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

Associated Press

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — People are gathering in prayer and 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. A powerful 9.1 magnitude 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. More than 170,000 people died in Indonesia alone.