Five Years Since Tsunami

in News by Tajuddin — January 2, 2010 at 12:37 | 1 comment | 3,938 views |

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Five years ago, on Boxing Day, December 26th, 2004, a magnitude 9.3 earthquake hit the seafloor of the Indian Ocean, causing tremendous waves of seawater to rush ashore as devastating tsunamis that left 230,000 people dead across 13 different countries – the fifth deadliest natural disaster in recorded history. Over 45,000 of the dead were never found.

Five years later now, reconstruction moves apace, as multiple aid groups have built more than 140,000 homes, 1,700 schools, 3,800 houses of worship and 3,700 km of roads.

On this anniversary of the catastrophe, we have collected here photographs of survivors, some rebuilding, some remembering, and seven sets of “before and after” photos (numbers 4-10, be sure to click them to see the transition effect).

I’d also like to direct your attention to a fantastic multimedia presentation on this subject from Thomson/Reuters called Surviving the Tsunami.

Via : Boston

An Acehnese man cries as he attends a mass prayer for tsunami victims, commemorating the fifth anniversary of the 2004 Boxing Day earthquake and subsequent tsunami, on December 26, 2009 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Aceh was the worst hit location, being the closest major city to the epicentre of the 9.1 magnitude quake, suffering a huge hit from the following tsunami and resulting in around 130,000 deaths. Throughout the affected region of eleven countries, 230,000 people in total were killed, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history

In this file photo from December 26th, 2004, foreign tourists who had ventured far out on the sand after the water receded react as the first of six tsunamis starts to roll towards Hat Rai Lay Beach, near Krabi in southern Thailand.

Tidal waves wash through houses at Maddampegama, about 60 km (38 mi) south of Colombo, Sri Lanka, in this Dec. 26, 2004 file photo. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

This pair of photos shows (before) a view of the damage near Baiturrahman mosque on December 27, 2004, the day after a tsunami hit the Indonesian city of Banda Aceh, and (after) an Acehnese man collecting grass for his goat in the same area, December 4, 2009.

These two photos show rescue workers removing a body of a tsunami victim from the compound of the Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh, December 29, 2004 (before) and an Acehnese worker sweeping the grass in the same area (after) on December 3, 2009.

Buddhists pray and release offerings into the ocean during a ceremony commemorating the 5th year since Indian Ocean tsunami on Ulhee Lheu beach in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Heri Juanda)

Dutch tourist Hans Cuiper takes a photograph of pictures of foreign tourists killed in the 2004 tsunami at the Bang Muang Cemetery in Thailand’s Phang Nga province, north of Phuket, on December 26, 2009.

In this photo taken December 2, 2009 tsunami survivors Irvan Sahputra (left), Syamsuddin Mohammed (center) and Aris Monandar (right) stand near a fishing boat that saved their lives when it was stranded on a roof of a neighbor’s house in Banda Aceh nearly five years ago.

Acehnese men read the Quran at a mass grave site during commemorations on the fifth anniversary of the 2004 Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami, on December 26, 2009 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

Indonesian tsunami survivors Ikra Alfil (right) and a classmate are photographed in front of their school room in Lampuuk village in Banda Aceh on December 3, 2009. Five years after the disaster, 10 year old Ikra continues to dream of giant waves – after the tsunami killed four family members, except her father who had climbed up a tree.

See all pictures @ : Boston

Tags: News Photos, Tsunami