On December 26, 2004, a tsunami struck dozens of countries around the Indian Ocean rim, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 228,000 people. Ten years on, countries around Asia commemorated the anniversary by holding prayer and memorial services for the near quarter million lives taken by the natural disaster.

The Associated Press filed a report from Sri Lanka and Thailand, two of the several countries hit by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. The Maldives, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Somalia also suffered severe damage when a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck the west coast of Indonesia, triggering the tsunami.

Via the AP:

As part of Friday's solemn commemorations, survivors, government officials, diplomats and families of victims gathered in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and elsewhere. Moments of silence were held in several spots to mark the exact time the tsunami struck, a moment that united the world in grief.

"I cannot forget the smell of the air, the water at that time ... even after 10 years," said Teuku Ahmad Salman, a 51-year-old resident who joined thousands of people in a prayer service in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

"I cannot forget how I lost hold of my wife, my kids, my house," he said sobbing, recounting that he refused to believe for years that they had died but finally gave up looking for them.

The Wall Street Journal has an interactive look at the tsunami's timeline on December 26 and how each country has fared since 2004. Agence France-Presse interviewed Wanigaratne Karunatilleke, the head guard on the Ocean Queen Express, a train in Sri Lanka that was crushed by a wave and pushed off its tracks, killing 1,000. Karunatilleke, who was one of the train's few survivors, told the AFP, "We had about 15 minutes to move the passengers to safety. I could have done it. We had the time, but not the knowledge."

From the Daily Mail:

The Ocean Queen Express, which was rebuilt after the tsunami, has become a symbol of the disaster in Sri Lanka and was at the centre of commemorations for the country's 31,000 victims on Friday.

Survivors and relatives of the dead boarded the train early Friday morning in Colombo and headed to Peraliya, the exact spot where it was ripped from the tracks, around 90 kilometres (56 miles) south of Colombo.

The New York Times has video from memorial services in Indonesia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka, and the Associated Press shared stories from journalists who were based in each country on the day of deadly disaster.

The earthquake has been recorded as one of the top ten worst in history, and the following tsunami was the single worst in history.

[Images via Getty]