2004년 인도양 해일(추나미) 이후 10년 : Ten Years Since the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

On this day, ten years ago, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck beneath the Indian Ocean near Indonesia, generating a massive tsunami that claimed more than 230,000 lives in fourteen different countries, one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded. Today, many of the communities have recovered, though painful memories and some ruined structures remain in place. Across Asia today, memorials were held in remembrance of the thousands of victims. Amid the commemorations, continued warnings from earthquake experts that early-warning systems need even more development and funding in the region. Gathered here are images of the 2004 event, a series of then-and-now comparison images, and photos from today's memorials.

Seawater splashes in the air as the the first tsunami waves hit Ao Nang, Krabi Province, Thailand, on December 26, 2004. (David Rydevik)

Foreign tourists far out on the sand after the water receded react as the first of six tsunami waves started to roll towards Hat Rai Lay Beach, near Krabi in southern Thailand, on December 26, 2004. (AFP/AFP/Getty Images) 

People flee as a tsunami wave comes crashing ashore at Koh Raya, part of Thailand's territory in the Andaman islands, 23 kilometers from Phuket island, southern Thailand, on December 26, 2004. The photographer who took this picture escaped without injury, but retreated at the first wave and watched as a second wave tore apart the wooden buildings, with a third and largest wave coming forward and "ripping apart the cement buildings like they were made of balsa wood". (John Russell/AFP/Getty Images) 

Waves wash through houses at Maddampegama, about 60 kilometers (38 miles) south of Colombo, Sri Lanka, on December 26, 2004. Tsunami waves triggered by earthquakes crashed into villages along a wide stretch of Sri Lankan coast, killing more than 35,300 people and displacing millions. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this photo taken by a tourist Eric Skitzi from England, tourists watch as tsunami waves hit the shore from inside the Casuarina Beach Hotel resort in Penang, northwestern Malaysia around 1:00pm local time (0500GMT) on December 26, 2004. The resort hotel lifeguards noticed waves were huge and sounded warning to all tourists around the hotel beach area to run to the safety area. (AP Photo/Eric Skitzi)

Waves crash through houses at Maddampegama, Sri Lanka, on December 26, 2004. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

A natural color satellite image shows the coastline of the southwestern city of Kalutara, Sri Lanka on December 26, 2004 at 10:20 a.m. local time, slightly less than four hours after the 6:28 a.m. (local Sri Lanka time) earthquake and shortly after the moment of tsunami impact. (AP Photo/DigitalGlobe)

An aerial view of a destroyed and flooded village after waves hit following an earthquake near the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia, on December 28, 2004. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

A general view of the scene at Marina beach in Madras, India, on December 26, 2004, after tsunami waves hit the region. Waves devastated the southern Indian coastline killing an estimated 18,000 people. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

An aerial view of Marina beach after a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean hit the area in the southern Indian city of Madras on December 26, 2004. (Reuters/Babu)

This photo of Phuket, Thailand was taken moments after the Indian Ocean Tsunami ravaged Southern Asia on December 26, 2004. (AP Photo/Stephen Trupp/STAR MAX)

An Indian woman mourns the death of her relative who was killed in the tsunami in Cuddalore, some 180 km (112 mi) south of the southern Indian city of Madras, on December 28, 2004. (Reuters/Arko Datta)

(1 of 2) A file photo taken on January 5, 2005 of the devastated district of Banda Aceh in Aceh province located on Indonesia's Sumatra island in the aftermath of the massive December 26, 2004 tsunami. (Choo Youn-Kong/AFP/Getty Images) 

(2 of 2) The same location as above, photographed on December 1, 2014, showing new houses and rebuilt community. (Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP/Getty Images)

(1 of 2) A file photo taken on January 9, 2005 of the impassable main coastal road covered with debris in Aceh Besar district, in Aceh province on Indonesia's Sumatra island where surrounding houses and buildings were heavily damaged and coastal villages wiped out in the aftermath of the massive December 26, 2004 tsunami. (Choo Youn-Kong/AFP/Getty Images)

(2 of 2) The same location as above, photographed on November 29, 2014, showing the new highway. (Choo Youn-Kong,Bay Ismoyo/AFP/Getty Images) 

(1 of 2) Indonesian military personnel unload corpses from a truck on January 9, 2005 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Estimates of the death toll in Indonesia top 150,000. (Dimas Ardian/Getty Images)

(2 of 2) In the same location as above, a man walks near the mass grave prior to the ten year anniversary of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami on December 11, 2014 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. (Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

(1 of 2) A file photo taken with a telephoto lens on January 16, 2005 of a partly damaged mosque in the Lampuuk coastal district of Banda Aceh where surrounding houses were wiped out in the aftermath of the massive December 26, 2004 tsunami. (Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images)

(2 of 2) Tthe same location as above, photographed with a wide angle lens on December 1, 2014, showing the renovated mosque surrounded by new houses and rebuilt community. (Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP/Getty Images)

(1 of 2) An aerial shot taken from a US Navy Seahawk helicopter from carrier USS Abraham Lincoln shows devastation caused by the Indian Ocean tsunami to the west of Aceh on January 8, 2005 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. (Dimas Ardian/Getty Images) 

(2 of 2) A view of the same area of Lampuuk, prior to the ten year anniversary of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami on December 11, 2014 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. (Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

(1 of 2) Acehnese walk amid dead bodies and debris thrown around by a Tsunami that hit the Indonesian City of Banda Aceh on December 28, 2004 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. (Dimas Ardian/Getty Images) 

(2 of 2) At the same location as above, people drive along Panglima Polim street prior to the ten year anniversary of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami on December 10, 2014 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. (Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images) 

(1 of 2) All over Ton Sai Bay, the heart of Koh Phi Phi shops, restaurants and bungalows were totally wiped out following a Tsunami December 28, 2004 on Phi Phi Island, Thailand. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

(2 of 2) A decade later, the same location, showing a view of the beach prior to the ten year anniversary of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami on December 12, 2014 in Phi Phi Village, Ton Sai Bay, Thailand. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

The ruins the dome of a mosque that was hit by the tsunami, seen on December 14, 2014 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. (Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Acehnese women cry as they pray at mass grave to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Boxing Day tsunami on December 26, 2014 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. (Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Ruins of a bridge that was hit by the tsunami, seen on December 14, 2014 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. (Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Visitors take pictures of the glowing names of tsunami victims at Aceh Tsunami Museum in Banda Aceh on December 26, 2014. Survivors of Asia's 2004 tsunami and relatives of its victims cried and prayed as they gathered along Indian Ocean shorelines on Friday for memorials to mark the 10th anniversary of a disaster that still leaves an indelible mark on the region. (Reuters/Beawiharta)

Personal possessions of 2004 tsunami victims are arranged to be photographed outside a police station in Takua Pa, in Phang Nga province, on December 19, 2014. Thai police opened a shipping container filled with documents and possessions of victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami after being asked by Reuters for permission to film its contents. The three meter by 12 meter container was handed over to Thai police in 2011 and contains hundreds of plastic police evidence bags - each one holding the precious items found on the body of a victim. (Reuters/Damir Sagolj) 

People light candles as survivors, local residents and visitors gather for a ceremony for victims of 2004 tsunami in Ban Nam Khem, a southern fishing village destroyed by the wave, on December 26, 2014. In Thailand, where 5,395 people were killed, among them about 2,000 foreign tourists, commemoration ceremonies will be held in Ban Nam Khem. (Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha)

Hundreds of lanterns which symbolizes the spirits of victims of the Asian tsunami, are released into the sky during a commemoration service to mark the 10th anniversary of the day this natural disaster happened, on December 26, 2014 in Ban Nam Khem, Thailand. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E) 

Soe, the eight-year-old daughter of a fisherman from Myanmar, rests in a hammock outside her family home in Ban Nam Khem, Thailand, on December 13, 2014. Ban Nam Khem, a small fishing village on Thailand's Andaman Sea coast and home to a large migrant workers' community, lost nearly half of its population of 5,000 in the 2004 tsunami. (Reuters/Damir Sagolj)