BANDA ACEH, Dec 26 (agencies): Survivors of Asia's 2004 tsunami and relatives of its 226,000 victims cried and prayed as they gathered along Indian Ocean shorelines on Friday for memorials to mark the 10th anniversary of a disaster that still leaves an indelible mark on the region.
When a 9.15-magnitude quake opened a fault line deep beneath the ocean on Dec. 26 a decade ago, it triggered a wave as high as 17.4 meters (57 feet) which crashed ashore in more than a dozen countries, wiping some communities off the map in seconds.
Memorials were held in the worst-affected countries - India, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia - where monks, imams and priests held ceremonies to honor those who perished.
Hundreds gathered in Indonesia's Aceh province, many bursting into tears as poems and songs were heard and a montage was screened showing the devastation from a disaster that killed 126,741 people in Aceh alone.
"It seems there's no bigger lesson to Aceh than this. It is as if the souls of the dead are still with us," said provincial governor Zaini Abdullah, formerly a prominent figure in a long-running separatist conflict the tsunami helped end.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the memorial brought him to tears but he took solace in a peace deal that proved adversity could bring people together to reconcile differences.
Mass prayers were held late on Thursday at Banda Aceh's Grand Mosque, one of a few buildings that withstood the waves.
"Allah kept his house unscathed," said Azman Ismail, the Great Imam of the Masjid Baiturrahman mosque.
Relatives of victims also prayed at the graves of loved ones in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, where 677 Muslim families were relocated after the tsunami destroyed their village. Some 40,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka, but heavy rain in Hambantota forced the cancellation of memorial events there on Friday.
Mosques also held prayers across the province early Friday while people visited mass graves-the resting place of many of Indonesia's 170,000 tsunami dead.
In southern Thailand, where half of the 5,300 dead were foreign tourists, a smattering of holidaymakers gathered at a memorial park in the small fishing village of Ban Nam Khem, which was obliterated by the waves.
As the ceremony began, survivors recounted stories of horror and miraculous survival as the churning waters, laden with the debris of eviscerated bungalows, cars and boats, swept in without warning, killing half of the village's inhabitants.
Swiss national Raymond Moor said he noticed something was amiss when he saw a white line on the horizon rushing towards the beach where he and his wife were having breakfast.
