The most powerfulearthquake in the past 40 years caused a tsunami that crashed into coastlinesacross Asia yesterday, killing more than 6,500 people in Indonesia, India,Thailand, Malaysia, and at least four other countries. Fishermen, tourists,hotels, homes, and cars were swept away by huge waves caused by the strongearthquake that reached a magnitude of 9.0. The undersea quake struck around7:00 a.m., Sunday off the west coastof Indonesia’s Sumatra Island. In that area alone, at least 1,870 people werekilled.


网友的断句有问题，你可能是把 Sunday off 连在一块看作固定搭配了，是吧！其实，这里的Sunday 与 off 是分属两个意群的，阅读时可在 Sunday 后面稍作停顿——Sunday 与前面的 around7:00 a.m. 是一个意群，意思是“星期天早上七点”，off the west coast of... 是指“在……西岸附近”。

全段大意：昨天，40年来最为强烈的地震引发了冲击亚洲沿海地带的海啸，导致印度尼西亚、印度、泰国、马来西亚与至少其他四个国家6500多人死亡。渔民、游客、酒店、住房和汽车都被这次里氏9.0级的强震所引发的巨浪卷走。周日上午7点左右，印尼苏门答腊岛西海岸发生海底地震。仅在那个区域，就有至少1870人丧生。