A two-minute silence will be observed across the country today (26), the National Safety Day, to remember all those who lost their lives in the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka, the Disaster Management Center said.
20 years after the tsunami
This year, arrangements have been made to observe the 'National Safety Day' islandwide at the district level, with the main event to be held in front of the Peraliya Tsunami Memorial in Galle.
Today (26) marks the 20th anniversary of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, one of the world's worst and most destructive natural disasters. It affected over 10 countries in the Indian Ocean.
Two minutes of silence
Therefore, a two-minute silence will be observed islandwide today from 9.25 am to 9.27 am in memory of all those who lost their lives in the 2004 tsunami and other natural disasters in Sri Lanka.
A powerful 9.1 magnitude undersea megathrust earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, on Sunday morning, December 26, 2004.
About 20 minutes after the shock, the Indonesian capital of Banda Aceh, which was closest to the epicenter, was devastated by 100-foot high waves, killing more than 100,000 people.
The storm surges later devastated the coastal areas of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, the Maldives, Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Sri Lanka was one of the worst-hit countries, with over 40,000 deaths and property damage worth millions of rupees.
Thousands lost their homes as the waves pushed debris several kilometres inland and collapsed buildings.
Since 2005, December 26 has been declared “National Safety Day” and is observed every year as a national event, with the participation of the political leadership, to commemorate all those who lost their lives.
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