Date- December 26, 2004
Location – Sumatra Island Indonesia
It was about 8 a.m. the day after Christmas. Many people hadn’t woken up yet. At the same time, there was strong movement of the Indian and Burmese tectonic plates 30 km underground, west of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. This movement caused an earthquake of magnitude more than 9.1 in the Indian Ocean.
This earthquake was so strong that high waves rose in the Indian Ocean. These waves moved at a speed of about 800 km/hour and collided after hitting the shore. As they decreased, their height increased. As height increased, wave water entered cities and populated areas in many countries.
Waves averaging 57 feet have engulfed major cities in many countries. As the waves advanced, the scene of death expanded. More than 2 million people have died in 14 countries, including Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Japan. Maximum 1.72 lakh people were killed in Indonesia.
In many places the height of these waves exceeded 100 feet. These waves that cause death are called tsunami.
See the devastation caused by the tsunami, the scene of death and the pain of losing loved ones in these images…
Photo 1 – Rescuers pile up corpses in Indonesia
In the photo, army soldiers engaged in rescue operations collect these dead bodies at one place. Rescuers wrapped the bodies of those killed in the tsunami waves in black polyethylene and transported them in trucks.
Image 2 and 3- The pain of losing loved ones
The photo depicts a woman from Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, India, celebrating the death of her loved one in the tsunami.
The image is of Cuddalore itself, in which many women are mourning the loss of their loved ones.
Image 4 – Scene of defeat in the battle of life
A woman clings to floating debris as a tsunami hits the city of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Attempts were made to save the woman, but she had lost the battle for life.
Image 5- Searching for loved ones in the pile of corpses
More than 1,000 bodies were gathered outside a Buddhist temple in Thailand’s Takua Pa district. Among these corpses, people had come to look for their loved ones.
Photo 6 and 7 – Mass burial of corpses
Tsunami victims were buried together in Takua Pa, Thailand.
The bodies were buried together in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu.
Image 8- Search for relatives on photos of the dead
In Velankanni, Tamil Nadu, photographs of the dead were collected so that people could identify their loved ones.
Photo 9- Recovery of corpses from the debris
The photo is of Indonesian soldiers, from whom they are removing corpses from a pile of debris.
Photos 10 and 11 – Only traces of the devastation remain
This is what the picture of devastation looked like after the tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
The entire area except the Lampuk Mosque in the Lhokanga region near Banda Aceh was destroyed in the tsunami. Later, this mosque became a relief center.
Image 12 – Houses were also destroyed
A building near Ton Sai Bay on Phi Phi Island, Thailand, has been completely destroyed. The photo shows fragments of the building.
Photo 13 – Beaches littered with disaster debris
Patong Beach in Phuket, Thailand, is littered with mangled vehicles and debris after being hit by a tsunami.
Picture 14- The dream of home, which was once a reality, has been shattered.
In the photo, a man from the village of Pandiruppu, on the east coast of Sri Lanka, sits amid the rubble of his house destroyed by the tsunami and looks at it.
Image 15 – Amazing feats of destruction
In the photo, an Indonesian man looks towards a boat floating above a damaged house after the disaster.