Acehnese Remember 2004 Tsunami With Religious Chanting, Invocation

JAKARTA, Dec 27 (Bernama) -- Over 6,000 people gathered at the Lhok Nga Golf Course, Aceh Besar Regency, for "zikir" (religious chanting) and "doa" (invocation) in remembrance of the more than 160,000 residents who perished in the 2004 tsunami. The central-level remembrance event was also attended by representatives of non-governmental organisations from Japan, local media reported, Monday. Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf in his speech at the solemn event said the devastating tsunami seven years ago was a horrific incident that was difficult to forget. "The disaster did not only destroy the existing infrastructure then, but also the lives of so many people," he said. In this regard, Irwandi called on the people to double their efforts to rebuild Aceh's economy so that the Indonesian province would have a brighter future. He also reminded them to continue to be watchful for earthquakes and tsunami as Aceh was located in earthquake zone. Similar tsunami remembrance events were held at other venues in Aceh such as mosques followed by a visit to the graves of the victims. Public awareness and educational programmes were also organised by the Aceh administrative authorities like the one held at the Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Centre in the small district of Meuraxa, Aceh, on Saturday. The programme attended by over 1,000 school students, was to teach them to be always prepared for earthquakes and tsunami and how to react in such disasters. Besides more than 160,000 dead, hundreds of thousands of others lost their homes in the worst disaster that hit the province exactly seven years ago. Almost all the settlements along Aceh's coastal area were wiped out in the incident. The tsunami which was triggered by a massive Indian Ocean earthquake of 9.3 magnitude on the Richter Scale, with Aceh being the closest point of land to the epicentre, also affected 12 other countries, including Thailand and Sri Lanka. The 2004 tsunami killed a total of about 230,000 people. -- BERNAMA