SUMMARY
December 26 marks 15 years since a 9.1 magnitude quake off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and nine other countries. When the quake opened a faultline deep beneath the Indian Ocean, it triggered a wave as high as 17.4 meters (57 feet), wiping some communities off the map in seconds.
1 / 11
A woman mourns the death of her relative who was killed in a tsunami on Sunday in Cuddalore. REUTERS/Arko Datta
2 / 11Tsunami survivors stand in a queue to receive relief provisions in Cuddalore near Chennai. REUTERS/Arko Datta
3 / 11A woman mourns the death of her relatives (covered in white sheets) at a burial ground in Cuddalore. REUTERS/Arko Datta
4 / 11Tsunami survivors rush for food in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu. REUTERS/Punit Paranjpe
5 / 11Indonesian soldiers remove a body from the village of Simpang Lima on the outskirts of Banda Aceh, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside
6 / 11A Thai health official sprays hundreds of decaying corpses with effective microorganisms (EM) at a temple in Ban Muan, north of the Thai resort island of Phuket following the deadly tsunami. REUTERS/Adrees Latif
7 / 11A woman wanders around the rubble in the commercial centre of the town of Galle, southern Sri Lanka, after it was flattened by the December 26 tsunami. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan
8 / 11An aerial view of Khao Lak, north of the Thai island of Phuket following the deadly tsunami. REUTERS/Luis Enrique Ascui
9 / 11A Sri Lankan woman walks past a destroyed electrical pylon in Hambantota, eastern Sri Lanka which collapsed after a tsunami hit the country's coast on December 26, 2004. REUTERS/Yves Herman
10 / 11Indonesians search for their belongings at their ruined house following the deadly tsunami. REUTERS/Enny Nuraheni
11 / 11An Indonesian woman carries her child as they head towards the provincial capital to seek food and shelter. REUTERS/Beawiharta
