Hundreds of Pilgrims Killed by Tsunami in India

New Delhi – The Christian community in India are still to come to terms with the tragedy that struck on Sunday, December 26, 2004, when an earthquake, that registered 9.0 on the Richter Scale and the most powerful in the last 40 years, triggered off giant tsunami waves that inundated the coastal regions of South India and claimed over 14,000 lives.

Tidal waves, as high as 30–50 feet lashed the eastern coast of India as well as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia early Sunday morning and till date, it is reported that over 150,000 people have died and thousands are still missing.

According to seismologists, the killer waves were triggered off by a powerful earthquake, in the Indian Ocean with its epicenter under the sea near Sumatra island in Indonesia.