The damage and casualty reports are only trickling in from the distant regions struck by the tsunami. Only a few tragic statistics come in; in South India, 74 deaths are reported, more than 300 in Sri Lanka and on Sumatra 17.

6:42 a.m.: Thailand begins evacuating areas devastated by the flood. The country's southern provinces and the vacation island Phuket have been especially hard hit. The situation on Phuket is dramatic; desperate people are stranded in trees, on rooftops, and on toppled buses; surviving tourists from the beaches of Kamala and Patong are taken to hospitals.

7:31 a.m.: The body count increases dramatically: 500 dead are reported in Sri Lanka. Rescue teams search frantically for survivors. In the Sri Lankan village of Muttur alone, 220 bodies are found, and an additional 75 in the southern city of Tangalle. Many of the victims are fishermen.

Thailand reports 21 deaths and 600 injuries.

On the Maldives, an island group southwest of India, three-quarters of the capital city is under water. Because the vacation island is located just one meter above sea level, the damage is widespread.

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga declares a state of emergency and makes a plea for aid from the international community.

8:42 a.m.: The disaster expands on the southern coast of India where at least 142 deaths are reported. There's also a terrible discovery: Many of the victims found in India's Madras region are women and children, too weak to escape the flood waters.

Simultaneously, the number of victims in Thailand rises to 55 dead and 761 injured. "There are still many missing and we don't have any exact figures," a helpless spokesperson at the Thai Interior Ministry announces. Among the missing are 100 foreign scuba divers whose boat disappeared.

In Malaysia's Penang, at least eight deaths are reported -- including a group of beach picnickers whose party was swept to sea. Numerous fishermen are also reported missing after they fail to return to harbor.

In Indonesia's Aceh province, 200 prisoners escape after the flood waters destroy a prison wall. But officials believe they had no choice but to let them go -- they would have died in the flooded buildings.

9:49 a.m.: The first victim counts show that the scope of devastation in the countries struck by the tsunami has been dramatically underestimated.

At this point, India has already reported 1,000 deaths, Indonesia 150, Malaysia eight, Sri Lanka 500 and Thailand 55.

11:13 a.m.: The worst fears are confirmed: The fifth-strongest earthquake in the past century has killed thousands and left millions homeless. Sri Lanka officially reports 1,500 deaths. One million -- or five percent of the population -- have been directly impacted by the flood wave in some way. The Army and Navy search without pause for survivors. Officials report that half the Navy's fleet has been dispatched in the search.

In total, the estimate of deaths now rises in the region to 3,100. In coastal villages and cities it becomes clear many people stood no chance against the 10-meter (33 ft.) high wall of water that crashed in on the area.

India's prime minister dispatches its Navy once the death toll surpasses 1,000 and offers aid to neighboring Sri Lanka.

In Thailand, hundreds of tourists are now reported missing, and the beaches in the coastal resorts of Phuket and Krabi are evacuated. The images from the region show cars that have been tossed about by the waters and hundreds of destroyed homes.

The Maledives also declare a state of emergency. The country, which is in its tourist high season, has become a crisis region.

1 p.m. and later: The number of victims rises by the hour. Only on Sunday night and early Monday do the biblical dimensions of the disaster become clear. By late Monday, officials estimate 26,000 deaths, with a minimum of 12,000 in Sri Lanka alone. Close to 5,000 are dead in Indonesia and another 5,600 in India. Thailand has reported 866 deaths, Malaysia 50 and the Maldives 43. About 12 people were killed by flooding in Burma. In Somalia on the Horn of Africa, reports trickle in indicating hundreds of dead.

Even now, one day later, the dimensions of the disaster are still immeasurable. The victim count rises by the hour, countless numbers of people are still missing and millions are homeless. The tidal wave is likely to be remembered as the worst catastrophe in recent history.