Beachside memorials and religious services have been held across Asia to mark the 10th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami that left more than a quarter of a million people dead in one of modern history’s worst natural disasters.

Ben Atreu Flegel, 25, a German survivor of the Asian tsunami who lost his grandparents in this very beach, walks towards the shore after releasing a white rose into the sea during a commemoration and religious ceremony for victims in Khao Lak, Thailand, yesterday. Photos: Wong Maye-E/AP Photo

The devastating December 26, 2004, tsunami struck a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean rim, eradicated entire coastal communities, decimated families and crashed over tourist-filled beaches, with survivors wading through a horror show of corpse-filled waters.

Survivors, politicians, diplomats and families of victims gathered in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and else-where. Moments of silence were held in several spots to mark the exact time the tsunami struck.

The disaster was triggered by a 9.1-magnitude earthquake, the region’s most powerful in 40 years, that tore open the seabed off Indonesia’s Sumatran coast, displacing billions of tons of water and sending waves roaring across the Indian Ocean at jetliner speeds as far away as East Africa.

I cannot forget how I lost my wife, my kids, my house

Indonesia’s Aceh province was hit first and hardest. The onrushing sea rose as high as 33 feet and surged inland for several kilometres with seemingly unstoppable force, carrying along trees, houses, train cars – and thousands of people – in a churning rush.

Roses decorate a tiled memorial wall displaying names of victims in Phang Nga, Ban Nam Khem province, Thailand.

Indonesia’s Vice-President Jusuf Kalla attended a ceremony in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province, in which sashes were distributed to the ambassadors of countries that assisted in the massive recovery effort 10 years ago.

More than 160,000 people died in Indon-esia, more than half of the total 230,000 people killed across the region.

In Thailand, more than 5,000 people were killed, about half of whom were tourists celebrating the day after Christmas on the country’s renowned white-sand beaches.

In Sri Lanka, the churning waters swept a passenger train from its tracks, killing nearly 2,000 people in a single blow. A symbolic recreation of the train journey was planned.

“I cannot forget the smell of the air, the water at that time, even after 10 years,” said Teuku Ahmad Salman, 51, who joined thousands in a prayer service in Banda Aceh.

Relatives of victims lay white roses on the beach in Khao Lak yesterday.

“I cannot forget how I lost my wife, my kids, my house,” he said sobbing, recounting that he refused to believe for years that they had died, but finally gave up looking.

More than 100 survivors of the tsunami along with bereaved relatives from Germany, Austria and Switzerland held a memorial service on a beach in Khao Lak, Thailand.

They walked into the waves and laid flowers in the warm Andaman Sea, while diplomats placed wreaths on the sand.

“I didn’t expect it would touch me so much after 10 years again because I’ve come back every now and then in recent years,” said German tsunami survivor Claudia Geist, who almost lost a leg.

“But this has been a completely different experience now, connecting with all the other people.”