Tears, prayers as Asia mourns tsunami dead at 20

Banda Aceh, Indonesia: Mourners prayed on Thursday as ceremonies were held across Asia to remember the 220,000 people who were killed two decades ago when a tsunami hit the coasts around Indian Ocean in one of the worst natural disasters in the world.

A magnitude 9.1 earthquake off the western tip of Indonesia on 26 December 2004 generated waves of up to 30 meters (98 ft) that hit the coasts of 14 countries from Indonesia to Somalia .

In Indonesia’s Aceh province, where more than 100,000 people died, a siren sounded at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque to launch a series of memorials across the region, including Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, which the tsunami hit a few hours later.

Children hold national flags during prayers at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque for those who lost their lives in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Banda Aceh on December 26, 2024, 20 years since the disaster. Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP

People told harrowing tales of horror and miraculous survival as huge waves swept in without warning, carrying debris, including cars, and destroying buildings in its wake.

“I thought it was doomsday,” said Hasnawati, a 54-year-old teacher who goes by only one name, at the Indonesian mosque that was damaged by the tsunami.

“One Sunday morning when our family was laughing together, suddenly disaster struck and everything disappeared. I can’t describe it in words.”

At Aceh’s Siron mass grave, where some 46,000 people were buried, emotional relatives recited Islamic prayers in the shade of trees that have since grown there.

People take part in an interfaith ceremony alongside portraits of tsunami victims at the Ban Nam Khem Tsunami Memorial Park in southern Thailand’s Phang Nga province on December 26, 2024. Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA/AFP

Khyanisa, a 59-year-old Indonesian housewife, lost her mother and daughter, searching in vain for them, hoping they were still alive.

“I kept chanting the names of God. I looked for them everywhere,” she said.

“There was a moment when I realized they were gone. I felt my chest hurt, I screamed.”

“Hope”

Among the victims were many foreign tourists celebrating Christmas on the region’s sun-kissed beaches, bringing the tragedy into homes around the world.

The sea floor being opened up pushed waves at twice the speed of a bullet train, crossing the Indian Ocean in a matter of hours.

In Thailand, where half of the more than 5,000 dead were foreign tourists, commemorations began early in Ban Nam Khem, its worst-hit village.

Flowers are left at the Ban Nam Khem Tsunami memorial wall in Thailand’s southern Phang Nga province on December 26, 2024. Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP

Tearful relatives laid flowers and wreaths at a wall curved in the shape of a tsunami wave, with plaques bearing the names of the victims.

Napaporn Pakawan, 55, lost her older sister and a niece in the tragedy.

“I feel dismayed. I come here every year,” she told AFP.

People visit the wall of the Ban Nam Khem Tsunami Memorial Park in Thailand’s southern Phang Nga province on December 26, 2024. Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP

“Time flies, but time is slow in our minds.”

After an interfaith ceremony, Italian survivor Francesca Ermini, 55, thanked volunteers for saving her life.

“I think all of us (survivors), when we think of you, it makes us feel so hopeful,” she said.

Unofficial vigils on the beach were also expected to accompany a commemorative ceremony by the Thai government.

Watch the train

A total of 226,408 people died in the tsunami, according to EM-DAT, a globally recognized disaster database.

There was no warning of the impending tsunami, leaving little time for evacuation despite the several-hour intervals between waves hitting different continents.

But today a sophisticated network of monitoring stations has reduced warning times.

A Queen of the Sea train arrives with victims’ family members on board at a special memorial to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2004 tsunami in Peraliya on December 26, 2024. Photo by Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP

In Sri Lanka, where more than 35,000 people died, survivors and relatives gathered to remember about 1,000 victims who died when waves derailed a passenger train.

Mourners boarded the restored Ocean Queen Express and headed for Peraliya — the exact spot where it was derailed, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of Colombo.

A short religious ceremony was held with relatives of the dead there, while Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim ceremonies were also held to commemorate the victims from across the South Asian island nation.

Flowers are scattered on the beach after women performed rituals during a ceremony held for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at Pattinapakkam beach in Chennai on December 26, 2024. Photo by R.Satish BABU / AFP

Nearly 300 people have been killed in Somalia alone, as well as more than 100 in the Maldives and dozens in Malaysia and Myanmar.

Dorothy Wilkinson, a 56-year-old Briton who lost her partner and parents to the tsunami in Thailand, said the commemorations were a time to remember the best of those who died.

“I’m glad to come… a little sad,” she said.

“It celebrates their lives.”