Sri Lanka's worst tsunami in living memory has killed 1,500 people and affected one million more, or around 5 percent of the island's population, the National Disaster Management Center said on Sunday. "The death toll has reached 1,500. We have one million people who have been affected," said center director N. D. Hettiarachchi. "I think this is the worst ever natural disaster in Sri Lanka," he added. The tsunami was triggered by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean, sending waves up to five metres (15 feet) high crashing onto Sri Lanka's eastern and southern shores and flooding vast tracts of land. President Chandrika Kumaratunga has declared a national disaster and appealed for international emergency aid.
