A massive tsunami triggered by a powerful earthquake off the coast of the Indian Ocean battered SriLanka on Sunday, killing at least 3,000 people and affecting more than 1 million, the government said.

Officials and doctors warned that the death toll was still rising.

Massive sea waves, triggered by an earthquakes measuring 8.9 onthe Richter scale in Southeast Asia, crashed into coastal villagesover a wide area of Sri Lanka on Sunday.

The quake occurred at 7:59 a.m. (0059 GMT) off the coast of Aceh province on the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra.

The Sri Lankan police said that a minor tremor which lasted about two minutes had preceded the tidal waves at around 07:10 a.m.local time.

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga who was on a privatevisit to Britain is to cut short her visit and to return to Sri Lanka, the president office said.

Kumaratunga has called for international assistance in dealing with the country's worst ever humanitarian disaster and declared astate of "national disaster".

The Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation has launched a relief program to aid the victims of tidal waves. The organizers of the campaign asked the general public to donate any material which canbe distributed among the victims.