In Thailand, people gathered at a memorial ceremony in Ban Nam Khem, a small fishing village in Phang Nga province that bore the brunt of the devastating wave in the country. The tsunami claimed the lives of over 8,000 people in Thailand. Many remain missing and nearly 400 bodies are unclaimed to this day.

The Boxing Day tsunami interrupted a civil war, triggered the worst rail accident in history and shattered the lives of millions. Twenty years on, those who escaped certain death share their stories.

Thailand marks 20 years since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami A 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004, triggering a tsunami that killed around 230,