Boxing Day, 2004.

When the earthquake struck at 06:30 (01:00 GMT), I was on a ferry, headed towards Havelock – an island in the Indian archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar.

Known for its silver sand and clear blue waters, the Radhanagar beach there had recently been crowned “Asia’s Best Beach” by Time magazine.

My best friend from college and her family had lived in Port Blair, the capital of the archipelago, for a decade and a half, but this was my first visit to the islands, where I had arrived on Christmas Eve.

We had planned to spend three days in Havelock and in the morning we packed snacks and sandwiches, gathered excited children and headed out to catch the ferry from Phoenix Bay jetty in Port Blair.

Not wanting to miss out on anything, I was standing on the front deck, looking around, when disaster struck.

Just as we pulled out from the harbour, the boat lurched and suddenly the jetty next to where we had boarded crumpled and fell into the sea. It was followed by the watchtower and an electricity pole.

It was an extraordinary sight. Dozens of people standing alongside me watched open-mouthed.

Thankfully, the jetty was deserted at the time so there were no casualties.