Further from the epicentre, Clare Willison, managing director of Marine Trader Media, was on the south west coast of Sri Lanka with her family - husband and three children - at the fishing village of Hikkaduwa.

"There was no wave, " she said. "The water just surged onto the land as if the earth had tipped all the water from the ocean onto the land. Within seconds it was flooding and everything on land collapsed."

Then the water washed back out to sea. "It happened in slow motion - the water just went out for 200-300 yards, dragging everything with it. The reef we had been snorkelling on was left bare."

The Willisons managed to get themselves back together and ended up spending three days in the jungle with a Sri Lankan family - no fuel, no water, no power - before managing to get back to the UK.

"Our number wasn't up, " she said. "We were lucky."

The Boats for Sale website - boats-for-sale. com - has pictures of the devastation and details of the Hikkaduwa Relief fund Clare and her family is supporting in an attempt to get the fishing fleet back on its feet. The region - which suffered 7,000 fatalities and still has 3,000 missing - has also been adopted by Glasgow City Council. The official relief fund is hikkaduwa. org. uk/ for those who would like to make a donation.