Indian Ocean tsunami memorials commemorate 20 years since one of the deadliest natural disasters in history

People gathered to pray and visit mass graves in Indonesia's Aceh province on Thursday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the massive tsunami that struck the region in the Indian Ocean in one of the worst natural disasters in modern history.

Many wept as they laid flowers at a mass grave in the village of Uli Loi, where more than 14,000 unidentified tsunami victims were buried. It is one of several mass graves in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia's northernmost province, which was one of the areas hardest hit by the 9.1-magnitude earthquake and the massive tsunami it triggered.

People attend a prayer at the Siron Mass Cemetery, one of the two main mass burial sites where victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami are buried, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on December 26, 2024. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images

“We miss them and we still don’t know where they are,” said Muhammad Amiruddin, who lost two of his sons 20 years ago and have never seen them. “All we know is that we visit the mass grave every year in Uli Loi and Siron.” I found their bodies.

“This life is only temporary, so we do our best to be useful to others,” Amiruddin said while visiting the grave with his wife.

Another man, Norkhalis (52 years old), told Reuters news agency that his wife, children, parents and in-laws were swept away in the tsunami.

“Despite the passage of time until now, the same feeling haunts us on this date, especially those of us who lost our families at that time,” he said.

The powerful earthquake that occurred off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on December 26, 2004, led to a tsunami that killed about 230,000 people in dozens of countries, and reached East Africa. Towering waves up to 100 feet high swept away almost everything — and everyone — in its path.

The scene at Marina Beach in Madras, India, on December 26, 2004, as tsunami waves generated by the Indian Ocean tsunami swept through the area. AFP via Getty Images

About 1.7 million people have been displaced, most of them in the four most affected countries: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

More than 170,000 people died in Indonesia alone.

Although 20 years have passed, survivors in Indonesia are still grieving for loved ones lost to the giant wave that flattened buildings all the way to the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.

Hundreds of people gathered to pray at Baitur Rahman Mosque in downtown Banda Aceh. Sirens sounded across the city for three minutes to determine the time of the earthquake.

A photo taken on January 14, 2005, shows a mosque still standing in the center of the destroyed city of Banda Aceh. Indonesia, two weeks after the deadly tsunami in the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004. Joel Saget/AFP via Getty Images

Indonesia lies along fault lines that form the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis. It was hit by another disaster in 2018 when an earthquake in Sulawesi caused huge waves, killing thousands.

In the years since 2004, Aceh's infrastructure has been rebuilt and is now more resilient than it was before the tsunami. Early warning systems have been installed in coastal areas to alert residents of incoming tsunami waves, providing crucial time to seek safety.

The rebuilding efforts were made possible thanks to the support of donors and international organizations, which contributed significant funds to help the region recover. Schools, hospitals and basic infrastructure destroyed by the disaster have been rebuilt.

An aerial photo shows the devastated coastal area of ​​Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on January 5, 2005, two weeks after the tsunami hit. Zhou Yun-kung/AFP via Getty Images

In Thailand, people gathered for a memorial service in Ban Nam Khem, a small fishing village in Phang Nga province that bore the brunt of the country's devastating wave.

The tsunami claimed the lives of more than 8,000 people in Thailand, including many who are still missing, leaving a deep scar on the country's history. Nearly 400 bodies remain unclaimed.

A member of a French Red Cross team inspects posters of missing persons in Phuket, southern Thailand, a week after the tsunami hit the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004. Ruslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images

Mourners shed tears and consoled each other as they laid flowers at the village's tsunami memorial. About 300 people joined a modest ceremony in which Islamic, Christian and Buddhist prayers were performed.

Ouray Sirisuk said she avoids Coastal Memorial Park for the rest of the year because the loss of her 4-year-old daughter still hits her hard every time she is reminded of it.

She said: “I have a feeling that the sea has kidnapped my child. I am very angry with it. I cannot even put my feet in the water.”

But she said: “I can still hear her voice in my ear, calling me. I can't give her up. So I have to be here for my baby.”

In India, hundreds gathered on Marina Beach in the city of Chennai in southern Tamil Nadu state. They would pour milk into the sea to please the gods and offer flowers and prayers to the dead while drums beat in the background.

Flowers are scattered on the beach after a ceremony held for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, in Chennai, India, on December 26, 2024. R.SATISH BABU / AFP via Getty Images

According to official data, 10,749 people were killed in India, including nearly 7,000 people in Tamil Nadu alone.

“It has been 20 years since the tsunami,” said Sadayammal, 69, who uses one name. “We are here to pay respect to the people who lost their lives.”

In Sri Lanka, survivors and relatives of tsunami victims gathered in the coastal village of Perelia and laid flowers at a memorial to commemorate the nearly 2,000 passengers who died when the wave hit their train, the Sea Queen. Only a few dozen people are believed to have survived.

Anura Ranjith joined the mourners to pay his respects to his younger sister Anula Ranjith and her 9-year-old daughter, who were traveling on the train. Ranjith never heard from them after that day.

He said: “I searched for them everywhere for years and did not find information about them. Losing them is a great sadness and pain for me. I am still sad.”

Overall, more than 35,000 people died in Sri Lanka in the tsunami. People across the country observed two minutes of silence on Thursday in memory of those who lost their lives.

There was little warning at the time, but in the years following the 2004 disaster, a tsunami warning system was put in place to help protect the area. A network of seismometers to detect undersea earthquakes, along with tide gauges and ocean buoys, can pick up early signals of tremors that generate tsunamis, and improved communications networks help deliver those warnings to officials around the world.

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