Sri Lanka will commemorate the 11th anniversary of the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami on the Boxing Day of 2004 which killed over 35,000 people.
This year’s commemoration of the tsunami, which struck 13 out of 14 coastal districts in the island, will be held at the district level, an official said.
There will be no national event this year, the Disaster Management Center Deputy Director Pradeep Kodippili said.
“Ceremonies to commemorate those who died will be held at district level which will include religious observances,” the official told local media.
However, awareness programs and drills will be held in 14 districts, he added. Awareness programs are held monthly including in schools, according to the official.
The DMC requested the public to observe two minute silence in memory of those who lost their lives in the catastrophe.
Deputy Director Kodippili requested the public to join in the mark of respect from 9:25 to 9:27 a.m.
Following the 2004 tsunami, Sri Lanka has set up a mechanism to record the effect of a tsunami within five minutes of its occurrence and the Disaster Management Ministry has established systematic procedures to evacuate the people to safety from danger areas within one hour.
According to statistics 35,322 people lost their lives in Sri Lanka and over 500,000 lost their homes when the island was struck by the tsunami that was resulted from the Indian Ocean earthquake in Indonesia on December 26, 2004.
The Official Government News Portal of Sri Lanka 2015