Tsunami
The Tragedy in Pictures
Warning: There are pictures in
this section that may be distressing to those with delicate
sensibilities. You
look at these
pictures at your own risk!
Table of
Contents The Nicobar islands by Denis Giles Car Nicobar island Nancowry island (Champin
village) Trinket island Other and unknown
locations Sumatra: closest to the epicenter See also separate chapter Tsunami:
maps, charts and statistics
Camorta island
The following sequence of six pictures was taken by a couple, Mr and Mrs John and Jackie Knill of North Vancouver, Canada, who were on a beach at Khao Lak resort in Thailand just before 10:11 a.m. on 26th December 2004. They saw the tsunami coming and took a series of pictures that are among the most impressive photographs to come out of the disaster.
Their camera was found later, washed up on a beach among other debris. Its chip still contained the couple's last pictures.
Mr and Mrs Knill died seconds after their last picture. Their bodies were found and identified.
May they and the countless other victims of the disaster rest in peace.
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Photograph 1 shows the "false ebb" (receding waters) before the arrival of the tsunami which is just visible on the horizon
Photograph 2
Photograph 3
Photograph 4
Photograph 5 (note the lone human figure on the beach and the boats for comparison of size)
Photograph 6
(Photographs by Denis Giles)
Camorta Island
(Nicobars) 30 Dec 2004 30 Dec 2004, Camorta jetty 30 Dec 2004, Camorta jetty 30 Dec 2004, Camorta jetty 30 Dec 2004, Rani Isge's grave
Car Nicobar Island
31 Dec 2004
31 Dec 2004, Mus village, jetty 31 Dec 2004, Mus village, jetty
Nancowry island (Champin
village)
30 Dec 2004 30 Dec 2004 30 Dec 2004 30 Dec 2004 30 Dec 2004 30 Dec 2004 30 Dec 2004 30 Dec 2004 30 Dec 2004
Trinket Island
30 Dec 2004
Other and unknown locations
Nicobari survivors on their boat 26 Dec 2004, on a flooded island
31 Dec 2004, survivors on a rescue vessel 31 Dec 2004, survivors in a "daisy chain" of small boats
being towed to safety
31Dec 2004, children praying on board a rescue vessel 31 Dec 2004, survivors on a rescue vessel
26 Dec 2004, flooding in Marirk "It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good" - small
businessmen use the opportunity after the disaster
Damage in unidentified Nicobarese places. Bottom right shows a doomed coconut grove, standing in salty water.
(Photographs by Aroon Thaewchatturat,, passed to the Andaman Association by Tom Vater)
The new Moken boat
The Moken reclaim Ko Surin
Building a new Moken village
Temporary tent accomodation on Ko Surin
Sumatra: closest to the epicenter
(Photographs Digital Globe/Sipa Press, Inoong/AFP, Bazuki Mohammad/Reuters)
The city of Banda Aceh (population around 100,000). The city was visited by Marco Polo in 1292 abd by Ibn Battutah 1345/46. Apart from the ancient mosque, only ground-level rectangles show where houses have stood only days before the picture was taken.
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Banda Aceh before 26th December 2004 |
Banda Aceh after 26th December 2004 |
(Photographs Bangkok Post, Gamma/Studio X)
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Left and below: nobody was spared: |
An after-wave of the tsunami hits the beach of Patong on Phuket island in Thailand after the main wave. The main waves there reached 5.5 m.
The tsunami was "only" a little less than 4 m in height when it reached the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka. Yet it still had enough power to throw a train off the rails and kill more than 1000 of its passengers. The twisted rails shown above were found not far from the derailed train (photos: Jimin Lai / AFP, above; Shahidul Alam / DRIK, below).
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Last change 21 August 2005
