5th anniversary of deadly tsunami observed

Buddhist monks in saffron-coloured robes led prayer services in Thailand Saturday to mark the fifth anniversary of the tsunami that killed about 230,000 people in 14 Asian and African countries.

Tourists and Thais stood side by side on the island of Phuket to observe a moment of silence at 10:10 a.m. local time, the moment the first wave struck Patong Beach.

Ceremonies continued into the night, with candlelight vigils. Mourners released light-filled lanterns into the sky to remember the 8,324 people who were killed in Thailand.

Traffic across Sri Lanka came to a standstill Saturday as people around the country observed two minutes of silence for the 34,400 people who died there.

On Marine Beach in Chennai, India, peoplesprinkledflowers petals on top ofsand sculptures made by students to pay homage to tsunamivictims. India was among the countries hardest hit. Officials there reported that more than 14,600 people died in the disaster five years ago.

Indonesia's loss of about 167,000 accounted for more than half the total death toll.

In Indonesia's Aceh province, prayers were offered in mosques and besides mass graves.

On Saturday's anniversary, Indonesian villagers briefly panicked when another strong earthquake struck deep under the sea off the eastern coast, officials said.

Residents in Saumlaki, about 2,700 kilometres east of the capital Jakarta, said the magnitude 6.0 quake caused an electricity blackout, but there were no reports of damage or injuries.

The 2004 tsunami was sparked by a 9.2-magnitude underwater earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the mightiest earthquake in 40 years.

Over the next seven hours, a wall of water reaching six storeys in height rumbled across the Indian Ocean, wiping out entire coastal communities as far away as East Africa.