The largest of the isles, Great Nicobar, marks India’s southernmost point despite lying 1,800 kilometers east of mainland India across the Bay of Bengal. It is located northwest of Sumatra and separated to the East from Thailand’s and Myanmar’s narrow peninsula by the Andaman Sea. Most of the Nicobars are uninhabited by humans, barred to visitors and protected as an UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. While this tiny insular realm is still a mystery to most, the wider region is remembered across the world by the 2004 Sumatra Andaman submarine earthquake - the third largest quake recorded globally, which set off a massive series of tsunamis, battered coastal areas of western Indonesia and spread out across the Indian Ocean. Lying closest to the earthquake's epicentre, freak waves severely damaged the coastal habitats of the Nicobar Islands.
2024 marks 20 years of this tragic event.
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