‘There’s definitely going to be a tsunami!’: 10-year-old girl starts screaming at tourists to run away from the beach. Her geography lesson saved 100 lives

On the morning of December 26, 2004, 10-year-old Tilly Smith was walking along Mai Khao Beach in Phuket, Thailand, with her family when she noticed something odd about the ocean. The water was not going in and out like it usually does. Instead, it kept coming in and in and in. The surface had white foam on it, like beer, and it was bubbling. The British girl knew right away what these signs meant because of a geography lesson she’d had just two weeks before.

Tilly had learned about tsunamis from her teacher, Andrew Kearney, at Danes Hill School in Oxshott, Surrey. The class watched an old black and white video of the 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake tsunami. They learned what warning signs to watch for, especially the foamy look of the sea. When Tilly saw the same things on that beach in Thailand, she knew a tsunami was coming and tried to warn her parents. But they couldn’t see any big wave coming and initially dismissed her cries.

According to Wikipedia, Tilly did not give up. She told her parents, “I’m going. I’m definitely going. There is definitely going to be a tsunami.” Her father, Colin, heard how serious she sounded and decided to trust her. He went to a security guard and said, “Look, you probably think I’m absolutely bonkers, but my daughter’s completely convinced there’s gonna be a tsunami.” Right then, a Japanese man nearby heard Tilly say the word tsunami and backed her up, saying he’d heard there had been an earthquake in Sumatra.

How a geography lesson saved 100 lives

The beach was emptied fast, and everyone ran to the second floor of a nearby hotel. Tilly’s mother, Penny, was one of the last people to leave the beach, having to sprint for her life as the water rushed in. The family and about a hundred other people on the beach reached safety just seconds before a 9-meter tsunami wave hit the shore. Mai Khao Beach was one of the few beaches on the island where nobody died. Only a few people got minor injuries.

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the resulting tsunami was one of the deadliest natural disasters in history, killing 227,898 people in 14 countries. The huge 9.1 magnitude earthquake hit off the west coast of Sumatra at 7:59 am local time and created massive waves that reached as high as 30 meters. Countries like Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and the Maldives were hit hardest by the disaster.

Colin Smith later thought about how lucky they were. “If she hadn’t told us, we would have just kept on walking,” he said. “I’m convinced we would have died, absolutely convinced.” Tilly gave credit to her teacher, Andrew Kearney, for saving her life and her family’s lives. “If it wasn’t for Mr Kearney, I’d probably be dead and so would my family,” she told the United Nations.

Tilly got many awards for her bravery and quick thinking. She received the Thomas Gray Special Award from The Marine Society and Sea Cadets in September 2005. A small planet was even named after her. It is called 20002 Tillysmith. In December 2005, she was named Child of the Year by the French magazine Mon Quotidien. 

Teachers around the world now use Tilly’s story to teach children about earthquakes, tsunamis, and how to stay safe. The story shows how education can mean the difference between life and death, especially when it comes to understanding natural disasters and survival. Tilly is now 30 years old, lives in London, and works in yacht chartering. Here’s hoping her clients listen to her safety warnings.