Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Asia Remembers Deadly 2004 Tsunami

   VOA News 26 December 2009
   Sri  Lankan tsunami survivors pay tribute to a mass grave on the fifth
   anniversary  of  the  Indian Ocean tsunami, in Peraliya, Sri Lanka, 26
   Dec 2009

Photo: AP

   Sri  Lankan tsunami survivors pay tribute to a mass grave on the fifth
   anniversary  of  the  Indian Ocean tsunami, in Peraliya, Sri Lanka, 26
   Dec 2009

   People across Asia paused Saturday to observe the fifth anniversary of
   the  devastating  earthquake  and  tsunami  in  2004 that killed up to
   230,000 people in about a dozen countries.
   The   devastating   December   26  tsunami  destroyed  entire  coastal
   communities,   decimated  families  and  crashed  over  tourist-filled
   beaches, sweeping away everyone and everything in its path.
   Brief  memorials  were  held  in mosques throughout the region, beside
   mass  graves, and at seaside resorts and communities on the rim of the
   Indian Ocean.
   The  tsunami  was triggered by an undersea earthquake with a magnitude
   of  9.0 that struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
   Over  the  next  seven  hours,  a wall of water reached out across the
   Indian Ocean, devastating coastal areas as far away as East Africa.
   REST OPT
   Some  locations  reported  that the waves had reached a height of nine
   meters or more when they hit the shoreline.
   Indonesia,  Sri  Lanka, India, Maldives and Thailand sustained massive
   damage. Indonesian officials estimated that the death toll there alone
   ultimately  exceeded  200,000, particularly in northern Sumatra's Aceh
   province.  The official death toll is considerably lower.
   Tens  of  thousands  were  reported  dead  or missing in Sri Lanka and
   India,  a  large  number  of  them from the Indian Andaman and Nicobar
   Islands  territory.  The low-lying island country of Maldives reported
   more  than  a hundred casualties and immense economic damage.  Several
   thousand  non-Asian  tourists  vacationing  in  the  region  also were
   reported dead or missing.
   The lack of food, clean water and medical treatment, combined with the
   enormous task faced by relief workers trying to get supplies into some
   remote  areas where roads had been destroyed or where civil war raged,
   extended the list of casualties.
   Long-term  environmental  damage  was  severe  as well, with villages,
   tourist  resorts, farmland and fishing grounds demolished or inundated
   with debris, bodies and plant-killing salt water.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

.