Indonesians mark 2 decades since the tragic tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands

Associated Press

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — Two decades after a catastrophic tsunami destroyed her village, Tria Asnani still cries when she recalls how she lost her mother while trying to escape the giant waves and her father to the sea. On Dec. 26, 2004, a powerful 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed around 230,000 people across a dozen countries, reaching as far as East Africa. Indonesia’s Aceh province, located closest to the earthquake’s epicenter, bore the brunt of the disaster, with more than half of the total death toll.