Banda Aceh then and now

The world is marking 10 years since the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami killed 220,000 people in one of modern history’s worst natural disasters.

The tsunami, triggered by a 9.1-magnitude earthquake, struck a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean rim, eradicated entire coastal communities, decimated families and crashed over beaches teeming with tourists the morning after Christmas.

Survivors began the grim task of picking up the pieces and 10 years on, many are still traumatised.

As part of Friday’s solemn commemorations, survivors, government officials, diplomats and families of victims gathered in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and elsewhere to remember the dead.

Al Jazeera brings you then-and-now photos from Banda Aceh, which was hardest hit by the tsunami, losing at least 170,000 people.