In pictures: The ruins from above

1 of 9 Aerial photographs give a broader view of the devastation caused by the tsunami waves that hit Indian Ocean countries on 26 December - here a fishermen's colony in southern India.

2 of 9 A satellite image taken in 2003 shows the lush vegetation in the Indonesian province of Aceh - one of the regions to be hardest hit by the waves.

3 of 9 An image of the same region three days after the disaster shows how the water has stripped the land bare - washing away everything in its wake.

4 of 9 Closer images of the province show how infrastructure has been devastated - hampering the delivery of aid.

5 of 9 The human death toll is steadily rising - with almost 140,000 believed to have been killed.

6 of 9 The power of the waves left little standing - overturning ships and fishing boats before tearing inland.

7 of 9 The island of Kandolhudhoo in the Maldives was left a ghost town by the tsunami.

8 of 9 In Tamil Nadu in India, losses were greater, with around 600 missing in Nagapattinam.

9 of 9 Although the deadly waves passed in a few hours, the threat to human life continues from polluted water and disease.