Twenty years ago, giant waves killed more than 226,000 people. Several Asian countries are commemorating the disaster and paying tribute to the victims.
Twenty after the tragedy, Asia commemorates the victims of the 2004 Tsunami.
On December 26 this year, the earthquake off the coast of Sumatra released a power measured at 23,000 times that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
The waves generated by the earthquake reached up to 30 meters high and traveled at nearly 800 km/h.
No coordinated alert system warned the populations.
The waves swept over Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and as far as Somalia.
The tsunami made more than 226,000 dead.
Indonesia was closest to the epicenter of the earthquake and the death toll was higher than anywhere else.
In North Sumatra, around the town of Banda Aceh, the waves killed more than 100,000 people.
Rini Zulmansyah, Indonesian who lost her brother and several members of her family: “I am still sad because I lost our family, my brother, my sister-in-law and her child. It’s sad because not everyone experiences the loss of their family at the same time.“.
Muhamad Amirudin, Indonesian who lost his two children: “There are many lessons I can learn from this tragedy (the tsunami), this life is only temporary, so we will do our best in this life to be helpful to others“.
All countries affected by the tragedy organize ceremonies in memory of the victims.
The 2004 tsunami is the deadliest on record.
1,4000 stations around the world now make it possible to reduce warning times in the event of a tsunami.
