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. Many remain missing and nearly 400 bodies are unclaimed to this day.

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)

Some 1.7 million people were displaced, mostly in the four worst-affected countries: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

Survivors and families of victims visited mass graves, lit candles and comforted one another across Southeast and South Asia in ceremonies to mark the disaster that killed some 230,000 people.

Indonesia and Thailand are marking 20 years since a tsunami caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people in one of the worst natural disasters in modern history. People started gathering in prayer today and visiting mass graves in Aceh,

On Dec. 26, 2004, an earthquake-triggered tsunami raced across the Indian Ocean with 40-foot-high waves slamming into India, Thailand, Indonesia and several other countries, killing at least 225,000 people and leaving thousands injured.

Survivors and victims' relatives will next week mark the 20th anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 220,000

Thailand marks 20 years since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami A 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004, triggering a tsunami that killed around 230,