I spent the day away from the television and its disturbing imagery. Tonight, witnessing the local news coverage from Indonesian stations has forever etched the horror into my memory.

Once again, they are showing video and photographs that will never reach the major media networks. A few examples of what I’m seeing:

Military men pulling bodies from the waist high water, and stacking them in trucks like bags of rice.

Relief workers climbing trees to remove the bodies of those tangled in branches.

Unclothed bodies hanging from electric powerlines, caught at the waist.

More children and babies who’ve perished.

Rooms full of hundreds of corpse, lying uncovered.

Mothers screaming in agony while carrying their dead children in their arms.

Something that puzzles me: why is the BBC and CNN covering Phuket much more than Sri Lanka, India, or Indonesia? It seems as if they continue to concentrate on that island, despite the number of deaths staggeringly higher in the other areas. The Indonesian Vice President has announced that there may be well over 25,000 deaths in Indonesia alone.

I’ve received numerous emails from people searching for news on their loved ones in and around Indonesia. Let me make this clear – the island of Java has not been affected. We are safe. However, it has been announced that west and south Java could be affected by further aftershocks in the next two weeks. Being only 2 miles from the ocean, and at a very low elevation, this does not sit well with me. I’m hoping to leave for Bali in a few days – I need to clear my head.

There has been tremendous support on sites such as this Flickr support group – providing very informative links for donating to international relief organizations.

I’m unsure of how widely this is reaching the States and other parts of the world. Is the news remaining on top of other stories?

My heart goes out to the millions affected by this horrible tragedy. I’m afraid it will only continue to get worse as fresh water runs out, disease sets in, and food shortages rise. Unfortunately the majority of these areas are without specialized rescue equipment and lack the proper medical support to help the huge number of victims.

Still no word from my friends in Phuket.

This link is a very informative site regarding the earthquake and tsunami.