The east coast of Africa was hit Sunday by high waves believed to be triggered by a massive earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, leaving dozens of people drowned or missing.  

Nine people were reportedly killed by high waves in Somalia's Kabaal region, 800 km northeast of Mogadishu, while seven others were missing in the port of Elmaan near Mogadishu.

The Kenyan government asked people to evacuate from the beaches along the coastal region and put its navy on top alert. However, a swimmer drowned off the coastal town of Malindi after being hit by strong waves.

Several African islands including Mauritius and Seychelles were also affected with an uncertain number of people missing or dead.

An earthquake, measuring 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.

The tsunamis have claimed over 6,000 lives in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Maldives, Thailand and Malaysia.

(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2004)