20 Years Since the Deadly Tsunami in Asia

The wave surged and rushed. It sent water as high as 160 feet slamming onto land with a force far outstripping that of an atomic bomb. When the tsunami inundated the coasts of more than a dozen Indian Ocean nations on Dec. 26, 2004, about 230,000 people lost their lives. Entire communities were erased. It was the deadliest tsunami in recorded history.

No one was immune to the giant wave, which was triggered by a 9.1 magnitude earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Among the dead were fishermen, vacationers, sports stars and a prince.

The brunt of the tsunami was felt in the Indonesian province of Aceh, where 170,000 people perished. Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were devastated, too. More than a thousand miles apart, across the Indian Ocean, hundreds of coastal communities were united in their grief, and in facing years of rebuilding and regrouping.

Indonesia

In Banda Aceh, the part of Indonesia hit hardest by the tsunami, soldiers carried bodies across fields of rubble.

The Rahmatullah Lampuuk Mosque, near Lhoknga in Banda Aceh, was the only structure to survive the waves in its area. It immediately became a center for aid and community relief.

Recovering bodies was, in some places, an effort that took many days.

An SOS call on a road leading to Meulaboh, southeast of Banda Aceh.

Some communities, like this one in the remote village of Calang, were cut off for days or weeks until they could be reached by boat or helicopter.

Refugee children rushed to collect relief goods tossed from an Australian military helicopter into a rice paddy in Lampaya.

Few families in Banda Aceh were spared. One man clung to a picture of his wife, Ferani, at her burial after their small village was swept away.

An elephant removing debris in Banda Aceh.

The bodies of victims floating in a mass grave filled with rainwater on the outskirts of Banda Aceh.

Sri Lanka

Destruction in Galle, a coastal city.

The tsunami derailed a train in Peraliya, killing more than 1,000 passengers.

Inside one wrecked train carriage.

Searching among the remains of a house in Kalutara.

A funeral ceremony for a mother and her daughter in the southern coastal town of Matara.

Stoking bonfires before burning corpses in the village of Pandiruppu.

Receiving food at a refugee camp at a Buddhist temple in Hikkaduwa.

Kodiali Dedumu taking a shower at her destroyed home in Kalutara.

India

Damaged fishing trawlers at the port of Nagapattinam, on the southeastern coast.

A mass burial site in Cuddalore.

Mourning victims during their burial in Cuddalore.

Survivors tried to find their family members among photographs of the dead in Velankanni.

Waiting in line for aid packages in Nagapattinam.

From center, Lakshmi, Selvi and Ariamala grieving as bulldozers cleared debris from their destroyed houses in Nagappattinam.

Watching debris from destroyed houses being burned at the fishermen’s village in Nagappattinam.

Thailand

The arrival of the tidal wave at the Le Meridien hotel in Khao Lak, near Phuket.

All over Ton Sai Bay, restaurants and bungalows were wiped out by the tsunami.

Tourists walking past the destruction along Patong Beach in Phuket as they headed to the airport.

Searching through the water of the flooded courtyard at the Sea Pearl Beach hotel resort along Patong Beach.

Coffins at a warehouse on the port of Phuket.

Burying bodies in a mass grave in Takua Pa.

Releasing lanterns during a mass prayer for the victims in Takua Pa.