Chennai is commemorating ten years since the day a wall of water came ashore at Marina Beach, killing over 130 people.
Memorial services are planned in Chennai, throughout Tamil Nadu, and around the Indian Ocean, including in Sri Lanka and the Maldives which were particularly hard hit.
Around 9:30am on 26th December 2004 waves of up to ten metres high smashed into Marina Beach in India’s fourth largest city. Some reports suggest that the waves were travelling at up to 100 kph. A Sydney Morning Herald report from the time, quoted a Brajita Poulose describing the scene as she strolled along the beach;
“”Behind me, suddenly, we saw a huge wave coming at us,’ Mrs Poulose said… Her husband, one son and four relatives were drowned, among at least 5697 dead in India”
The waves struck without warning, while fishermen were hauling their nets and locals played cricket on the expanse of sand. In various parts of Chennai the water surged kilometres inland from the coast, with the military called upon to rescue survivors.
The earthquake and resulting tsunami remains one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history, with a toll of dead and missing people of over 230,000 people. The earthquake was the third strongest ever recorded with a seismograph, and the longest in terms of duration. Wikipedia records Indonesia as the hardest hit country, followed by Sri Lanka, then India.
The road to recovery for Chennai and the state of Tamil Nadu has been a long and arduous one, and one which still continues today for many victims.