The world’s grief and compassion returned to the tsunami-battered coastlines of the Indian Ocean on Monday, marking one year since giant waves crashed ashore in a dozen countries, laying waste to coastal communities and sweeping away at least 216 000 lives.
Under a clear sky and before a gentle sea, survivors, friends and relatives of those who died commemorated those lost in one of the worst natural disasters the modern world has experienced. World leaders sent condolence messages.
In Indonesia’s Aceh province, which was closest to the earthquake that spawned the waves and bore the brunt of the disaster, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sounded a tsunami warning siren to herald one minute’s silence at the moment one year ago that the first wave struck.
”It was under the same blue sky, exactly one year ago, that Mother Earth unleashed her most destructive power upon us,” Yudhoyono said. ”The assault began with a massive earthquake but … that was only a prelude to the horrific catastrophe to come.”
Similar periods of silence were observed at official ceremonies attended by thousands in Thailand and Sri Lanka, where flags were lowered to half-staff and bells rung in remembrance. Muslim, Christian, Buddhist and Hindu prayer services were being held across the tsunami zone.
Some preferred more personal reflection.
On Thailand’s Patong beach, one man sat weeping in the sand before a gently lapping sea, a bouquet of white roses laying in front of him. He declined to talk to a reporter.
He was among hundreds of Westerners, including survivors and relatives of those killed, who travelled to sites along Thailand’s world famous beachfront where their loved ones died or disappeared into the waves.
Ulrika Landgren (37), of Malmoe, Sweden, brought her nine-year-old son Jesper to Patong beach, where nine of their family’s friends died.
”Somehow it’s good to see this place,” she said, tears leaking from behind her sunglasses.
India remembers
Across India’s southern coast and its Andaman and Nicobar islands, tsunami survivors remembered their dead on Monday with prayers, candlelight vigils and the unveiling of memorials.
The tsunami hit the Andaman and Nicobar islands early morning and then travelled to the southern mainland coast, devastating coastal villages. More than 12 405 died. About 5 640 are still listed as missing.
A poignant remembrance ceremony was held at a beach in Tamil Nadu’s state’s Nagapattinam district, one of the worst affected by the tsunami.
More than 1 000 schoolchildren gathered near the beach to observe two minutes’ silence at exactly the moment the tsunami struck. They stood near the place where 300 child victims of the wave were buried.
A memorial nearby was to be unveiled in a ceremony attended by locals, leaders and officials.
Similar memorials were unveiled in the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands. The chiefs of the Indian army, navy and air force gathered at the air force base on Car Nicobar island to dedicate a memorial to the dead and missing, PTI news agency reported. The air base on the island suffered major losses in the tsunami.
The dead included officers, their family members, including children and teachers at the base school. The base has now been made a no-family station.
Bereaved families and schoolchildren on several islands held early-morning vigils, meandering from village to village with a silent prayer on their lips. Nicobarese tribals lighted candles in their homes to remember the dead.
Shops and institutions remained closed for the first half of the day in a mark of respect.
In the Tamil Nadu capital of Chennai no boat went out to sea on Monday for fishing, NDTV reported. Fishermen stood silently along the shore, each carrying a black flag.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lankans marked two minutes of silence, lit oil lamps, held religious ceremonies and provided alms to invoke blessings on those killed by the devastating tsunami that claimed an estimated 40 000 lives in the country a year ago.
The main national ceremony to mark the first anniversary was held at the site where about 1 500 people perished when a train was hit in the tidal waves at Peraliya, 110km south of the capital.
Addressing the nation from the site, President Mahinda Rajapakse called on the country to unite to meet any challenges and expressed his gratitude to the foreign countries and individuals that stepped forward to assist Sri Lanka.
”The disaster may have given us this painful but important lesson, that the people in the country should unite and work together to rebuild the nation,” Rajapakse said.
The president launched a fresh programme known as ”Jayalanka” to expedite the reconstruction efforts and restore normalcy in the affected areas, including the north and eastern parts country where Tamil rebels hold effective control.
As part of the programme, children affected by the tsunami have been provided with a savings account that will have a monthly deposit of 1 500 rupees ($15) until they reach the age of 18. About 1 100 children who lost both parents will be entitled to funds under this scheme.
In the coastal areas devastated by the tsunami, some moving scenes were witnessed where family members who lost their kith and kin gathered around mass graves, demolished houses or beside the main roads and hugged each other while remembering the dead.
In temples, Christian churches, Hindu temples and Muslim mosques, special prayers were offered while alms were being given to the poor to invoke blessings of the dead.
At 9.32am all vehicular traffic was brought to a standstill and pedestrians stood at attention to mark two minutes of silence in remembrance of those killed.
Disaster strikes
One year ago, a magnitude-nine earthquake — the most powerful in 40 years — ruptured the sea floor off Sumatra island, displacing billions of tonnes of water and sending waves 10m high roaring across the Indian Ocean at jetliner speeds.
Their impact was staggering.
The tsunami swept away entire villages in Aceh and Sri Lanka, swamped five-star resorts in Thailand and surged into coastal communities from India to East Africa with unstoppable force.
”It was so brutal, so quick and so extensive that we are still struggling to fully comprehend it,” United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a videotaped message played at the ceremony in Aceh.
At least 216 000 people were killed or disappeared in the waves, The Associated Press found in an assessment of government and credible relief agency figures in each country hit. The UN estimates at least 223 000 died, though it says some countries are still updating their figures.
The true toll will probably never be known — many bodies were lost at sea and population data in many places was destroyed.
The calm seas that mourners faced on Monday belied the fury unleashed one year ago.
In Aceh, Yudhoyono visited one of the grimmest reminders of the disaster: a grave site where almost 47 000 bodies were hastily buried in pits in the days immediately after the tsunami to clear the streets of rotting corpses. He attended prayers and scattered petals.
Prayers for children who were washed away were performed at other mass graves and mosques, temples and churches.
”It is important for me to come here to pray for my family; may they rest in peace,” said Darmawati (39), who prayed at a mosque in Aceh’s Kajhu village for her husband, two daughters and both parents. ”I pray that God will give me strength to raise my only son who survived.”
Aid
The tsunami generated one of the most generous outpourings of foreign aid ever known. About $13-billion was pledged to relief and recovery efforts, the UN says, of which 75% has already been secured.
But the pace of reconstruction has been criticised, and frustration has grown among hundreds of thousands of refugees still living in tents, plywood barracks or with family and friends.
”I know many of you are still enduring great hardships,” former US president Bill Clinton, the UN special envoy for tsunami recovery, said in a message broadcast on Monday in Aceh. ”I want you to know that I won’t be satisfied until you have decent homes and job opportunities.”
The region has been struggling to implement a tsunami warning system like the one that already exists in the Pacific Ocean — with countries disagreeing over who should issue alerts.
Until a sophisticated network of seismic monitoring, satellite communications and underwater sensors is in place, some coastal communities are mapping out escape routes.
Sirens sounded in the Sumatran city of Padang on Monday as thousands of people took part in a tsunami drill.
”We knew it was just a drill,” said Candra Yohanes, a 55-year-old housewife. ”Still, when I heard the siren, my heart was pounding so hard. I hope what happened in Aceh is never repeated.” — Sapa-AP, Sapa-DPA, Sapa-AFP