2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

It has been twelve years since the tsunami which originated in the Indian Ocean brought its havoc on 14 countries including Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and others. On December 26, 2004 the world's deadliest tsunami killed over 230,000 people in 14 different countries, mostly in Indonesia.
The tsunami was a result of a megathrust 9.1 earthquake with the epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia.This was one of the highest rating the Richter Scale had ever shown in recent history. Waves of up to 15 meter hit the coastlines of Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and Sumatra.
Minutes after the earthquake the waves hit Andaman and Nicobar islands. In mainland India, Tamil Nadu and Andhra were worst affected. Chennai was one of the most major cities to be affected by the tsunami. The death toll in India alone is above 18,000.
Interestingly, the tsunami managed to travel 5,000 km to Africa with sufficient force to cause casualty and damage property.
The Indian Ocean tsunami is also known as Boxing Day tsunami since it occurred on December 26.