Asia marks tsunami anniversary with prayers, silence

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Monday (Reuters,AFP) Mourners across the world gathered on Monday along ravaged Indian Ocean coastlines to remember more than 231,000 people who died in last year's tsunami.

A year on, a huge reconstruction operation has brought hope to hundreds of thousands living in temporary shelters, but the sorrow and pain from one of nature's most ferocious episodes remains strong and fears that monster waves could come again.

Indonesia

The day's solemn commemorations began in Indonesia, where President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono led a ceremony at the exact moment the massive waves first smashed ashore, killing some 168,000 people in devastated Aceh province.

"Let us now bow our heads in silence to pray for the souls of hundreds of thousands who lost their lives," he said on the outskirts of Banda Aceh near the Ulee Lheu mosque, the only building left standing in the obliterated area.

"May they rest in peace by God's sight," he said, sounding a wailing siren that forms part of an early warning system being set up to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.

Yudhoyono listed the numbers of dead and missing across the 12 countries where people died from the waves, unleashed by one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded, off the Indonesian island of Sumatra. "We stand here together today in remembrance of that suffering, paying respect once again to the good men and women and all the children lost to the sea," he told the gathered crowd of about 500, including representatives from dozens of foreign countries.

"We honour all the tsunami survivors for their strength and courage. You remind us that life is beautiful and worth struggling for."

Video messages from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and other world leaders were due to be shown while the president was to attend a mass prayer in the evening.

At Banda Aceh's Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, hundreds of white-clad Acehnese gathered and held an emotional mass prayer led by top preacher Muhammad Arifin Ilham, who wept as he spoke. The tsunami pulverised entire villages and made millions homeless, sparking an unprecedented global response as ordinary people were horrified by the scenes of utter devastation that flashed around the world for days afterwards.

The leader of the world's fourth most populous nation thanked the international community for its help, but said "there is still much more to be done".

Thailand

In southern Thailand, mourning families and tsunami survivors gathered on beaches to remember the nearly 5,400 people who died. Some 2,000 relatives of foreign victims were expected to join 5,000 Thais where waves up to 10 meters (33 feet) high tore through six provinces.

The memorials in Thailand began Monday morning with the laying of flowers at six beaches where the waves struck, as well as at the Memorial Wall outside the forensics centre and cemetery where hundreds of bodies were kept.

In Bang Nieng, hundreds lined up to sign books of remembrance in the shadow of a police patrol boat that was washed one kilometer (half a mile) inland by the devastating waves and now stands as a memorial to the catastrophe. Many of the messages were brief, with one reading, "We miss you every day", while another simply asked "Why?!"

"The tsunami has touched the lives of countless people here and abroad. On behalf of all Thai people and the Thai government, I wish to express our deepest condolences to everyone who has immeasurably suffered from the event," said Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak.

"One year has passed, we continue the rebuilding process. Much progress has been made but we have more to do still. Our work is not over. We must keep our momentum in this regard."

Elsewhere, other smaller ceremonies, many organised by foreigners, would take place in beaches where some 5,400 Thais and holidaymakers from abroad died when the tsunami struck at 10:10 am (0310 GMT) last December 26.

India

Meanwhile India Monday offered tearful tributes to the thousands killed in last year's tsunami with countrywide memorial services, silent marches and beachside ceremonies.

On the palm-fringed island of Car Nicobar, badly battered by the December 26, 2004 tragedy, India's military unveiled a memorial while thousands of civilian survivors, mostly Nicobarese tribespeople, left their homes early to remember those washed away within seconds when the giant waves struck.

Women thronged Nicobar's once-fabulous beaches to pray to their gods for the sea to remain calm as priests called on villagers to gather at the still-standing churches in rememberance of those who died.

India lost more than 16,000 people as villages were wiped out along its southern coast and on the Andaman and Nicobar island chain, and suffered material damage estimated by the United Nations at 2.5 billion dollars.

In Nagapattinam, India's worst hit district in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, where almost 6,000 people died, each village found its own way to remember the destruction. The entire district observed a minute's silence at 9:29am (0359 GMT), the moment the waves slammed into the shore. In some villages trees were planted for each of the dead, while in others lamps and candles were lit and religious sevices and beachside ceremonies were held.

The 6.5 meter (21 foot) memorial in Nicobar, some 1,400 kilometres (875 miles) from mainland India, carries the names of the 119 airforce fliers and their relatives who died when the towering waves overran the double-storied living quarters of the Indian Air Force base.

The thundering waters also destroyed the air traffic control tower and hangars while hundreds of civilians perished outside the perimeters of the military complex.

"This is the signal that it is time for us to gather strength and move ahead," said the base commander Captain Anup Kumar, adding that the unveiling of the memorial "will also signal that we are once again up and running." Public and private aid pledges totalled $13.6 billion, according to the United Nations, making it the most generously funded humanitarian effort in history.

A 9.15 magnitude undersea earthquake off Sumatra island, the strongest in four decades, triggered the tsunami, which smashed into shorelines as far away as East Africa.he series of tsunami waves, up to 10 metres (33 feet) high, swept holidaymakers off beaches, smashed hotels and destroyed towns and villages in Aceh, Sri Lanka, India and southern Thailand.