WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- As death tolls continue to rise as high as 40,000 in South Asia on Tuesday, leaders of the European Union and international humanitarian relief organizations have kicked off a large humanitarian relief operation to cope with the disastrous effects of one of the most powerful earthquakes in 40 years.
"The cost of the devastation will be in the billions of dollars. It would probably be many billions of dollars," said Jan Egeland, United Nations disaster relief coordinator at a press conference in New York.
In total the U.N. and branch organizations like the U.N. Development Program, U.N. Children's Fund, U.N. Population Fund and U.N. High Commission for Refugees have donated $1.8 million in emergency relief since the disaster occurred. The UNDP rushed $500,000 Tuesday to five of the countries devastated by the earthquake including: Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, the Maldives and Thailand.
Nine countries in total have been severely affected by the catastrophic earthquake, which measured 9.0 on the Richter scale Sunday morning local time causing 20 feet high tidal waves wiping out acres of villages on coastlines and killing thousands of people.
On Monday a flood of condolences and promises from foreign leaders and international humanitarian relief organizations were sent to state leaders in the nine affected countries.
Since then, twenty-five countries have already donated initial aid, including the European Union and members states. The EU has agreed to send $4 million (3 million euros) to designate countries.
"The EU stands ready to assist in every way possible to alleviate the sad plight of the victims," said EU President Jan Peter Balkenende Monday in a released statement.
The European Union has already activated its Monitoring and Information Center in Brussels to help coordinate rescue and relief efforts in conjunction with the EU and the Dutch Presidency. A team of three drinking water and infrastructure experts arrived in Colombo, Sri with the German Technical Reconstruction Agency, provided by the Interior Ministry.
With hourly updates of elevating death tolls and extensive disaster it is unknown how much humanitarian and monetary relief will be needed.
"It's hard to tell at this point in time how much is going to be sent out because the damage estimates are still coming in and...it is getting worse and worse by the hour," said Damian Milverton, spokesperson for the World Bank Organization.
Germany Foreign Minister Joschka Fisher announced Monday that Germany would contribute $1 million in aid, returned on Tuesday to say the country would double its donation to $2.73 million (2 million euros).
"Germany is ready to help our partners cope with this difficult crisis," said Fisher. Germany has sent a medical evacuation plan to Phuket, as well as, two other planes to transport disaster relief teams, medicines and consular officials.
France has not made an announcement on their plans to contribute, explaining that Paris was deliberating waiting until the disaster would be fully assessed in the coming days, according to Washington embassy press attaché, Nathalie Loiseau.
She explained that although monetary donations had not been made yet by Paris, France had sent a plane to the Sri Lanka capital Monday carrying 100 people, including 60 rescue workers from the Interior Ministry, four from the emergency SAMU services and 20 people from the NGO, "Securistes San Frontieres," among others. France has agreed to work directly with the European Union and the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs in coordinating relief efforts.
"Following the earthquakes that struck several countries in southeast and south Asia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, taking into account the relief needs expressed by local authorities, is airlifting emergency aid, beginning with Sri Lanka," spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a released statement Monday.
As of Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund had not received any requests for aid from any countries, but has made itself available for any assistance.
"Rapid action by the international community will help these nations cope, and it is my intention to provide whatever possible assistance the IMF can to help South Asia deal with the aftermath of this weekend's earthquake and floods," said Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the IMF in a released statement.
"Each nation is South Asia will have its own specific needs. The IMF stands ready to do its part to assist these nations with appropriate support in their time of need."
The hardest hit country has been Sri Lanka where over 18,000 are estimated to be dead. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported Monday that at least 225 were killed in the villages of Trincomalee and Batticaloa.
In Thailand, 400 kilometers of the western coastline have been wiped clear of any signs of vitality. Six provinces including Ranong, Phang-Nga, Phuket, among others have severely been affected killing 431 people, injuring 5,000 and displacing at least a 10,000 people, according to government estimates.
The situations in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Maldives are far from different, leaving many stranded without transportation, food, water, electricity or power.
United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination teams have already been deployed to all areas hoping to find missing bodies and provide assistance to the stranded.
