Ten years on, world remembers Indian Ocean tsunami

Mangalore Today News Network

Aceh, Dec 26, 2014:  Exactly on this day, ten years ago, an annihilative tsunami triggered by a strong earthquake ripped through more than a dozen nations, claiming a sea of lives and unleashed a shocking spectacle of death and destruction.

The world, on Friday, is marking the tenth anniversary of the disastrous Indian Ocean tsunami that affected 14 nations from Indonesia to India to Africa’s east coast and swept around 230,000 people to death on December 26, 2004.

Memorials and events are being held across the tsunami-struck nations today to mark a decade since the tragedy.

Thousands of people in Indonesia’s Aceh province on late Thursday thronged the premises of black-domed Baiturrahman Grand Mosque to attend memorial prayers. The mosque was one of the rare structures to have weathered the tsunami and stayed intact.

Using the occasion to inculcate brotherhood and peace in the region, the mosque’s imam said that the tsunami had taught a "valuable lesson" to Aceh, which had been the scene of an armed conflict for nearly 30 years, the BBC reported.

"After the tsunami, no-one fights against each other, people live in harmony and peace till this day," he added.

Indonesia’s Aceh province is said to have suffered the heaviest tsunami blow, as with 168,000 people dead, it accounted for three-fourth of the total death toll.

Memorials will also be held across Thailand and Sri Lanka.

terrible tsunami was triggered as an underwater earthquake measuring 9.1 spawned giant waves as high as 35 meters that struck coastlines across the nations.

The disaster which caused damages costing $10bn, prompted the authorities across the world to revamp the disaster warning system. However, many loopholes still remain, say experts.

 

Courtesy: Zeenews