Despite the international effort, aid is still thin on the ground
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One of the world's largest relief efforts is under way to help the millions of victims of the Asia quake.
International disaster assessment teams have fanned out to the affected countries and local agencies are distributing emergency aid.
The UN says it faces an unprecedented challenge in co-ordinating distribution of aid to some 10 nations at one time.
A huge undersea quake triggered sea surges killing at least 38,000 people, with thousands more feared dead.
Millions of people are homeless, and the disaster zone is now threatened with outbreaks of disease.
Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India and Thailand were among the worst hit by Sunday's 9.0 magnitude earthquake, which sent huge waves from Malaysia to Africa.
The extent of the disaster in some remote regions is not yet known but, as rescue workers discover more bodies, the true extent of the tsunami's devastation is becoming clearer:
- The bodies of more than 700 mainly foreign tourists have been found in the Thai resort of Khao Lak - the government says the death toll in Thailand may rise to about 2,000.
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CONFIRMED DEATH TOLL
Sri Lanka: 13,000 dead
Indonesia: 19,000 dead
India: 4,371 dead
Thailand: 1,400 dead
Maldives: 52 dead
Malaysia: 44 dead
Burma: 30 dead
Bangladesh: 2 dead
Somalia: 100 dead
Kenya: 1 dead
Seychelles: 3 dead
Tanzania: 10 dead
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- Sri Lanka's government says it believes the number of dead there could rise to 20,000
- Parliamentary elections in the Maldives, scheduled for Friday, are postponed, as a government official warns the cost of damage could exceed the island nation's annual GDP
- In Meulaboh town on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, one of the areas closest to the quake's epicentre, 10,000 people - 25% of the population - are confirmed dead
- About 7,000 people are feared dead in the low-lying Andaman and Nicobar islands, say Indian officials, with 20% of the population on one island, Car Nicobar, believed killed.
Though it was not the biggest tsunami on record, "the effects may be the biggest ever because many more people live in exposed areas than ever before", said UN emergency relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland.
He said the relief operation would probably cost "many billions of dollars".
His colleague, Yvette Stevens, said the UN had not carried out an operation like it before.
"We are used to dealing with disasters in one country, but I think something like this spread across many countries and islands is unprecedented," she said.
Clearing the dead
In Sri Lanka alone, more than one million people are displaced and aid workers are under pressure to ensure they have clean water and sanitation to prevent an outbreak of disease.
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HOW YOU CAN HELP
Click below to visit the websites of agencies carrying out relief work
International Federation of the Red Cross
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The local UN agency has opened up its relief stockpiles, but the BBC's Roland Buerk says there is little sign as yet of aid supplies in the south-west town of Galle.
People in both Sri Lanka and in Indonesia have been scrambling through mud and ruins looking for food and water, correspondents report.
Mr Egeland said hundreds of planes carrying emergency aid would be airborne over the next couple of days.
Flights carrying emergency supplies from nine countries, including Britain, France and the US, were due to arrive in Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
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The centre of Banda Aceh has been devastated
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Coastal communities across South Asia - and more than 4,000 km away in Africa - were swept away and homes engulfed by waves up to 10m high after the quake created a tsunami that sped across the ocean.
Many of the victims had no warning. Fishermen were swept off boats, and tourists were washed from the beaches.
Sunday's tremor - the fourth strongest since 1900 - had a particularly widespread effect because it seems to have taken place just below the surface of the ocean, analysts say.
Tsunamis generated by earthquakes can travel at up to 500km/h.
IMPACT OF THE EARTHQUAKE
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How the quake unfolded
