The Maldives was hit Sunday by unprecedented tidal waves that flooded two thirds of the capital island and shut the airport, according to reports reaching here quoting government officials.

The tidal waves were caused by a great quake in Indonesia Sunday morning that has caused great human damages to several Asian countries. By this afternoon, the number of the people killed has reached over 3,000.

The Maldives' government said in a statement that there were several casualties, but gave no details.

The Maldives is a paradise of sea diving tourists in Asia. The situation of tens of thousands of tourists in the Maldives was notyet known.

However, two thirds of the capital island, Male, was under water about 1.2 meters in some areas. About a third of the country's 330,000 population live in the island.

"From about 9:00 am in the morning, the capital, Male, and other parts of the country have been flooded by the tsunami causedby the earthquakes in the eastern Indian ocean," the government statement said.

Sri Lanka's international airport said it was told by the authorities in the Maldives that tidal waves had flooded the Hululle airport in the island and the runway was closed indefinitely, cutting off air transport to the Maldives.

As a country of islands, Maldives began building a sea wall to protect the capital after threatening tidal waves in 1987.