Paraparaumu woman first confirmed New Zealand quake victim

One New Zealander has been confirmed dead and another has a broken ankle following a massive earthquake and tsunami that has devastated southeast and south Asia, Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff said today.

Leone Cosens, formerly of Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast, had been living in Thailand for 12 years and was travelling with her family.

She died in Thailand's southern resort of Phuket.

"We (also) have a further confirmed injury of a New Zealand male in hospital in Chennai in South India who has a broken ankle," he said.

Mr Goff said the ministry was endeavouring to make contact with a further 180 registered persons in the region.

However, he said: "They should not be confused with those who are (officially) missing -- They are people whose friends or relatives know they're in the region."

Mr Goff said the main concern for New Zealanders was in the Phuket region.

"So far, in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives we have had no concerns expressed for missing, injured, or killed New Zealanders," he said.

However, Mr Goff said he could not rule out that there might be further casualties.

Jonathan Schwass, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat) media advisor, said in a statement that Mfat understood the Phuket and Krabi areas of Thailand were very popular with tourists and it would be safe to assume substantial numbers of New Zealanders were there.

A Bangkok-based New Zealand police liaison officer was on his way to Phuket to help the dead woman's family and any other New Zealanders needing assistance and would be joined by two Mfat officials, he said.

The most powerful earthquake in 40 years, measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, struck in the Indian Ocean yesterday and triggered massive tidal waves that slammed into coastlines across Asia, killing thousands of people in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Thailand and the Maldives.

A New Zealand businesswoman in Malaysia, Heather Bills, 46, was quoted by Reuters as saying: "You were sort of mesmerised by these waves coming in.

"You didn't even know what was happening. It was too quick. Then there was this massive plume of black water behind you. It was like foaming tar.

"I thought, 'This is it. I'm dead'."

Mr Schwass said Mfat understood 57 bodies had been identified in the Phuket and Krabi area and feared the final death toll would be much higher.

Around 3000 people were thought to have been injured in that area alone and latest estimates put the Asian death toll at 13,400 people, with more than two million left homeless.

- NZPA