From The Guardian UK
By James Sturcke

Ceremonies are being held today to mark the first anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami which killed at least 216,000 people in one of the world’s most deadly natural disasters.

Beside calm seas in Indonesia’s Aceh province, where around 127,000 people died, the president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, sounded a tsunami warning siren at 8.16am (0116 GMT) – the moment the first wave struck – to start a minute’s silence.

“It was under the same blue sky, exactly one year ago that mother earth unleashed her most destructive power upon us,” he said. “The assault began with a massive earthquake but … that was only a prelude to the horrific catastrophe to come.”

Similar silences were observed in other countries hit by the giant waves. Bells rang at mosques, churches and temples in Thailand and Sri Lanka. In India mourners marched to a mass grave to pay homage to unidentified victims.

In Thailand, where all but 20 of the 149 British citizens thought to have died in the disaster perished, ceremonies were being held at six coastal venues. A total of 137 Britons were attending memorial events in the country, including Tilly Smith, 11, from Surrey, who saved people on a beach in Phuket when she remembered the warning signs for a tsunami from a school geography lesson.

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