The tsunami was triggered by the Indian Plate being subducted by the Burma Plate creating an earthquake of a 9.1 to 9.3 magnitude deep in the Indian Ocean.  The series of tsunamis along the coasts bordering the Indian Ocean killed over 230,000 people in fourteen countries with waves up to 100 feet high.  Indonesia was the hardest hit followed by Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

The water withdrawal is then followed by massive tidal waves like the one shown below coming in to Phuket.

It was here that we find the elephant, Ning Nong, and her rider, Amber Mason, of the UK.  Amber was eight years old at the time.  While many of the Thai people on the beach were picking up fish that been left behind by the sudden withdrawal of the sea, Ning Nong became agitated and started moving to higher land.  By all accounts, Ning Nong saved young Amber's life which transcends any scientific evidence that the elephant sensed the impending doom and can only be explained by animal instinct which is characteristic of elephants.

Michael Morpurgo, the children's author and creator of War Horse, was inspired by Ning Nong's and Amber's story to write Running Wild. He recalled reading the story in a newspaper at the time, saying it stuck in his mind as one bit of hope amid the destruction of the Boxing Day tsunami.

Running Wild was then adapted as a play which was performed in London's Regent Park in June of this year as told by a cast of children and puppet animals.  Although Miss Owen and Mr. Morpurgo had never met, they were united at a performance of the play.

There are many cases of the remarkable instinct and empathy demonstrated by elephants. To save a young girl's life is a most extraordinary one.