In the shade of trees planted near a mass grave, survivors and grieving families pray and remember those who died in the tsunami that devastated the Indian Ocean rim two decades ago.
Sitting in a circle, relatives of the victims gathered Thursday on the lawn of the mass grave of Siron, where 46,000 people were buried. This location, along with a large mosque and other mass graves, is among the places where thousands of Indonesians commemorated the December 26, 2004 tsunami.
That day, the tsunami, generated by a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, carried with it a wall of debris, including boats, cars and bodies.
Some, like Reza Fahlevi, a lecturer, have never heard from their loved ones. “We couldn’t find their bodies”he laments in tears when talking about the loss of his mother and his brother.
The man, now 35, was spared because he was living in a boarding school when the tsunami struck. He searched for his family for months, distributed flyers and pictures, and even took out an ad in a local newspaper.
“It took me a year. At one point, it was with a heavy heart that we had to accept reality” he confides, sitting next to his wife and young son at the mass grave of Siron.

A woman lays flowers at the site of a mass grave, on December 26, 2024, in Banda Aceh in Indonesia, where victims of the tsunami which ravaged the rim of the Indian Ocean are buried 20 years ago / YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP
“I came to pray for them, although I don’t know if they are really buried here”he adds.
“The will of God”
The massive earthquake generated a series of waves up to 30 meters high that hit the coasts of 14 countries around the Indian Ocean and reaching as far as Somalia.
In total, the tsunami caused 226,408 deaths according to EM-DAT, a recognized global disaster database.
The most affected area is the north of the island of Sumatra, where more than 120,000 people died out of a total of 165,708 deaths in Indonesia.
On Thursday, smaller mass graves in the province also held commemoration ceremonies, such as that of Ulee Lheue, where 14,000 people are buried.
Some mourners gathered with their faces in their hands. Others placed petals on the ground.
At the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, relatives of the victims gathered under tents to pray for the missing.
Some shared the widely held view in the province that the tsunami was caused by God to end a decades-long conflict between separatist rebels and the Indonesian government.
“I hope all my lost loved ones are on God’s side and I hope this disaster reminds us that we are helpless beings”says Hasnawati, a 54-year-old teacher who lost family members and friends.
In Siron, mourners laid flowers for the dead, and others broke down in tears when a preacher spoke about resilience and faith.
Maisarah, a 48-year-old housewife, was pregnant when the tsunami hit. She lost her four-year-old daughter, her husband, her parents and five brothers and sisters.
“The moment I accepted reality, my whole body hurt, I was sobbing”she says, before adding: “I couldn’t believe my whole family was gone”.
Although she was swept away by the waters, she did not lose her baby and gave birth to a daughter. She has since remarried and given birth to two sons.
“The moment the midwife told me I was still pregnant, I promised myself I would be strong”she assures.