Before, after photos document recovery from deadly Indian Ocean Tsunami

Images show few signs of devastation caused by waves topping out at over 160 feet.
BenarNews staff
2024.12.19
Before, after photos document recovery from deadly Indian Ocean Tsunami Motorcyclists ride past debris and a fire in Meulaboh, Aceh province, Indonesia, in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Jan. 9, 2005.
Philippe Desmazes/AFP

Faced with the daunting task of reclaiming neighborhoods, beachfront properties and areas around mosques, repairs began quickly in sections of Indonesia and Thailand devastated by the deadly 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

A 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck in waters off Sumatra, generating a giant tsunami where waves topped over 160 feet (48.7 meters) in Indonesia’s Aceh province.  

After the waters finally calmed down, the death toll globally climbed to about 230,000, including about 167,000 in Aceh, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which estimated damage at U.S. $13 billion. Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia have established early warning systems, but activists say that disaster preparedness is lacking.

Within a few years, life returned to a semblance of normal because of efforts to reclaim and rebuild what was lost in the two countries hit hard by the wall of water. In many places, few signs of the destruction are visible in 2024.

Those efforts are captured in a series of before-and-after photos:

Then-now1.jpg
Top: Motorcyclists ride past debris and a fire in Meulaboh, Aceh province, Indonesia, in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Jan. 9, 2005. Below: The same street is seen on Nov. 17, 2024. [Philippe Desmazes, Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP]
Then-now2.jpg
Left: People salvage belongings amid rubble along a street in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, just days after the tsunami, Dec. 29, 2004. Right: The same street on Nov. 25, 2024. [Bay Ismoyo, Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP]
Then-now3.jpg
Top: The Indian Ocean Tsunami left vehicles stacked on top of each other on Patong Street in Phuket, Thailand, Dec. 28, 2004. Below: The same street on Nov. 18, 2024. [Manan Vatsyayana, Ali Ozluer/AFP]
Then-now4.jpg
Top: Construction equipment is used to remove debris from a street in Phuket, Thailand, following the tsunami, Dec. 28, 2004. Bottom: The street seen on Nov. 18, 2024. [Manan Vatsyayana, Romeo Gacad/AFP]
Then-now5.jpg
Left: People walk through debris created by the tsunami at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Dec. 28, 2004. Right: The mosque as seen on Nov. 27, 2024. [Bay Ismoyo, Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP]
Then-now6.jpg
Top: Damage from the Indian Ocean Tsunami is seen in the courtyard of the Orchid resort at Khao Lak, Thailand, on Dec. 29, 2004. Bottom: The same location on Dec. 24, 2009. [Saeed Khan, Christophe Archambault/AFP]
Then-now7.jpg
Left: Nearly everything around a mosque in Aceh province, Indonesia, was destroyed by the December 2004 tsunami, Jan. 15, 2005. Right: New houses surround it on Dec. 8, 2006. [AFP]
Then-now8.jpg
Top: Wreckage from the tsunami is seen in Meulaboh, a city in Aceh province, Indonesia, Dec. 31, 2004. Bottom: The same area is seen on Dec. 4, 2005. [Agus, Jewel Samad/AFP]
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