One of the most powerful earthquakes this century hit Asia on Sunday, unleashing tsunami waves on coastal areas of Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and Thailand, and killing an estimated 11,300 people.
The tsunami waves were triggered by an 8.9 magnitude underwater earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, rearing up into walls of water as high as 30 feet as they hit shallow coastlines in south and south-east Asia.
"I heard an eerie sound that I have never heard before. It was a high pitched sound followed by a deafening roar," said a 55-year-old Indian fishermen who gave his name as Chellappa. "I told everyone to run for their life."
In Indonesia, raging waters dragged villagers out to sea, flung others inland and tore children from their parents' arms.
One official said more than 4,400 people had died there, while thousands more were missing. A senior army officer said corpses were still caught up in trees when rescue workers stopped for the night.
In Sri Lanka, where the death toll reached 3,500, corpses drifted in floodwaters, while thousands fled their homes and cars floated out to sea. Idyllic beaches were turned into fields of debris. Around 750,000 people were displaced.
"I think this is the worst-ever natural disaster in Sri Lanka," N.D. Hettiarachchi, director of the National Disaster Management Center, said.
In southern India, where at least 3,000 were estimated to have died, wailing relatives gathered around bodies. Beaches were littered with submerged cars and wrecked boats. Shanties on the coast were under water.
In the Thai holiday resort of Phuket, popular with tourists seeking some Christmas sunshine, beaches were devastated.
"I just couldn't believe what was happening before my eyes," Boree Carlsson said from a hotel near Phuket's Patong beach