Survivors Recall the Moments of the 2004 Tsunami: Fish Scattered, Beautiful but Dark Waves

The translated text while preserving html tags is: "The Story of the First Sight of the 2004 Tsunami Waves"

Survivors Recall the Moments of the 2004 Tsunami: Fish Scattered, Beautiful but Dark Waves

Dream - The tsunami tragedy that occurred on December 26, 2004 is still fresh in the memory of the Indonesian people, especially the people of Aceh. However, the disaster also affected areas outside of Indonesia. One of them is Penang in Malaysia.

Recently, one of the survivors, Amira Noordin, went viral after she recalled the tragedy on social media.

Before the tsunami struck, Amira said that she noticed some strange changes in the sea water. However, this 26-year-old woman had no idea that it was a disaster that could take lives.

Amira claimed to be a fisherman's child. She was seven years old when the 2004 tsunami occurred. Amira's house is located in Bagan Jermal Village near Gurney Drive. The house was built on the beach.

"When the tide rises and the waves come, indeed the water enters under the house. We are already accustomed to such situations. "During the day before the tsunami occurred, the sea water suddenly receded, fish scattered. But we never thought about the disaster," he said."

"In those times, Amira and her village residents didn't even know what a tsunami meant. What they knew was that when the waves came, they saw smooth lines of waves from a distance. It looked beautiful, but it was black in color."

"When the Majestic Waves Come, Stuck in the Ditch"

"When the waves got closer, their sound became louder. At that moment, we realized that it was not an ordinary wave. So we kept running. My mother carried my five-year-old sibling. My cousin carried me. As we were running, we fell into a ditch. But we survived because we held onto the ditch barrier," she said."

Add Amira, her grandmother called Maktok, suffered a heart attack when the tsunami struck. However, Amira is grateful that all of her family members survived the deadly disaster.

Drinking Sea Water while Trapped in a Ditch

"When we were inside the ditch, we swallowed the rushing seawater. We couldn't see the ditch because it was covered by the tsunami waves," Amira recounted. "At that moment, Maktok clutched onto the neighbor's wooden beam until he had a heart attack." Luckily, there was a neighbor who came to rescue Amira and her family. Currently, Maktok is over 70 years old. After 19 years have passed, Amira and her family still often remember the tsunami incident. They feel sad when they reminisce about it again."

According to Amira, she and her family still live in the same house after the tsunami happened. They only moved when the area became a development project in 2013.

"After the incident, we felt traumatized. Even the sound of waves alone scares us. We often have trouble sleeping. However, we have to adapt to this fear because there is no other choice. 'If an earthquake occurs, we are prepared to cry, afraid that the tsunami will come again like before,' he said."

Around 230,000 people died in the 2004 tsunami, making it one of the deadliest disasters in modern history. In addition to Aceh and its surrounding regions in Indonesia, the tsunami also affected several areas in Malaysia such as Langkawi, Penang, Kedah, Perak, and Selangor.

Giant Baby

Viral! Photos of Premature Babies with Large Chest and Arms, Dubbed 'Baby Hulk'

Viral photos of giant-sized babies weighing over 90 kg with enlarged arms and chest. Dubbed 'Baby Hulk'