Dec 24, Colombo: Sri Lanka will remember the thousands of people who lost their lives to the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami that hit the island six years ago with a nation-wide two minute silence from 9:25 a.m. to 9:27 a.m. on Sunday, December 26.
Sunday also marks the National Safety Day and this year events will be held at the Weerasingham Hall in Jaffna.
The Sri Lankan government has declared December 26 as the National Safety Day to promote a culture of preparedness among the communities for disasters and to commemorate the people who lost their lives due to all natural disasters.
The Cabinet of ministers has decided to hold this year's event in Jaffna and the Minister of Disaster Management, Mahinda Amaraweera has asked all citizens in the country to observe the two-minute silence as a mark of respect for those who died in the tsunami.
According to statistics 35,322 people lost their lives in Sri Lanka and over 500,000 lost their homes when the island was struck by the tsunami resulted from the Indian Ocean earthquake in Indonesia on December 26, 2004.
The government has taken the initiatives to set up an early warning network with 100 warning towers island wide.50 tsunami warning centers have already been set up throughout the coastal areas of the country which also includes setting up of fire units under local government authorities.
Colombopage
