Recalling the 2004 tsunami that devastated Aceh

Washington, April 11 (IANS) The massive earthquake that shook Indonesia Wednesday brought back terrifying memories of the 2004 tsunami that swept through Aceh province.

A 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra in 2004. It triggered a tsunami that left over 200,000 people dead in 14 countries, said CNN. In India, too, several thousand people were killed.

Aceh bore the brunt of the deaths with an estimated 170,000 people killed.

The damage was estimated at nearly $10 billion while the casualties were more than any other tsunami in history, according to the United Nations.

Indonesia is on the Ring of Fire, an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Wednesday's earthquake comes a little over a year after a magnitude 9 temblor struck off the coast of Japan and caused a tsunami. Over 15,000 people were killed in the March 2011 disaster.