BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Crying onlookers took part in beachside memorials and religious services across Asia on Friday to mark the 10th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami that left more than a quarter million people dead in one of modern history's worst natural disasters.
The devastating Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami struck a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean rim, killing about 230,000 people. It eradicated entire coastal communities, decimated families and crashed over tourist-filled beaches the morning after Christmas. Survivors waded through a horror show of corpse-filled waters.
As part of Friday's solemn commemorations, survivors, government officials, diplomats and families of victims gathered in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and elsewhere. Moments of silence were held in several spots to mark the exact time the tsunami struck, a moment that united the world in grief.
"I cannot forget the smell of the air, the water at that time ... even after 10 years," said Teuku Ahmad Salman, a 51-year-old resident who joined thousands of people in a prayer service in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
The disaster was triggered by a magnitude-9.1 earthquake — the region's most powerful in 40 years — that tore open the seabed off of Indonesia's Sumatran coast, displacing billions of tons of water and sending waves roaring across the Indian Ocean at jetliner speeds as far away as East Africa.
Indonesia's Aceh province, which was closest to the quake's epicenter, was hit first and hardest. Initially, the quake toppled homes and buildings and sent panicked communities rushing into the streets. About 20 minutes later, a wall of water up to 33 feet high surged inland for miles with seemingly unstoppable force, carrying along trees, houses, train cars — and thousands of people — in a churning rush.
More than 170,000 people died in Indonesia alone, more than three-quarters of the total death toll.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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