Two decades after the devastating tsunami destroyed her village, Triya Asnani still cries when she remembers how she lost her mother while trying to escape the giant waves.
Asnani, now a school teacher, was 17 at the time. His father, a fisherman, never returned home from the sea. She doesn’t know how she survived. “I couldn’t swim. I could only rely on dhikr (Islamic prayer).”
On December 26, 2004, a powerful 9.1 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sumatra island in Indonesia triggered a tsunami that killed about 230,000 people in a dozen countries, reaching as far as East Africa.
But Indonesia’s Aceh province, which is closest to the epicenter and 18 of the 23 districts and cities along the coastline in northern Sumatra, bore the brunt of the disaster, with more than half the total death toll. More was told.
According to the Aceh Disaster Management Agency, the most affected areas were in Aceh Besar and Banda Aceh.
The Lampuuk village of Asnani is located in a fishing community in Aceh Besar, known for its white sandy beaches and turquoise waters. However, that day, it was one of the hardest hit, with waves more than 30 meters high altering the coastline in Aceh and causing land subsidence after the earthquake.
Buildings along the coast were razed to the ground except for the Rahmatullah Mosque, 500 meters from the coast and about a kilometer from Asnani’s house. The photo of the place of worship, which was largely preserved, later became iconic.
After the devastating event, thousands of people, including Asnani, had to relocate to make a fresh start. She moved with her uncle to another area of Aceh to continue her studies. After marriage, she returned to her parents’ home in 2007, which was rebuilt with Turkish government assistance, and lived there for 10 years.
Many international donors and organizations poured money into the affected areas to help rebuild them, leaving schools, hospitals and infrastructure destroyed and stronger than before the tsunami struck.
The Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Center at Syah Kuala University in Aceh recorded more than 1,400 ruined schools and about 150,000 students who had their education disrupted by the devastating waves in a report published in 2019.
Three “escape buildings” were also constructed in a relatively safe area to accommodate thousands of people in the event of an earthquake and tsunami.
Throughout the province, memories of the tsunami can be felt almost everywhere.
The Aceh Tsunami Museum in Banda Aceh houses photographs of its aftermath and vehicle debris, serving as a constant reminder of what was lost that day. Local authorities have also replaced a former floating diesel-powered power plant barge, which was washed ashore about 6 kilometers due to the tsunami. It has been converted into another memorial site.
Both places have become the most popular tourist destinations in the area.
But development never stops and 20 years after the tsunami the Aceh coast is full of residential accommodation, cafes and restaurants as well as tourism support facilities, while some areas have hills where people are currently mining sand and stone. .
Fazli, head of preparedness at the Aceh disaster management agency, said the government had initially decided there should be no activity up to 1 kilometer from the coast. Over time, many displaced fishermen returned to their original coastal homes because of their livelihoods and connections to the sea, despite finding accommodation elsewhere.
He also said the agency had “provided information to the Acehnese people” to prepare for a possible tsunami. “People already know what to do,” said Fazli, who, like other Indonesians, uses a single name.
Siti Ikramatoon, a sociologist in Banda Aceh, said that despite years of recovery and reconstruction, the people of Aceh should remain vigilant.
“If people have experienced (a tsunami), they may have a tendency to anticipate it. But those who haven’t had the experience, they don’t know what to do,” Ikramatoon said.
Various communities in Aceh celebrate the tsunami every year with the government and local authorities.
In Banda Aceh, art communities spread disaster awareness through dramatic or musical performances in early December, which may make it easier for people to follow and target all groups, including those born after the tsunami.
Muslina, 43, a civil servant, took her youngest son to the Aceh Tsunami Museum to see a show. She lost relatives and loved ones 20 years ago and wants to make sure she always remembers them.
“Earlier my son asked me if a tsunami could happen again when he grows up,” he said. “I told him I don’t know. Only God knows, but if there’s a strong earthquake and the sea level recedes, we run, run, run to find higher ground.”