It's been 10 years since a massive tsunami struck 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean.
Tidal waves wash through houses at Maddampegama, about 38 miles south of Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Dec. 26, 2004.
More than 230,000 people were killed in the disaster.
Thais walk outside a Buddhist temple, near Takuapa, Thailand, where more than 1,000 bodies had been gathered on Dec. 30, 2004.
Entire villages were washed away.
Senior Chief Petty Officer James Cash from San Diego, California, surveys damage to Banda Aceh town from the tsunami wave from a United States Naval helicopter flying over the Indonesian province of Aceh on Jan. 4, 2005.
The waves caused about $10 billion in damage.
An elephant which belongs to forest ministry removes debris in Banda Aceh, Indonesia on Jan. 10, 2005.
Commemorations have now begun to mark the anniversary of the disaster.
An Acehnese woman weeps during a prayer for the victims of Indian Ocean tsunami ahead of its 10th anniversary at Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia, on Dec. 25, 2014.
Thousands gathered at this mosque in Indonesia's Banda Aceh, which was one of the few buildings left standing in the city.
An Acehnese woman cries as she attends a mass prayer for the 2004 tsunami victims at Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh, December 25, 2014.
Around 130,000 of those killed in the disaster were from the Aceh province.
An Acehnese woman cries as she attends a mass prayer for the 2004 tsunami victims at Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh, December 25, 2014.
A woman prays at a mass grave of tsunami victims during the 10th years of tsunami commemoration in Siron, Aceh Besar, Indonesia, Friday.
Elsewhere in Aceh, Buddhists gathered to pray for the dead.
Indonesian Buddhists pray for the victims of Indian Ocean tsunami one day ahead of its 10th anniversary at a mass grave in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014.
Incense sticks were lit in honor of the victims.
An Indonesian Buddhist woman light incense sticks during a prayer for the victims of Indian Ocean tsunami one day ahead of its 10th anniversary at a mass grave in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014.
In India, children prayed at an orphanage in Nagapattinam, were more than 6,000 people were killed.
Children adopted by the orphanage "Nambikkai - hands of hope" participate in a morning prayers session at the orphanage on December 25, 2014 in Nagapattinam, India.
Indian women offer prayers at the Bay of Bengal.
One of the beachside memorials and religious services helf across Asia on Friday to mark the 10th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami.
In Sri Lanka, religious rituals were held to commemorate the 35,000 people that died in that country.
A Sri Lankan tsunami survivor holding an oil lamp attends a religious ritual, Pirith, at Paduma Gabbarama temple on December 24, 2014 in Peraliya, Sri Lanka.
Commemorations were also held in Thailand, where more than 5,000 people died, including about 2,000 foreign tourists.
A woman offers prayers on a tiled memorial wall displaying names of victims from the Asian tsunami, Dec. 26, 2014 in Ban Nam Khem, Thailand.
People gathered at a memorial in the southern fishing village of Ban Nam Khem, which was destroyed by the wave. More events are scheduled across the region.
A man climbs a wave-shaped memorial to place flowers next to a plaque with the name of his wife, who was killed in the 2004 tsunami, in Ban Nam Khem, Dec. 26, 2014.
Survivors, local residents, and visitors release paper lanterns during the ceremony for victims of the 2004 tsunami in Ban Nam Khem.