up next on the second look, at the time shook and then the ocean rose key -- earth shook creating a tsunami that left thousands difficult remembering the toll nearly a decade ago, and, the stories of those who came to help afterward. all that on second look. i am frank summerville. welcome to a second look.

tonight, we remember one of the worst disasters of the 21st century. in december 20/04, an earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people 6789 one of the nation's hardest hit was sri lanka. we hear the stories of death and survival firsthand, and to see how people were coping. >> right away it was an ocean coming at us. >> before december 26th, most people from sri lanka had no idea what a tsunami was. they had never heard the word until the day the waves came crashing down on them. like so many places moping the coast, waves overtook the small town which sits on the east side of sri lanka between the

indian ocean and the lagoon. it was the morning after christmas. not a day like any other because there was a full moon which is celebrated as a holiday in sri lanka. before dawn, there famous temple was bustling with people. the hindus were praying and preparing food to celebrate the high school day. on the opposite side of the beach, christian worshipers were resting after celebrations the night before. around 6:45 in the morning the first wave came. a shallow gush of water. no warning for what happened next. >> it is a sight i will never forget in my life. it was a 30-foot wall of water sitting from one end osteopath to the other end of the beach. >> this pastor and the people at his church were saved because they rushed into a boat in the lagoon. but at the temple across the beach, only three people survived. in most cases the water took the dead. of the 50 people inside this temple, only five bodies were

found at the site. this man and six other from world vision were the first to launch a rescue in their hometown. they plucked the survivors from the tops of palm trees. after the water reseeded they turned to the task of removing the dead bodies. it was then they learned something they never wanted to know. >> carrying the bodies are very heavy. six people need to carry one body. >> while everyone on this beach has a terrible story to tell, they cannot ignore the numerous stories of selflessness at have also surfaced. down the beach we found this 15- year-old. he was buying fish on that fateful morning and was one of the first to see the wave coming. >> it was not like other waves. it was bigger, so i knew that it was coming to get us. that's why i went running. >> instead of running for his

life, he ran to his neighbor's throwing stone at their windows and doors screaming for people to get out. >> what made you think to throw stones so that that you could save so many people? >> i thought it is my duty to save other people's lives as well. it wasn't done to think of myself. >> this teenager said he saved 20 people that day. he never wanted to return here after what he witnessed, but he is back again for his family's sake. >> my family is in school, but today i came to collect whatever i can salvage from my house to sell it to a shop in town, get some money to give to -- to feed my sisters and mother. >> in a place that used to give him comfort, all the comforts of home have been swept away.

he finds only two things that remind him of what was, his little sister's fancy blue dress and a videotape, a reminder of the family's prize possession, a vcr. he now daydreams of leaving this place, but at night the memories of what he saw that day haunt him. >> what do you dream about? >> i see that the wave is coming and everyone is being swept away, including my family. >> though his family was spared, his friends were not. >> all my friends are dead except for maybe a couple, two or three so i don't have anyone to play with. >> he is no longer drawn to the beach where he used to happily play soccer with his friends. for now, the 15-year-old's only mission in life is simple and selfless. >> so what do you do for

happiness? >> my task is to make my sisters happy. i try to make my sisters happy. >> a noble but difficult task here. even the animals seem to wander list leslie in a once bustling neighborhood that has become a wasteland by the sea. >> the destruction was spread across the entire region of the indian ocean. it seemed that wherever there was a coastline there was devastation. ktvu's bob mckin sisters brought -- mckinsy brought us this. >> each passing day brings more news of suffer and uprooted lives around the indian ocean. villages on the islands off india were so thoroughly destroyed that there is nothing to stay for. hundreds of evacueeses abandoned the islands and were air lifted by government planes. some walked for days without food to reach the airstrip. >> there are entire families which have been wiped away.

children have been separated from their parents. there are dead bodies all over. >> was on the mainlands as well as the islands, hospitals are overwhelmed with far more patients than beds. improvised kitchens feed some but shelter is harder to comb by. in sri lanka thousands are sleeping in the streets, no closer to having shelter than they were three days ago. in indonesia people are found buried. in thailand, a 30-year-old woman cries my husband and four children are gone. all the world's relief agencies have deed up to help. but experts say the situation is having a dangerous new phase. a race against time to head off epidemic disease. in indonesia bodies are decaying faster than they can

be buried, even in mass graves. these bodies have lain in the street for several days with no sign that they'll be moved soon. in sri lanka, body go to mass graves before they are even identified. there is no time to find out who they are. all other the region, corpses lie in the wreckage of collapsed buildings and there are often no family members left to dig them out. officials say decaying corpses, contaminated water and pools of standing water that breed mosquitos pose threats of illnesses. >> there is a chance that we could have at least as many dying from diseases as we have from the tsunami. >> the clock is ticking. the situation on the coast of asia could get much worse before it gets better. still cocome on second look, how bay area people

helped the victims of the quake and tsunami. and another quake hit months after that deadly 2004 tsunami. ♪

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welcome back to a second look where tonight we are remembering the earthquake in tsunami that devastated the indian ocean region in 2004. after the disaster people from all over the world rallied to help. a month after the quake, ktvu's sarah sidener brought us this report from sri lanka. >> this refugee camp is home to 900 people left homeless by the social security. inside, the condition -- by the tsunami. only the luck i can -- lucky get a bed. the stories that are shared are stories of loss. this guy says he saw his spire

family swept away -- entire family swept away by the wave. >> my sisters, my sister's son and daughter. >> his legs were slashed so mercilessly by debris he hasn't been able to walk for weeks. the thought of leaving this place is his only source of joy. >> do you want to leave sri lanka. >> in my mind. >> where would you go? >> i don't know. >> these are the people bay area doctors have traveled 9 thundershower miles to help. their work -- 9,000 miles to help. >> we have a new toy. oh, so fun. >> oh. >> and they have long term plans to stay. this group has agreed to send a rotating contingent of doctors for a year to set up a clinic that locals will eventually

take over. >> as run down as this place looks, sort of spooky and eerie and crowded and dirty, there is also this incredible spirit here. the kids are wonderful. they're alive. they are engaging. it's sort of -- to me it represents an opportunity for people to sort of get on. >> it may be that spirit that sustained sri lankans in the desolate conditions they lived in even before the tsunami. what was that life like? for the majority of sri lankans, life was and continues to be hard. we traveled to a little village north and inland, untouched by the tsunami. >> what's life like here? >> i work everyday, and i'm sad. my life is pretty sad. >> this lady works at a factory that makes rope out of coconut husk. >> i wake up at 4:00 o'clock in

the morning. 7:00o'clock i'm at work. 12:00o'clock i come back home. then i go back to work at 1:00 o'clock and come back at 5:00. >> do you make enough money to support yourself and your children? >> sometimes we go without enough food. sometimes we are okay. >> violet provides for her two teenage boys and her pregnant date. at 55, her wants are practical and simple. >> i wish for a house, a nice house, and thrive in a nice house. >> do you think your dream will ever come true? >> i have a hard time believing that it will come true, but i still go on dreaming. >> what she doesn't know is she is slated to get a house with the help of a bay area sponsor who adopted violet's family through world vision. >> seeing that it kind of

confirms your worst fears almost. >> this is the first time leslie of hillsboro has seen video of how violet lives. >> it is dreadful to know that we live in such wealth and there is people out there who live in such poverty. >> and yet, in the midst of such poverty, even the most downtrodden here are determined to smile and believe better days are coming, a goal that bay area doctors and donors are trying to help achieve. when we come back on a second look, the red cross honors a bay area doctor for his service in the quake area and else where in the world. a bit later, changing in on the victim -- checking in on the victims five years later. p unbelievable.

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[ male announcer ] connect all your wi-fi-enabled devices with u-verse high speed internet. rethink possible. tonightings on a second look, the -- tonight, on a second look, the deadly tsunami. ktvu's john fowler brought us

this report of the time of the panic that followed. >> just after 11:00 local time, police warned people to flee for their lives. many needed many prompting. at the time shook violently here for more than -- earth shook violently here for more than two minutes. >> now people are starting to get panicked and everyone is coming out from their tent. >> within 20 minutes, the tsunami warning center sent out alerts to thailand and five other nations within 600 miles of the coast evacuations. officials say most of the deaths were from falling debris. experts say there is nothing like this in recorded history, a second great earthquake striking the same region within 99 days. >> i would say it is a

fraternal twin. it occurred a little bit further south, but it's the same type of earthquake. >> unlike the disaster december 26th that killed the almost 300,000 people across the indian ocean, today there was no major tsunami. still, relief experts say today's great week don'ting aftershocks are frightening people struggling to rebuild. >> we see this as yet another example of panic spreading, of deep concern in an already mentally scarred population. >> seismologist are now debating whether the weak was a separate quake or an aftershock. the earlier quake caused twice as much ground shaking, but both were centered south and off the west coast. scientist say it was along the

sunda trench where december's quake added stress. >> in this case to the south. and it probably triggered this next piece of the trench to rupture. >> earlier in our program, sarah sidener told us about keiser permanete told us about that. here is sarah's report now from april of 2005. >> like many of us, when this doctor sees someone suffering he wants to do more. unlike most, he shows up in person to help. >> it is a beautiful thing to actually go to a place where the world knows there is a problem and to be physically present to provide support for someone else and to be able to talk with them and show that level of human respect and dignity for their being there and know that there are other people in the world aware of their situation and want to

help. >> he has been using his hands and heart to heal people around the world for 20 years. six years as a member of doctors without borders. this year as a keyser doctor, he was prompted to a. he helped coordinate a trip to sri lanka after they made a commitment to send doctors there for up to a year. we watched one of the teams work. his team came laterrings just as sri lanka's 20 yearlong civil war flared up again. >> unfortunately, the third day we were there, there was a grenade attack at one of the political offices across the street from the hospital. >> instead of helping the tsunami survivors, the doctors were soon helping bomb victims. >> two fatal casualties and two chest wounds. really made us refocus our

energy. >> with little to no security, a warning from the u.s. department of state means of the immediate medical needs of tsunami victims taken care of, the doctor and his team decided it was time to leave. but in the three months that the teams rotated in and out they did make difference. as for the humanitarian hero award he received today t doctor says he felt a little strange accepting it. >> when i first heard about this, i actually felt a little guilty because having done sprad ecstasy work in environments around the world i think -- sporadic work, i think about the people i have met who have givenner that lives and made major sacrifices. i don't feel like i am in that category i have persons. >> the american red cross feels otherwise, as do those he has helped thousands of miles away in countries most of us will never visit. when we come back on a second look, the tsunami zone

five years later.

terrifying moments inindnosia today. two earthquakes shook today. >> there was fear and panic today as two back to back large many people were there for the quake and tsunami in 2004. today's quake sente sent them run -- sent them rung in the streets. hospitals moved patients to hire found and family packed into -- ground and families packed into motor cars for safety. was the quake never materialized and the tsunami alerts were lifted. the only wave that hit was less than 30isms high and no death

or serious injuries have been reported. >> in 2009, this reporter traveled to the region to see how people had recovered in the five years after that quake and tsunami. >> they came with their family, the ones that survived to pray at mass graves. they can't know for certain if their loved ones are buried here. there were too many bodies, too few identified. this woman lost her parents. >> every december 26th we wonder if it will happen g she says. it is so overwhelming, this loss. i can't find the words to describe it. but on the surface, at least, life has returned to normal here. the great mosque once surrounded by swirling waters and debris has been repaired. no trace of tsunami wreckage is left. the streets buzz with traffic and thousands of new homes have been built. but now that eight agencies

have pulled out, their jobs doing the people wonder what will replace reconstruction as the area's economic engine. unemployment is high, and despite hopes for tourism and other industries, business is slow. >> this was one of the hardest hit areas, right next to the shore. and this entire area was completely devastated. many of the fishermen came back to find their families had been swept out to sea. all of these boat and houses here are brand new the fishermen tell us they didn't go out to fish today in remembrance of the victims of the tsunami. >> anda lost his wife and four children. only his son, then 20 years old somehow survived. anda found him month later living in a camp. he still cries out for his mother. anda now ekes outliving by working on this fishing boat. >> it depends on help coming from outside the city. we have already had some help, but only 50%.

we haven't recovered a hundred% yet. anda says he tells me later this tsunami took away my wife, children, and livelihood. the only thing i have of value now is my son. there is nothing more precious to me. >> this is one of the places where the wave first hit. it is also one of the few places where you can still see some of the debris and destruction. but in the last five years it has also become a place for families to come, bring their children, let them swim in the water while their parents sit on the shore, look out and try and put the tragic past of the tsunami behind them. >> but that may take many more years yet. >> and is it for this week's second look. i am frank sum -- summerville. we'll see you again next week e.

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