A series of powerful deep sea earthquakes , tsunami, typhoons and floods in the Pacific region on Tuesday and Wednesday have left behind scenes of devastation and death, bringing back fears and memories of the deadly 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands in the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.

BREAKING NEWS AT THE TIME OF POSTING: NYT is reporting that another powerful magnitude 6.9 earthquake has hit western Indonesia. BBC is also reporting the same. Details awaited.

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The first to hit the region was a 8-magnitude earthquake early Tuesday local time in the south Pacific between the Samoan and the American Samoan islands (just northeast of Australia). That triggered a tsunami that flattened swaths of villages in both the islands and neighboring Tonga, claiming over a hundred lives. The toll is likely to rise, as rescue workers struggle to reach outlying areas that may have many more trapped. The U.S. President has declared the earthquake and tsunami in the American Samoa territory a major disaster, allowing for more federal aid to the region.

This was followed by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake Wednesday local time in West Sumatra, Indonesia, claiming 75 lives so far. Reports say rescue operations are suffering because of major power and phone outages following the quake, making it hard to reach affected people.  

Geologists say the two quakes, about 6,000 miles apart, are not related. The Indonesian city of Padang (jolted hard by the current quake), however, is on the same fault line that rocked another province in the deadly 2004 tsunami disaster.

Indonesia is no stranger to earthquakes and tsunamis. According to this New York Times report:

In a country with frequent earthquakes, Padang, [...] is considered highly at risk because it sits on one of the world’s most active fault lines. In 2004, a 9.15-magnitude quake whose epicenter was less than 400 miles northwest of Padang triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in Indonesia’s Aceh province and other countries across the Indian Ocean.

In 2006, about 5,000 people died in an earthquake near the ancient city of Yogyakarta, on the island of Java, to Sumatra’s southeast. Last month, more than 60 people died after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck West Java, and an additional 25,000 were displaced.

Not far away, about a week ago, typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) made landfall, battering the Philippines, followed by  Vietnam and Cambodia, where it is still reported to be active. Over 350 people are reported to be dead, and the damage is widespread, $100 million and upwards. (The pictures here at Boston.com, really tell the story).

Blogs, social networks and other news sources:

Huffington Post is running constant updates on the disasters

New York Times news blog, The Lede, has a collection of links to blogposts and witness accounts of the Samoan tsunami

CNN iReport on the Philippine floods

Carolina Rumuat at Global Voices Online posts about the Indonesian earthquake 

Mong Palatino of Global Voices Online has put together a list of citizen videos documenting the Philippine flooding

BBC's eyewitness accounts

Salam Jakarta is following the disasters on his blog

Local news sources:
The Jakarta Post.com
Antara News
The Jakarta Globe
Samoanews.com
Samoalivenews.com

On Twitter
The Samoan Tsunami thread
Indonesia quake thread
Typhoon Ketsana thread
Twitter user Marcellodecaran is updating from Indonesia (link via breakingtweets.com)

On Facebook
Samoa Tsunami group