People visit the Tsunami Museum in Aceh province, Indonesia, on December 12, 2024. Xinhua/VNA Photo

JAKARTA — A photo exhibition opened at the Tsunami Museum in Indonesia’s Aceh province on December 24, marking 20 years of the deadly Aceh tsunami disaster.

The exhibition captures the devastation of the earthquake and tsunami disasters, as well as the resilience and determination of the people of Aceh to rise above adversity.

The first part comprises 93 photos documenting the harrowing and heartbreaking moments when the earthquake and tsunami struck, while 50 photos of the second part depict the struggles and resilience of local people as they rebuilt their lives, with each telling an emotional story, reflecting the unyielding spirit and determination of the local community.

The Chairman of Pewarta Photos of Indonesia (PFI) Aceh, Muhammad Anshar, who is also the author of 30 photos capturing moments immediately after the tsunami, took these photos while searching for his wife and one-month-old daughter, who had gone missing.

He shared that this pain is something he will never forget, not just for the past 20 years, but forever, and it also gave him the strength to keep going, and become a photojournalist.

The photo exhibition will remain open to visitors to the end of December 27.

On December 26, 2004, a powerful 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami that killed around 230,000 people across a dozen countries, including about 126,000 in Aceh. — VNA/VNS