A two minutes silence will be observed island-wide today (26 December) on National Safety Day from 9.25 a.m.
to 9.27 a.m.
in memory of all who lost their lives in the 2004 tsunami and other natural catastrophes in Sri Lanka, the Disaster Management Center (DMC) said.This year, plans have been made to observe National Safety Day at the district level across the island, with the centerpiece arranged to take place in front of the Peraliya Tsunami Memorial Statue in Galle.Today (Dec.
26) marks the 20th anniversary of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, among the worlds deadliest and most devastating natural catastrophes, which impacted over 10 countries in the Indian Ocean.Thus, a 2 minutes silence will be observed island-wide today from 9.25 a.m.
to 9.27 a.m.
in memory of all who lost their lives in the 2004 tsunami and other natural disasters in Sri Lanka, based on the DMC.A powerful undersea megathrust earthquake, which signed up a magnitude of 9.1, struck off the coast of Sumatra Island, Indonesia on a Sunday early morning, 26th of December 2004.
About 20 minutes after the shock, Indonesias capital Banda Aceh, which was closest to the epicentre of the earthquake, was ravaged by enormous 100-foot waves, declaring the lives of more than 100,000.
A series of turbulent waves then ravaged the coasts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Maldives, Myanmar and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.In all, deaths from the catastrophe mounted over 230,000 in a matter of hours.Sri Lanka was among the hardest-hit countries with over 40,000 fatalities and property damage worth several million rupees.
Thousands were left homeless as waves pushed debris a number of kilometres inland, pounding buildings into rubble.Since 2005, the 26th of December has actually been declared as National Safety Day and on that day celebration events are held as a continuous nationwide occasion each year, with the involvement of the political management in remembrance of all those who lost their lives in the country due to the different natural catastrophes consisting of the tsunami disaster.