AP PHOTOS: The scars of a 9.1 earthquake and tsunami continue to haunt Indians for decades

NAGAPATTINAM, India (AP) — He was a young boy playing cricket with friends on a beach around 9:30 in the morning when a 9.1 magnitude earthquake violently shook the earth, and a tsunami struck from Indonesia to India two decades ago.

Life changed for Yusuf Ansari, now a 32-year-old motor rickshaw driver.

“Out of nowhere, we saw a boat tossed by the waves, followed by a massive rush of dark water and a big wave of water. It all happened so fast. Everyone around panicked. They didn’t even think about their boats or homes,” Ansari said, adding that everyone just ran to higher ground as quickly as possible.

The massive Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami was triggered by a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra island. The giant wall of water killed about 230,000 people in a dozen countries as far away as East Africa.

Next Thursday, organizations of fishermen plan to observe a minute's silence, pour milk in the sea and offer flowers and prayers at the graves of the dead and the worst-hit spots along the coast to commemorate the tsunami anniversary.

Jaya, 44, recalls how her life turned upside down for her family. Her husband, Varadarajan, was out fishing in the deep sea, leaving her at home with three children.

“The boys were playing near the shore, and I could see people gathering, staring at the waves. At first, no one understood what was happening. The water turned dark, and waves started rising higher and higher,” she said.

The southern Tamil Nadu state government undertook repair, restoration, and rehabilitation activities with help from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. Newly constructed dwellings provide amenities such as street lights, electricity home connections, water supply, sanitation, and infrastructure facilities like roads and construction of buildings.

In Velankanni town of Nagapattinam district, a tsunami memorial tower was built to commemorate the dead. Nagapattinam is nearly 320 kilometers (200 miles) south of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state.

According to official estimates, 10,749 people in India were killed by the tsunami, and thousands of people became homeless. Of them, nearly 7,000 people were killed in Tamil Nadu state.

After the disaster struck, the Tamil Nadu state government built sand embankments with stones to protect the coastline. “The stones don’t hold up any more, and the sand keeps washing away,” said Kuppi Ratnam, a fisherman. “We’ve asked the government to fix it, but the problem remains.

"While many families were provided government-built houses, it wasn’t a solution for everyone. Some couldn’t afford to rebuild, while others couldn’t bear the thought of returning to the place that had taken so much from them," he said.

Two decades later, the scars of the tsunami and the devastation caused by the 9.1 magnitude earthquake continue to haunt Indians.

Yusuf Ansari, now a 32-year-old motor rickshaw driver narrates the incident standing on the same when the tsunami hits the shore in 2004, in Chennai,India, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. "Out of nowhere, we saw a boat tossed by the waves, followed by a massive rush of dark water and a big wave of water. It all happened so fast. Everyone around panicked. They didn't even think about their boats or homes," Ansari said, adding that everyone just ran to higher ground as quickly as possible. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Garlands are kept at the memorial for the victims of the 2004 tsunami, where around 2,000 bodies were buried in Velankanni, Nagapattinam, India, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A man walks past a memorial tower built for the victims of the 2004 tsunami, where around 2,000 bodies were buried in Velankanni, Nagapattinam, India, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Devotees perform rituals during their visit at Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health shrine where hundreds of devotees died during 2004 Tsunami in Velankanni, Nagapattinam, India, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

G. Ramesh shows the height of the water, while recalling his memories of 2004 Tsunami outside his home in Nagapattinam, India, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Fishermen unloading their catch from their boats anchored at the harbor of Nagapattinam, one of the severely damaged town during 2004 tsunami, India, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Jaya, 44, right, dries fishes on the beach in Nagapattinam, India, Monday, Dec.16, 2024, recalls how her life turned upside down for her family. Her husband, Varadarajan, was out fishing in the deep sea, leaving her at home with three children when the Tsunami came in 2004. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A person walks on the damaged embankment of 2004 tsunami in Nagapattinam, one of the severely damaged town during 2004 tsunami, India, Monday, Dec.16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

An abandoned and damaged house of 2004 tsunami stands on the beach of Nagapattinam, India, Monday, Dec.16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A man sleeps on a beach in Nagapattinam, one of the severely damaged town during 2004 tsunami, India, Monday, Dec.16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A boy walks through an abandoned and damaged house during the 2004 tsunami, in Nagapattinam, India, Monday, Dec.16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Boats of fishermen are anchored at a harbor in Nagapattinam, one of the severely damaged town during 2004 tsunami, India, Monday, Dec.16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A person walks near the damaged embankment of 2004 tsunami in Nagapattinam, one of the severely damaged town during 2004 tsunami, India, Monday, Dec.16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A woman carries a fish on her head after buying from the harbor in Nagapattinam, one of the severely damaged town during 2004 tsunami, India, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Fishermen get ready to launch their boat for fishing in Nagapattinam, one of the severely damaged town during 2004 tsunami, India, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A man collects plastic bottles left on the beach in Nagapattinam, one of the severely damaged town during 2004 tsunami, India, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

G. Ramesh prays to then photograph of his parents who died during 2004 Tsunami at his residence in Keechankuppam, Nagapattinam, India, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A.Subramaniyam, 57, shows the name of his daughter S. Vinitha, 9, who died during 2004 Tsunami in Seruthur, Nagapattinam, India, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A. Subramaniyam, a fisherman, and his wife Gandhimathi holds a photograph of their children S. Sugan, 12, and S. Vinitha, 9, who perished in the tsunami 2004, at their home in Seruthur, Nagapattinam, India, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Devotees walk past a huge statue of Jesus Christ at the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health shrine, where hundreds of visiting devotees died during 2004 Tsunami, in Velankanni, Nagapattinam, India, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested Sunday that the United States would not govern Venezuela day-to-day other than enforcing an existing “oil quarantine” on the country, a turnaround after President Donald Trump has insisted that the U.S. would be running Venezuela following its ouster of leader Nicolás Maduro.

Rubio's statements seemed designed to temper concerns that the assertive action to achieve regime change in Venezuela might lead the U.S. into another prolonged foreign intervention or failed attempt at nation-building.

They stood in contrast to Trump’s broad but vague claims that the U.S. would at least temporarily “run” the oil-rich nation, comments that suggested some sort of governing structure under which Caracas would be controlled by Washington.

Rubio offered a more nuanced take, saying the U.S. would continue to enforce an oil quarantine that was already in place on sanctioned tankers before Maduro was removed from power early Saturday and use that leverage as a means to press policy changes in Venezuela.

“And so that’s the sort of control the president is pointing to when he says that," Rubio said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” "We continue with that quarantine, and we expect to see that there will be changes, not just in the way the oil industry is run for the benefit of the people, but also so that they stop the drug trafficking.”

The blockade on sanctioned oil tankers — some of which have been seized by the U.S. — “remains in place, and that’s a tremendous amount of leverage that will continue to be in place until we see changes that not just further the national interest of the United States, which is number one, but also that lead to a better future for the people of Venezuela,” he added.

Leaders in Venezuela have so far pushed back, calling on the Trump administration to release Maduro.

Even before the operation that nabbed Maduro, experts questioned the legality of aspects of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on Maduro, including the deadly bombing of boats accused of trafficking drugs that some scholars said stretched the boundaries of international law.

Cuba on Sunday night announced that 32 Cuban security officers were killed in the U.S. operation in Venezuela, which Trump acknowledged: “You know, a lot of Cubans were killed yesterday.”

“There was a lot of death on the other side," Trump said aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. "No death on our side.”

The president's vow, repeated more than half a dozen times at a Florida news conference on Saturday, sparked concerns among some Democrats. It also drew unease from parts of his own Republican coalition, including an “America First” base that is opposed to foreign interventions, and from observers who recalled past nation-building efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rubio dismissed such criticism, saying Trump’s intent had been misunderstood.

“The whole foreign policy apparatus thinks everything is Libya, everything is Iraq, everything is Afghanistan,” Rubio said. "This is not the Middle East. And our mission here is very different. This is the Western Hemisphere.”

He also suggested the U.S. would give Maduro’s subordinates now in charge time to govern, saying, “We’re going to judge everything by what they do.” Though he did not rule out boots on the ground in Venezuela, Rubio said the U.S., which has built up its presence in the region, was already capable of stopping alleged drug boats and sanctioned tankers.

A day earlier, Trump had told reporters, “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.” He later pointed to his national security team with him, including Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and said it would be done for a period of time by “the people that are standing right behind me. We’re gonna be running it, we’re gonna be bringing it back."

Despite Rubio's seeking to tamp down that notion, Trump reiterated Sunday that the U.S. would control Venezuela, saying, “We’re going to run everything."

“We’re going to run it, fix it,” he said Sunday. He added, "We’ll have elections at the right time” but didn't say when that might be.

A middle-of-the-night operation extracted Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their home in a military base in the capital city of Caracas — an act Maduro’s government called “imperialist.” The couple faces U.S. charges of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

The dramatic seizure capped an intensive Trump administration pressure campaign on Venezuela’s autocratic leader and months of secret planning, resulting in the most assertive American action to achieve regime change since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Legal experts raised questions about the lawfulness of the operation, which was done without congressional approval.

Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, has called Maduro the country’s rightful leader, even as her nation’s high court named her interim president. So did Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, who sai the country's armed forces “categorically reject the cowardly kidnapping" and will “maintain internal order and peace.”

Asked about Rodríguez comments in which she stands by Maduro, Trump said, “I don’t think it’s pushback" and suggested her calling what occurred a kidnapping of Maduro wasn't "a bad term.”

Maduro is due to make his first appearance Monday in Manhattan's federal court.

He and other Venezuelan officials were indicted in 2020 on narco-terrorism conspiracy charges, and the Justice Department released a new indictment Saturday of Maduro and his wife that painted his administration as a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fueled by a drug-trafficking operation that flooded the U.S with cocaine. The U.S. government does not recognize Maduro as the country’s leader.

Venezuela’s government kept operating as usual over the weekend as ministers remained in their posts.

The capital was unusually quiet Sunday with few vehicles moving around and convenience stores, gas stations and other businesses closed.

Maduro’s son, lawmaker Nicolás Ernesto Guerra, has not appeared in public since the attack. On Saturday, he posted on Instagram a government statement repudiating the capture of his father and stepmother.

The country’s incoming National Assembly is set to be sworn in at the legislative palace in Caracas. The unicameral assembly will remain under control of the ruling party.

Under Venezuelan law, Rodríguez would take over from Maduro. Rodriguez stressed during a Saturday appearance on state television that she did not plan to assume power, before Venezuela’s high court ordered that she assume the interim role.

Trump told The Atlantic in an interview Sunday that Rodríguez could “pay a very big price” if she doesn’t do what he thinks is right for Venezuela. Speaking to reporters later, Trump said Rodríguez is “cooperating” but reiterated the threat. He said he wanted her to provide “total access,” from major oil operations to basic infrastructure like roads, so all can be rebuilt.

His warning contrasted with his comments about Rodríguez on Saturday when he said Rubio had spoken with her and she was willing to do what the U.S. thinks is needed to improve the standard of living in Venezuela.

Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville aboard Air Force One and Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

Protestors hold a banner stating "Trump Must Go Now" as they gather outside the UN Plaza during a demonstration against the U.S. bombing of Venezuela and seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, in San Francisco on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (Yalonda M. James/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Government supporters burn a U.S. flag in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that U.S. forces had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

National Guard armored vehicles block an avenue leading to Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Destroyed containers lay at La Guaira port after explosions were heard in Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Smoke rises from Fort Tiuna, the main military garrison in Caracas, Venezuela, after multiple explosions were heard and aircraft swept through the area, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Men watch smoke rising from a dock after explosions were heard at La Guaira port, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro embrace in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)