People from the Indian Ocean region and elsewhere who lost friends and family in last year's huge earthquake and tsunami are joining survivors in memorials to mark Monday's one-year anniversary of the tragedy.
Visitors from as far away as Norway and Sweden attended memorial services in Thailand Sunday for those killed in the December 26 disaster. Many of the victims were Western tourists on vacation at several oceanfront resorts.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono joins tens of thousands of mourners today at mass graves in Banda Aceh, where nearly 170,000 people are known to have been killed.
A moment of silence will be held in Aceh and throughout the region to mark the exact time the tsunami's first waves struck.
Other ceremonies take place in hard-hit Sri Lanka and India, as well as other countries in the Indian Ocean region.
The tsunami, triggered by a massive earthquake off Sumatra island, killed an estimated 230,000 people and left about two million people homeless.