"I could not ignore them," Thuleewan “Kimmy” Boonyarattana tells PEOPLE in this week's issue National Geographic/Charlie Laing/Alec Davy Thuleewan “Kimmy” Boonyarattana escaped the devastating 2004 ...

"It's hard [for the younger generation] to understand that it wasn't so easy," she tells PEOPLE in this week's issue National Geographic/Charlie Laing/Alec Davy Soffie Modin was on holiday on Koh Phi ...

Deacon Ned Berghausen, foreground right, is pictured helping carry a tsunami survivor to safety after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck Thailand. He was 24 years old at the time and The deacon, ...

Rachel Hearson says it was a "miracle" she found a "pocket of air" and managed to survive the catastrophic tsunami that swept through the Indian Ocean, including the Phi Phi Islands in Thailand, on ...

Three months after the Indian Ocean tsunami, divers are still pulling mattresses and metal from the coral-lined bays of Thai paradise isles, although experts say overall reef damage is not that bad.

There was a point when Laura Wales, 29, almost gave up. The Stanford University marketing student had been swept out of her bungalow by a massive wave that thrashed her under debris and across the ...

Rachel and her husband Cici were enjoying a leisurely stroll through a beachside marketplace on a paradise island when the Boxing Day tsunami struck in 2004. It was 9.45am on Thailand's Koh Phi Phi ...

"It's hard [for the younger generation] to understand that it wasn't so easy," she tells PEOPLE in this week's issue In the aftermath of the tragedy, Modin says she was wrapped with wire around her ...