This rare and chilling footage shows the terrifying beginning of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami — one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. What began as a peaceful morning on a beach in Thailand quickly turned into chaos as the ocean mysteriously pulled back, only to return as a monstrous wave. Captured in real-time, this video reveals the haunting moments before disaster struck, leaving over 220,000 dead across 14 countries. A devastating reminder of nature’s power. WooGlobe Ref : WGA320174 For licensing and to use this video, please email licensing@wooglobe.com
00:00Imagine you're relaxing on a tropical beach. The sun is shining.
00:04Waves gently roll in. Then suddenly, the ocean starts pulling back.
00:08Tourists are confused. Locals are uneasy. No one knows. They're seconds from disaster.
00:14This rare footage captures the terrifying beginning of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
00:19What started as a peaceful day turned into one of the deadliest natural disasters in history.
00:23The ocean floor had risen 40 meters after a massive 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck beneath the Indian Ocean.
00:31The quake unleashed the energy of 23,000 atomic bombs and triggered waves that would wipe out entire coastlines.
00:38Tourists were still filming as walls of water surged back to shore, destroying resorts, ripping boats from docks, and sweeping away thousands of lives.
00:46By the end, over 220,000 people were dead.
00:51Fourteen countries devastated entire communities erased in minutes.
00:55This haunting footage isn't just a memory.
00:57It's a reminder of how fast nature can turn paradise into a nightmare.