Memorial services are being held today across Asia on the 10th anniversary of the deadly Indonesia tsunami.
"I cannot forget the smell of the air, the water at that time ... even after 10 years," Teuku Ahmad Salman said at a prayer service attended by thousands of people in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, reported USA Today.
The tsunami was triggered by a 9.1 magnitude earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Waves in the water were about 100-feet high, according to eyewitnesses of the disaster on Dec. 26, 2004. It's considered to be one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history, killing 230,000 people and displacing millions in 12 countries, reported USA Today.
"Here in this field 10 years ago... we tearfully saw thousands of corpses lying," Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said as he led a prayer ceremony in Banda Aceh Friday. "No words can describe our human feelings at that time - confused, shocked, sad, scared - in seeing the suffering of the people in Aceh.
"But we could not remain in sadness, Aceh had to rise again, and all Indonesians in this archipelago helped, people all over the world offered their assistance. In this moment, we also say thanks to the world, which has helped Aceh from the post-disaster condition 10 years ago."
Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province, in the north of Sumatra, was the area in Indonesia that was hit the hardest by the tsunami.
In the time following the 2004 disaster, the international community pledged more than $14 billion in aid, the largest emergency relief response in history according to USA Today.
