Asia to mark tsunami anniversary with prayers, silence
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-12-26 11:15

Countries around the Indian Ocean hold ceremonies on Monday to remember the many thousands who died in last year's tsunami, one of the deadliest disasters in modern history.

A year on, a huge reconstruction operation has brought hope but the pain of losing loved ones is still raw, some survivors say.

The affected nations will mark the event with mass prayers, moments of silence and visits to the graves of the dead.

Alfiyati (C), an Acehnese woman who lost one of her children in the Indian Ocean tsunami, cries after praying at a memorial service for the tsunami victims in Landung, Banda Aceh, December 25, 2005. Construction spending in Aceh, devastated by last year's tsunami, will soon reach $2 billion a year, the United Nations Development Programme said. A 9.15 magnitude earthquake triggered the tsunami which left 170,000 people dead or missing in Aceh alone.[Reuters]

In one of the first ceremonies, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono joined in a moment of silence at the Baiturrahman mosque in a Banda Aceh coastal suburb flattened by the disaster.

The tsunami left nearly 170,000 dead or missing and half a million homeless in Aceh province, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, making it the worst-hit area in the region.

Total dead and missing throughout the countries affected, which also included Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, are estimated at more than 231,000.

Yudhoyono is also due to participate in a test of a warning system designed to limit casualties from future tsunamis, as well as join up to 10,000 people at evening prayers at the historic Baiturrahman mosque in Banda Aceh, capital of Aceh province.

In Thailand, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and a member of the royal family who lost her son will be among those speaking in the resort island Phuket, source of some of the most graphic footage of the waves.

A powerful undersea earthquake off Sumatra island triggered the tsunami, which raced across the Indian Ocean before smashing into shorelines as far away as Somalia in Africa. In Aceh, Sri Lanka, India and around Phuket in Thailand, the waves, up to 10 metres (33 feet) swept holidaymakers off beaches, smashed hotels and in some areas destroyed whole towns.

An Acehnese child sleeps as her father reads the Koran during a memorial service for last year's Indian Ocean tsunami victims in the district of Landung in Banda Aceh December 25, 2005. [Reuters]

In Banda Aceh, the tsunami, actually a series of waves, travelled several kilometres inland, sweeping up nearly everything in its path.

Simple Buddhist ceremonies had marked Christmas Day in Thailand's tsunami zone on Sunday as relatives of victims remembered their loved ones.

"I will have to die before I can forget," said 80-year-old Thai Sorjia Aiawsakul, who lost her son, daughter-in-law and niece in the December 26 tragedy.

In Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapakse will hold a memorial at a site near Galle where more than 1,000 passengers are thought to have died when the waves engulfed their train. Later, women survivors will form a candle-light chain along the coast.

India will unveil memorials in at least two of the sites struck by the disaster.

Reconstruction efforts are underway throughout the region. Government and multilateral agencies have pledged more than $7.3 billion in aid, while global private donations amount to more than $5.7 billion.

Even so, a year after the disaster many survivors remain in tents or temporary barracks, and infrastructure such as washed-away roads has only been partly rebuilt.