Tears, prayers as Asia remembers tsunami dead 20 years on

Women perform rituals during a ceremony held for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, at Pattinapakkam beach in Chennai on Dec. 26, 2024.

Tearful 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 coastlines around the Indian Ocean in one of the world's worst natural disasters.

A 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia's western tip on Dec. 26, 2004, generated a series of waves as high as 30 meter that pummeled the coastline of 14 countries from Indonesia to Somalia.

In Indonesia's Aceh Province, where more than 100,000 people were killed, a siren rang out at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque to kick off a series of memorials around the region, including in Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, which the tsunami hit hours later.

People recounted harrowing tales of horror and miraculous survival as giant 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 one name, at the Indonesian mosque that was damaged by the tsunami.

"On a Sunday morning where our family were all laughing together, suddenly a disaster struck and everything's gone. I can't describe it with words."

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

The victims included many foreign tourists celebrating Christmas on the region's sun-kissed beaches, bringing the tragedy into homes around the globe.

The seabed being ripped open pushed waves at double the speed of a bullet train, crossing the Indian Ocean within...