Some 1.7 million people were displaced, mostly in the four worst-affected countries: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

Tearful mourners prayed and lit candles on Thursday night at ceremonies across Asia to remember the 220,000 people killed two decades ago when a tsunami hit coastlines around the Indian Ocean in one of the world's worst disasters.

People visit areas of mass graves in Banda Aceh, offer prayers for victims of deadly disaster that struck 20 years ago - Anadolu Ajansı

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.

One of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami marks its 20th anniversary on Dec. 26

On Dec. 26, 2004, an earthquake-triggered tsunami raced across the Indian Ocean with 40-foot-high waves slamming into India, Thailand, Indonesia and several other countries, killing at least 225,000 people and leaving thousands injured.

Survivors and victims' relatives will next week mark the 20th anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 220,000 people across more than a dozen countries.At the time of the earthquake,