Today marks the 10th year since a big tsunami hit the shores of Banda Aceh, Indonesia that left plenty of people devastated. Relatives and survivors have come together along the shorelines of the Indian Ocean just this Friday to remember the distressing event and to pray those who have passed away.
It was in 2004 when a 9.15 magnitude earthquake opened a fault line deep beneath the ocean causing the waters to rise as high as 17.4 meters (57 feet) and then crashing down on the land, wiping off communities and villages.
About 226,000 victims were present at Friday’s memorial; the night before that, some have gathered to start praying in one of the withstanding establishments – Aceh's Grand Mosque. "The reason is because this is the house of Allah," said Azman Ismail, who has been the Great Imam of the mosque, Masjid Baiturrahman, since before the tsunami. "Allah kept his house unscathed, that's what we Muslims believe."
As Indonesians pay their respects along the shorelines of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka Meanwhile, marks the anniversary with a symbolic ride of a train the tsunami had derailed, killing 1,270 passengers.
Indonesia was not the only country affected by the great tsunami, Thailand lost the lives of 5,395 people; 2,000 people among them were foreign tourists. The number of people dead recorded in India was 16,400 people; In Sri Lanka about 31,000 people; in Malaysia 68 and in Maldives more than a hundred were found dead.
