On 26 December 2004, a 9.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the west of Sumatra, Indonesia triggering a tsunami that killed over 280,000 people in thirteen countries. The total energy released from the earthquake was equivalent to 550 million times that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history, and, in terms of scale and number of victims, the largest ever disaster victim identification (DVI) operation. In response, teams of police and forensic experts from around the world united to form the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification (TTVI) operation in Phuket from 12 January 2005 in an unprecedented effort to identify 3,679 victims. Approximately half of the victims were foreign tourists who perished along the popular tourist strip in Thailand. Forensic evidence, including the primary identifiers dental, fingerprints and DNA, were used to compare ante-mortem (AM) and post-mortem (PM) data in accordance with INTERPOL DVI guidelines. The identification effort continues today at the Royal Thai Police Headquarters in Bangkok for approximately 370 unidentified victims.