A Thai man inspects what's left of his small business on Kota beach as a tidal wave wiped out his store and the nearby hotel in Phuket, Thailand, Sunday December 26, 2004. One of the most-powerful earthquakes in years triggered massive tidal waves that slammed into coastlines across Asia Sunday, killing more than 700 people in Sri Lanka, Indonesia , India, Malaysia and Thailand. Tourists, fishermen, homes and cars were swept away by walls of water unleashed by the 8.9-magnitude, centered of the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, officials said. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Indonesia is the largest in the world in 40 years. (AP Photo/John Ishii)