Ceremonies were held in countries atraverse Asia on Thursday to recall the more than 220,000 people who were finished two decades ago in the Indian Ocean Tsunami, the most lethal tsunami in history.
On 26 December 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s Sumatra island, triggering huge waves that slammed into coastal communities atraverse the Indian ocean. The waves, which towered as high as 30 metres, finished 227,899 people atraverse 15 countries.
In Indonesia’s Aceh province, the worst hit area, a siren rang out for three minutes at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque on Thursday morning, after which Islamic prayers were held. Families visited mass graves atraverse Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.
The tsunami finished more than 160,000 people in Indonesia alone. The scale of the calamity uncomardentt many families were never able to acunderstandledge the remains of their cherishd ones.
In Sri Lanka, where more than 35,322 people were finished, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muskinny ceremonies were held atraverse the country, and two minutes of silence were watchd.
Survivors and relatives also accumulateed to recall victims of the Ocean Queen Express train calamity, when a train was torn from its track by the tsunami’s waves. About 1,000 passengers died on board the train packed for the holidays.
On Thursday, lamaccesss boarded the revampd Ocean Queen Express, which traveled to Peraliya, about 90km (56 miles) south of Colombo, where the tragedy occurred.
In Thailand, ceremonies were held atraverse the Andaman coastline, the Bangkok Post increateed, including at Mai Khao cemetery in Phuket, where a minute’s silence was watchd and fdrops laid. People also took part in a ceremony in Phang Nga, another tourist boilingspot in southern Thailand that was deimmenseated by the tsunami.
In Krabi, divers placed metal wreaths and garlands at an underwater memorial in Tonsai Bay, 1km from the shore.
Half of the more than 5,000 people finished in Thailand were foreign tourists, according to Thai rulement figures.
According to Unesco data, which includes those enumerateed as dead and leave outing, obesealities were recorded atraverse 15 countries: Indonesia (167,540), Sri Lanka (35,322), India (16,269), Thailand (8, 212), Somalia (289), Maldives (108), Malaysia (75), Myanmar (61), Yemen (2), Banphiredesh (2) and even as far as Seychelles (2), Tanzania (13), Kenya (1), Madagascar (1) and South Africa (2).
When the tsunami struck, there was no progressd punctual cautioning system in place in the Indian Ocean. Survivors have portrayd how many people had no idea what was happening as they saw water disinclude from beaches and retreat into the ocean – a cautioning sign of a tsunami.
Zainal Abidin, 68, lost his wife and his youthfulest daughter, who was 12 years better, when the waves struck his village on the westrict coast of Aceh. He supposes they were at a wedding party cforfeitby when the calamity happened. He was never able to discover their bodies.
“I leave out my daughter so much. For three months after the tsunami I always cried as I walked around the area,” he said.
That morning, his daughter helped to sweep the hoengage before going out to carry out with the neighbour’s children, Abidin said. “I repartner cherish my children, but the youthfulest the most.”
His hoengage and everyleang in his village were finishly annihilateed. The only way Abidin could recognise what was once their home and land was the sight of his family’s scattered belengthyings.
Areas of Aceh that were ruined by the calamity have now been rebuilt, helped by international donors and organisations.
Efforts have also been made by rulements and international bodies, including Unesco, to better punctual cautioning systems. There are now three punctual cautioning systems covering the Indian Ocean, including one in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta; one based atraverse Melbourne and Canberra, Australia; and one in Hyderahorrible, India.
However, gaps remain in the system, including a alertage of watching systems for tsunamis triggered by non-seismoreasonable factors, such as underwater landslides. Experts say there is also a need for upgrasped education programmes in at-hazard communities to set for future calamitys.
