Prayers and tears mark 20 years since the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed some 230,000 people

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People have started gathering in prayer and are visiting mass graves in Indonesia’s Aceh province to mark 20 years since the massive Indian Ocean tsunami, one of modern history’s worst natural disasters. (AP Video shot by Taufik Kelana)

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People started gathering in prayer on Thursday and visiting the mass graves in Indonesia’s Aceh province to mark 20 years since the massive Indian Ocean tsunami, one of modern history’s worst natural disasters. (AP video shot by Taufik Kelana / Produced by Andi Riccardi)

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Mourners gathered at a memorial ceremony in Ban Nam Khem on Thursday, a small fishing village in Phang Nga province in Thailand. (AP Video shot by Tian Macleod Ji)

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People gathered in India and Sri Lanka on Thursday to mark 20 years since the Indian Ocean tsunami struck , killing thousands of people. (AP video shot by Mahesh Kumar and Eranga Jayawardena)

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A woman weeps during a prayer marking 20 years of the massive Indian Ocean tsunami, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)

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A woman weeps as she prays at a mass grave at victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)

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A woman sprinkles water on a stone marking a mass grave of victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)

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A relative of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami offers flowers during its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

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Relatives of victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hold a candle light vigil as they participate on the 20th anniversary, at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

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A relative of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami participates in its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

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Tsunami survivor Kumudu Priyantha holds photographs of his three daughters and wife who died during 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami during its 20th anniversary in Peraliya, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

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A survivor rummages through the debris at the commercial area of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province in northwest Indonesia, Dec. 31, 2004.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

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Railway workers and locomotive drivers carry flowers to offer at a memorial built in memory of those who died during 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as they mark the 20th anniversary in Peraliya, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

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Destroyed houses are seen in this aerial view of the town of Meulaboh in Aceh province, Indonesia, which was flattened by tidal waves, on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2005. (AP Photo/Dudi Anung, File)

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A relative of victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami stands at Ban Nam Khem beach, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

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A relative of victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami participates in its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

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A relative of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami cries during its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

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A man prays at a mass grave of victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)

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Dayaratne Halambage shows a portrait of his daughter who died during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at a memorial of the 20th anniversary of the calamity in Peraliya, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

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An elephant which belongs to forest ministry removes debris Monday Jan. 10, 2005 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

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A relative of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami shows an expression during its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

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A man carries flowers to offer at a memorial built in memory of those who died during 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, on the 20th anniversary of the calamity in Peraliya, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

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Relatives of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hug each other during its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

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Relatives of a victim of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami pray during its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

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Women comfort each other as they visit a mass grave of victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami during the commemoration of the 20th year since the disaster, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)

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Relatives pray for their dead relatives in 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, standing by a mass grave during a memorial of the 20th anniversary of the calamity in Peraliya, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

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Relatives of tsunami victims offer floral tributes at a memorial built in memory of those who died during 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as they mark the 20th anniversary in Peraliya, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

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Indians offer tributes in remembrance of victims of the 2004 tsunami on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, at Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

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Indians offer tributes in remembrance of victims of the 2004 tsunami on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, at Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

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Relatives of victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hold a candle light vigil as they participate in the 20th anniversary, at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

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A relative of a victim of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami participates in its 20th anniversary at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

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A woman adjusts a candle during a candle light vigil on the 20th anniversary of the2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

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Relatives of victims and survivors of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hold a candle light vigil on the 20th anniversary, at Tsunami Memorial Park at Ban Nam Khem, Takuapa district of Phang Nga province, southern Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

By REZA SAIFULLAH and EDNA TARIGAN

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — People gathered in prayer and visited mass graves in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Thursday to mark 20 years since the massive Indian Ocean tsunami hit the region in one of modern history’s worst natural disasters.

Many wept as they placed flowers at a mass grave in Ulee Lheue village, where more than 14,000 unidentified tsunami victims are buried. It is one of several mass graves in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia’s northernmost province, which was one of the areas worst hit by a magnitude 9.1 earthquake and the massive tsunami it triggered.

“We miss them and we still don’t know where they are. All we know is that every year we visit the mass grave in Ulee Lhue and Siron,” said Muhamad Amirudin, who lost two of his children 20 years ago and has never found their bodies.

“This life is only temporary, so we do our best to be useful to others,” Amirudin, visiting the grave with his wife, said.

The powerful earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami that killed around 230,000 people across a dozen countries, reaching as far as East Africa. Some 1.7 million people were displaced, mostly in the four worst-affected countries: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

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More than 170,000 people died in Indonesia alone.

Even though 20 years have passed, survivors in Indonesia are still grieving the loved ones they lost to the giant wave that flattened buildings all the way to the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

Hundreds of people gathered to pray at the Baiturrahman Mosque in downtown Banda Aceh. Sirens sounded across the city for three minutes to mark the time of the earthquake.

Infrastructure in Aceh has been rebuilt and is now more resilient than before the tsunami struck. Early warning systems have been installed in coastal areas to alert residents of incoming tsunamis, providing crucial time to seek safety.

The rebuilding efforts were made possible by the support of international donors and organizations, which contributed significant funds to help the region recover. Schools, hospitals, and essential infrastructure destroyed by the disaster have been reconstructed.

In Thailand, people gathered at a memorial ceremony in Ban Nam Khem, a small fishing village in Phang Nga province that bore the brunt of the devastating wave in the country.

The tsunami claimed the lives of over 8,000 people in Thailand, including many who remain missing, leaving a deep scar in the nation’s history. Nearly 400 bodies remain unclaimed.

Mourners shed tears and comforted each other as they laid flowers at the village’s tsunami memorial. Around 300 people joined a modest ceremony with Muslim, Christian and Buddhist prayers.

Urai Sirisuk said she avoids the seaside memorial park the rest of the year because the loss of her 4-year-old daughter still cuts deep every time she’s reminded of it.

“I have this feeling that the sea has taken my child. I’m very angry with it. I can’t even put my foot in the water,” she said.

But, she said, “I still hear her voice in my ears, that she’s calling for me. I can’t abandon her. So I have to be here, for my child.”

In India, hundreds gathered at Marina beach in the southern city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state. They poured milk into the sea to propitiate gods and offered flowers and prayers for the dead as drums beat in the background.

According to official data, 10,749 people were killed in India, including nearly 7,000 people in Tamil Nadu alone.

“It has been 20 years since the tsunami,” said 69-year-old Sadayammal, who uses one name. “We are here to pay respects to the people who lost their lives.”

In Sri Lanka, survivors and relatives of tsunami victims gathered at the coastal village of Pereliya and laid flowers at a memorial that commemorates nearly 2,000 passengers who died when their train, the Queen of the Sea, was hit by the wave. Only a few dozen people are believed to have survived.

Anura Ranjith joined the mourners to pay respects to his younger sister, Anula Ranjani, and her 9-year-old daughter who were passengers on the train. Ranjith never heard from them after that day.

“I looked for them everywhere for years and still, no information about them. Their loss is a great sorrow and pain for me. I am still grieving,” he said.

Overall, more than 35,000 people died in Sri Lanka in the tsunami. People across the country observed two minutes of silence on Thursday in memory of those who lost their lives.

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Tarigan reported from Jakarta, Indonesia. Associated Press journalists Tian Macleod Ji in Phang Nga, Thailand, Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok, Aijaz Hussain in New Delhi, Bharatha Mallawarachi in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Eranga Jayawardena in Pereliya, Sri Lanka, contributed to this report.