The brunt of the tsunami was felt in the Indonesian province of Aceh, where 170,000 people perished. Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were devastated, too. More than a thousand miles apart, across the Indian Ocean, hundreds of coastal communities were united in their grief, and in facing years of rebuilding and regrouping.

Survivors and families of victims visited mass graves, lit candles and comforted one another across Southeast and South Asia in ceremonies to mark the disaster that killed some 230,000 people.