In 2004, a large earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggered the largest tsunami in recorded history. One of the countries hit by the tsunami was Sri Lanka, where the wave caused one of the worst train disasters in human history when it hit the Queen of the Sea passenger line, which was carrying 1,500 passengers along Sri Lanka's west coast. Watch Destruction Decoded on Wednesdays at 8pm on National Geographic UK. | National Geographic UK

🌊 The Deadliest Tsunami in Recorded History On December 26, 2004, the world witnessed the most deadly tsunami ever documented. A massive 9.1–9.3 magnitude undersea earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. It was so powerful it shifted the Earth’s axis and created a series of tsunami waves that spread across the Indian Ocean at the speed of a jet plane. Within hours, coastlines in 14 countries were hit — including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and the Maldives. The Impact

Imagine this — you’re standing on the deck of your overwater villa in the Maldives. The sun is glowing over turquoise water, soft music plays from the beach bar, and everything feels like perfection. You can smell the salt in the air, hear laughter echoing from nearby villas. Then… silence. The tide starts pulling back — first a few inches, then meters. Fish flip helplessly in the shallows. Someone shouts in Dhivehi. You look up, and the horizon is moving. A dark wall of water towers over paradi