Understanding of the Sumatran subduction zone and its hazards has increased since the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

Christmas in 2004, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake under the Indian Ocean triggered tsunami waves that killed some 230,000 people across a dozen countries.

One was about tsunami hazards of San Francisco Bay and the other a poster on a new method of tsunami hazard mapping. There were roughly 30 people in the oral session, pretty typical for tsunami meetings at the time,

The 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.

The earthquake and tsunami claimed the lives of over 200,000 people, the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century.

The boy once known as “Baby 81,” who was pulled from the mud as an infant after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and reunited with his parents following an emotional court battle, is now a 20-year-old dreaming of higher education.

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.

People started gathering in prayer today and visiting mass graves in Aceh, one of the worst-hit areas by the Boxing Day Indian Ocean tsunami which killed an estimated 230,000 people across a dozen countries.