Indonesia and Thailand Mark Tsunami Anniversary

People in Indonesia and Thailand gathered on Thursday to mark the 15th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami¹.

The tsunami hit on December 26, 2004. It was caused by a massive 9.1 earthquake off Indonesia's Sumatra island. The huge ocean wave killed about 230,000 people in countries across the Indian Ocean. It was one of the worst natural disasters in modern history.

The hardest hit nation was Indonesia, where more than 170,000 people died.

Thousands of people gathered Thursday in Indonesia's Aceh province to remember the victims. The governor of the area, Nova Iriansyah, spoke² at a ceremony in the town of Sigli. He said no words could describe the feelings people experienced after seeing the widespread death and destruction that the tsunami caused.

He added: "And now, we can see how people in Aceh were able to overcome suffering and rise again, thanks to assistance from all Indonesians and from people all over the world."

Whole villages across Aceh were flattened³ by the powerful ocean wave. In the years since, the area has been largely rebuilt. About 25,600 buildings – including homes, businesses, government offices and schools – have been built in areas that were mostly destroyed in 2004.

Others in Aceh attended memorial ceremonies or religious services. Family members of the dead and religious and community leaders also presented flowers at mass graves in the capital, Banda Aceh.

In Thailand, more than 8,000 people died or went missing in the disaster, including foreign visitors. On Thursday, hundreds of people attended a tsunami memorial ceremony in the fishing village of Ban Nam Khem, in Phang Nga province. The village lost about half of its population when the tsunami hit.

Western visitors and community members attended the ceremony and viewed a collection of victims' photos. A Thai woman handed over an offering of food for Buddhist⁴ monks⁵ leading the event.

Suwannee Maliwan lost both parents and five other family members when the tsunami hit the area. "It still haunts me," she told Reuters news agency. "I can remember it all the time."

Suwannee added: "Sometimes I dream that a wave is coming. I'm still scared. Sometimes I want to move somewhere else, but it's not possible because I was born here, my mom and dad passed away here."

The tourism industry on the popular vacation island of Phuket was crushed by the disaster. But the industry was quickly built back up. It has even grown much larger than it was before.

Thai officials used the anniversary to call for more efforts aimed at preventing future disasters. The country's deputy interior minister, Nipon Bunyamanee, said the government "wants to lift safety standards... and build awareness⁶ across all sectors⁸ in preparing and protecting people against disasters."

He said December 26 had been declared national accident prevention day.

Words in This Story

tsunami - n. a very high, large wave in the ocean that is usually caused by an earthquake under the sea and that can cause great destruction when it reaches land

governor - n. a person who is the leader of the government of a state, province, etc.

province – n. one of the large areas some countries are divided into

view – v. look at

haunt – v. to happen repeatedly or stay around

tourism – n. the business of providing services for tourists

awareness – n. the mental state of knowing about something

sector⁷ – n. one part of a country's economy

1 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

4 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

5 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

7 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

8 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》