On December 26, 2004, a historic earthquake shook the world. As many were celebrating the holiday season, a team of USGS scientists worked through the night, observing one of the largest and deadliest seismic events in modern history: the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake (Magnitude 9.1). This catastrophic event triggered tsunamis that claimed over 230,000 lives across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. But from tragedy came transformation. The aftermath led to groundbreaking changes in ho

In 2004, a large earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggered the largest tsunami in recorded history. One of the countries hit by the tsunami was Sri Lanka, where the wave caused one of the worst train disasters in human history when it hit the Queen of the Sea passenger line, which was carrying 1,500 passengers along Sri Lanka's west coast. Watch Destruction Decoded on Wednesdays at 8pm on National Geographic UK. | National Geographic UK