Survivors and victims from dozens of countries mark 10 years since the world’s deadliest tsunami
Sri Lankan women commemorate the victims of the December 2004 tsunami, offering flowers, prayers and alms during a special ceremony to mark the tenth anniversary in the southern coastal town of Peraliya on Dec. 26, 2014.
Dozens of countries lost citizens in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the tsunami that followed, which together killed more than 220,000 people and caused billions of dollars in damage.
It was the deadliest tsunami ever recorded.
For those living in coastal Indonesia and Sri Lanka, the impact was catastrophic. Well over half of the deaths were in Indonesia; Sri Lanka lost tens of thousands of people. Between those two countries, more than a million were displaced.
India and Thailand were also hit hard. In India, at least 12,000 died and more than 600,000 lost their homes. More than half of the casualities in Thailand were foreign nationals visiting some of the country's most popular tourist beaches.
On Dec. 26, 2014, survivors and victims marked 10 years since the natural disaster with emotional ceremonies, many of them held on the same beaches ravaged by waves in 2004.
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