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Just arsenic we pulled retired from the harbour, our vessel lurched and abruptly the jetty adjacent to wherever we had boarded collapsed into the sea
Boxing Day, 2004.
When the earthquake struck astatine 06:30 (01:00 GMT), I was connected a ferry, headed towards Havelock – an land successful the Indian archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar.
Known for its metallic soil and wide bluish waters, the Radhanagar formation determination had precocious been crowned "Asia's Best Beach" by Time magazine.
My champion person from assemblage and her household had lived successful Port Blair, the superior of the archipelago, for a decennary and a half, but this was my archetypal sojourn to the islands, wherever I had arrived connected Christmas Eve.
We had planned to walk 3 days successful Havelock and successful the greeting we packed snacks and sandwiches, gathered excited children and headed retired to drawback the ferry from Phoenix Bay jetty successful Port Blair.
Not wanting to miss retired connected anything, I was lasting connected the beforehand deck, looking around, erstwhile catastrophe struck.
Just arsenic we pulled retired from the harbour, the vessel lurched and abruptly the jetty adjacent to wherever we had boarded crumpled and fell into the sea. It was followed by the watchtower and an energy pole.
It was an bonzer sight. Dozens of radical lasting alongside maine watched open-mouthed.
Thankfully, the jetty was deserted astatine the clip truthful determination were nary casualties. A vessel was owed to permission from determination successful fractional an hr but the travellers were yet to arrive.
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An estimated 94% of the jetties successful the portion were damaged
A subordinate of the boat's unit told maine it was an earthquake. At the clip I didn't know, but the 9.1 magnitude quake was the third astir powerful ever recorded successful the satellite - and remains the biggest and astir destructive successful Asia.
Occurring disconnected the seashore of northwest Sumatra nether the Indian Ocean, it unleashed a devastating tsunami that killed an estimated 228,000 radical crossed much than a twelve countries and caused monolithic harm successful Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and Thailand.
The Andaman and Nicobar islands, located conscionable astir 100km northbound of the epicentre, suffered extended harm erstwhile a partition of water, arsenic precocious arsenic 15 metres (49 ft) successful places, deed onshore conscionable astir 15 minutes later.
The authoritative decease toll was enactment astatine 1,310 – but with much than 5,600 radical missing and presumed dead, it's believed that much than 7,000 islanders perished.
While connected the boat, however, we were oblivious to the standard of demolition astir us. Our mobile phones didn't enactment connected the h2o and we lone got snippets of accusation from the crew. We heard astir harm successful Sri Lanka, Bali, Thailand and Maldives – and the confederate Indian coastal municipality of Nagapattinam.
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The tsunami inundated a ample fig of homes successful low-lying areas
But determination was nary accusation astir Andaman and Nicobar - a postulation of hundreds of islands scattered astir successful the Bay of Bengal, located astir 1,500km (915 miles) eastbound of India's mainland.
Only 38 of them were inhabited. They were location to 400,000 people, including six hunter-gatherer groups who had lived isolated from the extracurricular satellite for thousands of years.
The lone mode to get to the islands was by ferries but, arsenic we aboriginal learnt, an estimated 94% of the jetties successful the portion were damaged.
That was besides the crushed why, connected 26 December 2004, we ne'er made it to Havelock. The jetty determination was damaged and nether water, we were told.
So the vessel turned astir and started connected its instrumentality journey. For a while, determination was speculation that we mightiness not get clearance to dock astatine Port Blair for information reasons and mightiness person to walk the nighttime astatine anchor.
This made the passengers – astir of them tourists looking guardant to prima and soil – anxious.
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In Port Blair, buildings had turned into rubble, tiny upturned boats sat successful the mediate of the streets and roads had immense gashes
After respective hours of bobbing on successful unsmooth seas, we returned to Port Blair. Because Phoenix Bay had been closed pursuing the morning's damage, we were taken to Chatham, different harbour successful Port Blair. The jetty wherever we were dropped had huge, gaping holes successful places.
The signs of devastation were each astir america arsenic we headed location – buildings had turned into rubble, tiny upturned boats sat successful the mediate of the streets and roads had large gashes successful them. Thousands of radical had been turned stateless erstwhile the tidal question flooded their homes successful low-lying areas.
I met a traumatised nine-year-old miss whose location was filled with h2o and she told maine she had astir drowned. A pistillate told maine she had mislaid her full life's possessions successful the blink of an eye.
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Thousands of radical were near stateless
Over the adjacent 3 weeks, I reported extensively connected the catastrophe and its effects connected the population.
It was the archetypal clip a tsunami had wreaked specified havoc successful the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the standard of the calamity was overwhelming.
Salt h2o contaminated galore sources of caller h2o and destroyed ample tracts of arable land. Getting captious supplies into the islands was pugnacious with jetties unserviceable.
The authorities mounted a immense alleviation and rescue effort. The army, navy and aerial unit were deployed, but it took days earlier they could get to each the islands.
Every day, navy and seashore defender ships brought boatloads of radical made stateless by the tsunami from different islands to Port Blair wherever schools and authorities buildings were turned into impermanent shelters.
They brought stories of devastation successful their location lands. Many told maine they had escaped with thing but the apparel connected their backs.
One pistillate from Car Nicobar told maine that erstwhile the earthquake struck, the crushed started to spew foamy h2o astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic the waves came successful from the sea.
She and hundreds of others from her colony had waited for rescuers without nutrient oregon h2o for 48 hours. She said it was a "miracle" that she and her 20-day-old babe had survived.
Port Blair was astir regular jolted by aftershocks, immoderate of them beardown capable to commencement rumours of caller tsunamis, making frightened radical tally to get to higher ground.
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The Indian aerial unit basal successful Car Nicobar was flattened by the tidal wave
A fewer days later, the Indian subject flew journalists to Car Nicobar, a level fertile land known for its enchanting beaches and besides location to a ample Indian aerial unit colony.
The slayer tsunami had wholly flattened the base. The h2o roseate by 12 metres present and arsenic astir radical slept, the crushed was pulled distant from nether their feet. A 100 radical died here. More than fractional were aerial unit officers and their families.
We visited Malacca and Kaakan villages connected the land which besides bore the brunt of nature's fury, forcing residents of instrumentality structure successful tents on the road. Among them were families torn isolated by the tidal wave.
A grief-stricken young mates told maine they had managed to prevention their five-month-old baby, but their different children, aged 7 and 12, were washed away.
Surrounded by coconut palms connected each sides, each location had turned into rubble. Among the idiosyncratic belongings strewn astir were clothes, textbooks, a child's footwear and a euphony keyboard.
The lone happening that stood - amazingly intact - was a bust of the begetter of the Indian nation, Mahatma Gandhi, astatine a postulation roundabout.
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Thousands of radical who went missing during the tsunami were ne'er found
A elder service serviceman told america his squad had recovered 7 bodies that time and we watched their wide cremation from a distance.
At the aerial unit base, we watched arsenic rescuers pulled a woman's assemblage from the debris.
An authoritative said that for each assemblage recovered successful Car Nicobar, respective had been swept distant by the waves without leaving a trace.
After each these years, I inactive sometimes deliberation astir the time I hopped connected the ferry to spell to Havelock.
I wonderment what would person happened if the tremors had travel a fewer minutes earlier.
And what would person happened if the partition of h2o had deed the enactment portion I waited connected the jetty to committee our ferry?
On Boxing Day, 2004, I had a adjacent call. Thousands who perished were not truthful lucky.
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