Today (26) marks 20 years since the tsunami that claimed over 35,000 lives.
There are no significant numbers of missing people reported and 516,150 people were left homeless by the disaster.
The earthquake that struck at 6.58 am on Sunday, December 26, 2004, caused severe damage to the countries of Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Maldives and Burma, as well as Somalia in Africa. More than 225,000 people lost their lives worldwide in a matter of seconds.
A train running from Colombo to Matara was also hit by the tsunami waves in Paralia. It is reported that nearly 1200 passengers on board died.