Haunting video captures the first waves of ocean tsunami that killed 220,000 people
It became the world's deadliest tsunami
Featured Image Credit: MoreISO/Getty Images/YouTube/@JulianHadden1
A haunting video has captured the first waves of an ocean tsunami that devastated the world by killing 220,000 people.
The clip shows a man relaxing on a beach in Thailand as the first waves begin to pick up.
In the video, the water can be seen eerily being dragged out to sea before crashing back onto the beach.
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What appears to be an innocuous video, it’s chilling to watch the first stages of what would become a deadly tsunami.
In the video, a man can be heard saying: “We were supposed to go caving this morning, had just about booked it. But then, look, waves.”
He gestures to the ocean and later in the clip, the waves start hitting sun loungers and even knock over a beach chair.
A boat can be seen rocking in the water as tourists start to clear the beach.
Julian Hadden is the man who posted the footage onto YouTube over a decade ago and thankfully confirmed that everyone in the clip survived the tsunami.
He said in the caption: “In response to the many questions - all of us featured in this video are still alive.
“We were on the landward side of the island of Koh Ngai, Thailand, so didn't get a direct hit - rather the wave as it washed around the island.”
It was on Boxing Day 2004 when the region would go down in history due to a devastating earthquake that erupted underneath the Indian Ocean.
The 9.1 magnitude quake took place just off of the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Within 20 minutes of the earthquake, waves of water began to hit the coasts of surrounding islands.
In Indonesia's Aceh province in Northern Sumatra, waves reached 167 feet and caused floods for three miles.
Following the tsunami, an astonishing 227,899 were killed or missing and presumed dead, including tourists and locals.
This made the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami the most deadly in history.
On top of this, more than 1.7 million people were left without homes, and the total damage of the disaster was estimated at roughly $13 billion.
But what ended up as the most deadly tsunami of all time unbelievably started with just a few small waves.
And even more shockingly, an unknowing tourist actually managed to capture these first few waves on video.
It's horrifying to know now that these initial small waves would lead to devastation.