Indonesia quake said among most powerful

[moe.ron]

The cycle of life in the shadow of the tsunami disaster:

After sea ordeal, tsunami survivor told she's pregnant
05 Jan 2005 12:57:41 GMT
Source: Reuters
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 (Reuters) - An Indonesian woman who was plucked from the sea after clinging to a palm tree for five days in the wake of a devastating tsunami heard on Wednesday that she is 18 weeks pregnant with her first child.

"I'm very glad, very happy," 25-year-old Malawati said from her hospital bed in the northern Malaysian island of Penang after doctors gave her the news following medical checks.

The farmer from Indonesia's Aceh province, which was among the worst hit by the Dec. 26 disaster, said she could not wait to share the news with her husband of four years and relatives, although she was not sure how many of them had survived the tsunami.

When the waves swept her out to sea, Malawati clung to a sago palm and lived off its fruit before being rescued by a passing Malaysian tuna-fishing boat last Friday.

"I slipped twice, but managed to hold on," she said. "I saw sharks around me but prayed they wouldn't hurt me."

Malawati said that another woman from her village who had clung to the tree had disappeared after three days at sea.

More than 94,000 Indonesians have been killed in tidal waves that struck the Aceh province in the west of the Indonesian archipelago after a massive undersea earthquake.