26th of December 2004, was an unforgettable day for all Sri Lankans as well as for the whole
world. On that fateful day, tidal waves struck the Eastern and Southern coasts of Sri Lanka as
well as parts of Northern and Western coasts sweeping people away, causing flooding and
destruction of infrastructure. The tidal waves were caused by a series of earthquakes,
measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale that occurred in the sea near Sumatra, Indonesia. The
other neighboring countries affected by this Tsunami were Indonesia, India, Maldives,
Somalia and Thailand. Since many Sri Lankans did not have any pervious experience of this
nature, the damage caused to their lives were unbelievable. Thousands of people were
displaced and disappeared or killed within a very short time.