The Somalia government has appealed for international relief after hundreds of people died and many coastal villages and towns disappeared when tidal waves hit the country, a senior Somali official said in Kenyan capital Nairobi Monday.
"Hundreds of Somalis died in the central and northeastern coastal area, and many coastal villages and towns have been swept away by the tidal waves, which caused severe damage to property," Yusuf Mohammed Ismail, spokesman of Somali President Abduallhi Yusuf Ahmed, told Xinhua by telephone.
"On behalf of the Somali president, I appeal to the international community for immediate relief. And the Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi will call on all our friendly embassies and international organizations on Tuesday to coordinate the relief supply," said Ismail.
The tidal waves struck the Somali coast on Sunday as the effect of a series of strong undersea Sumatra earthquakes hit the east African coast.
The earthquake, measuring at 8.7 on the Richter Scale, was registered Sunday west of the island of Sumatra, triggering tsunamis, or tidal waves, in south and southeast Asia.
At least 22,000 people in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Maldives, Thailand and Malaysia have been killed by the waves.