THERE are few occasions in a lifetime when time appears to stand still – but December 26, 2004, was one of them.

Here in Britain we awoke to the horrifying news that a 9.1 magnitude earthquake had struck 100 miles off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, triggering a devastating tsunami that struck the coastlines around the Indian Ocean, killing more than 230,000 people.

The giant wave reached speeds of up to 500mph and heights of up to 30 metres and left a catastrophic trail of destruction and tragedy in its wake.

When the wave struck, many received no warning other than the sight of the wall of water rushing towards them.

As the tenth anniversary of one of the worst natural disasters in history approaches, what have we learned from that fateful day?

Can anything be done to prevent a similar event occurring in the future?

Dr Simon Boxall, an academic for the University of Southampton’s School of Ocean and Earth Science, was one of the first people in Britain to hear what had happened, taking a phone call at just after midnight on Boxing Day.

“The Indian Ocean tsunami was one of the worst natural disasters in our lifetime,” he says.

“It was catastrophic and showed just how powerful nature can be.

Before that day it had been over 100 years since the last major tsunami in the Indian Ocean, and although we are getting better at predicting earthquakes – you can’t stop them, and it is very difficult to predict whether a tsunami will occur after an earthquake, or more importantly the size of a tsunami that may occur. Take the Indian Ocean tsunami; The timescale between the earthquake and the first wave reaching the shore was only 20 minutes, and if it took five to ten minutes for the system to pick up an earthquake had occurred, then that leaves hardly any time to communicate that information effectively.”

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In the ten years since the tsunami hit, the International Oceanographic C o m m i s s i o n and the United Nations have overseen the installation of early warning systems, including a series of network listening stations which monitor the pressure on the sea bed and in the open ocean, and the network of notification has improved.

But not every earthquake produces large tsunamis; on March 28, 2005, an 8.7 magnitude earthquake hit roughly the same area of the Indian Ocean, without anything like the same results.

Dr Boxall believes that knowledge is the most effective form of warning against tsunamis – the world has come from almost zero awareness of what a tsunami is to people all over the world knowing what to look out for, especially the people living on the edge of the Indian Ocean.

“Education is inexpensive and will probably save more lives than any system that science can put in place,” he explains.

“A poster on the beach explaining the signs of a tsunami is a cheap and effective warning system.

“But, of course, the monitoring system will stop any false warnings, which could lead to the devastation of tourism in that area.”

The Pacific Ocean has tsunamis all the time, and as such has a high density of warning systems in place.

Both the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean now have a number of systems, but the risk of tsunamis is rare.

“Vesuvius was probably the most recent major tsunami in the Mediterranean,” says Dr Boxall. “Most of the time we can deal with tsunamis, as they are only half a metre high when they hit the coast.

“In fact not many people realise that Southampton has a tidal wave that hits twice a day – tides are just really big waves driven by the gravitational pull of both the sun and the moon.”

In 2012, the first tests of an early warning system in the Atlantic took place.

They involved countries bordering the Mediterranean, and the simulations proved effective.

But Dr Boxall questions the threat of a mega-tsunami from the area.

“There is much talk of an impending megatsunami in either the Mediterranean or North Atlantic linked to the collapse of one of the Canary Islands, but that is highly unlikely – it is more likely to be a landslide than a collapse, which will create waves but a mega tsunami is unlikely. I guess we should never say never – there is a risk, but it’s a very low risk.

“Landslides pose a bigger risk, wherever you are, but that risk is still very low – we are at much more risk from storm damage in the UK. We cannot stop earthquakes, or tsunamis, from happening. We just need to find better ways to work with nature, rather than trying to hold it back.”

Hampshire victims of the wave

RIPPLES from the Indian Ocean tsunami reached Hampshire, with several families left mourning loved ones lost in the disaster.

Among them were the mother and stepfather of Romsey-based TV gardener, Charlie Dimmock.

Sue Kennedy, 59, and her husband Robert, 58, were killed when a wall of water devastated the Theptaro Beach and Spa Resort they were holidaying in, in Khao Lak, Thailand.

The West Wellow couple, both public relations consultants, had visited Bangkok and Cambodia before going to Phuket for Christmas. They had contacted family members on Christmas Day from the resort, which comprised chalets built on stilts in the lagoon.

The tsunami also claimed the lives of Kevin and Sandra Forkan, who were on holiday in Sri Lanka with four of their six children – all of whom survived.

Kevin, 54, and 40-year-old Sandra’s eldest sons, Rob and Paul Forkan, were just 17 and 15 respectively when the tsunami hit. Three years ago, the brothers came up with the idea to create Gandys – a range of flip-flops adored by celebrities including Jessica Alba, Jessie J and One Direction.

The company funds Orphans for Orphans, the charitable organisation that supports deprived children around the world. And to mark the tenth anniverary of the tsunami, the brothers are planning a coastal campaign, Gandys Goes Full Circle, to retrace their steps on that historic day.

Businessman and Hampshire dad Peter Weston, 47, from Owslebury near Winchester, was another victim.

The managing director of Otterbourne-based company Media Innovations Group, which made digital memory cards for cameras, had been staying in White Sands Resort on Ari Atoll in the Maldives when waves struck.

He was swept away in the chaos.

He was survived by wife Jackie and daughters Elizabeth and Katie.