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 disaste

They gathered around mass graves, held vigils, rode a train, and listened to sirens to remember those they lost. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The brunt of the tsunami was felt in the Indonesian province of Aceh, where 170,000 people perished. Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were devastated, too. More than a thousand miles apart, across the Indian Ocean, hundreds of coastal communities were united in their grief, and in facing years of rebuilding and regrouping.

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 people across more than a dozen countries.At the time of the earthquake,

People gathered in prayer and visited mass graves in Indonesia's Aceh province to commemorate 20 years since the Indian Ocean tsunami.

On Dec. 26, 2004, a massive earthquake off Indonesia generated a series of massive waves that killed 226,408 people

Emotional ceremonies were expected across Asia on Thursday to remember the 220,000 people who died two decades ago when a tsunami devastated coastal areas around the Indian Ocean, in one of the worst natural disasters in human history.