On December 26, 2004, the greatest natural disaster experienced in the world in over a century struck southern Asia. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake, with its epicenter some 1,000 miles southwest of the island of Java, generated a tsunami that traveled outward at almost supersonic speed in all directions. It created death, destruction, dislocation, and mayhem for literally millions of people in some ten nations that border the northeast regions of the Indian Ocean. Thousands of people, tourists on vacation lying on the pristine white sand beaches in the area, local fisherman and their families plying their trade, children playing in coastal areas, trains ferrying people to many locations, were swept away by a tidal surge that came with a ferocity that can only be imagined. Amateur videos of t…