Know how it happened...

Sunday 26 December 2004: at 0100 GMT, an 8.9 magnitude earthquake occurs on the seafloor near Aceh in northern Indonesia. This earthquake generated a huge tsunami wave, hitting the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and even Somalia. The below image shows how the wave moved towards the surrounding coasts. Click on this link to see an animation. (650 KB)