Recently Released Video Shows Amazing Eye-Witness Account Of Japanese Tsunami

Video

by Alex Alvarez | 6:51 pm, March 28th, 2011

» 14 comments

Sometimes, when a person becomes bombarded with headlines and photographs chronicling a devastating event, it’s difficult to fully process the terror and confusion experienced by those who had to endure it – which is where video footage can come in handy. It helps put things in perspective, and brings a dose of reality where words and still images cannot.

And that’s exactly why we couldn’t turn away from this newly-released video showing the impact of the recent tsunami as it pummels Kesennuma port.

The rush of water is so powerful that it washes away cars – and even buildings – as if they were toys, smashing them against a dam-like structure and basically turning a parking lot into a lake in a matter of seconds.

Disaster, Flood, Japan, Kesennuma Port, Tsunami

screwauger

That’s a pretty fast moving lake Alex. How about a very swift river. Lakes do not take down buildings.
screwauger

And thanks to the powers that be for stopping the showtime pop up video assault! Much appreciated.
Gasket

Wow! Thanks for the video Alex!
The Tea Weasel®

Japanese cars float very well.
Alz

Wow!
Cecelia

Absolutely horrifying!
Severian

guess no one has heard of adblock plus?
Paleoconservatarian

Kesennuma lies at the head of a horseshoe bay opening up almost directly in line with the epicenter and consequently took the brunt of the undiminished surge wave. Oil from tanks seen floating towards the city at the end of the clip, as well as from various vehicles and ships, inundated the area and the city was aflame for days. It’s surprising there’s anything left to film but rubble.
shonangreg

Thanks for this. It is painful to watch, but I’m glad people are sharing.

My image of what a tsunami is has changed due to all the videos I’ve seen. It is not a big wave that crashes in and then disappears. It is much more like a giant storm surge, a local raising of sea level that comes in like a salty river flowing far, far from the beach.

I can also see better what structures survive and where one might take last-minute refuge. Solid, multi-storey concrete buildings appeared to have faired pretty well.

Another surprising thing is how slow they are. If you were on a bicycle with a straight shot, it appears that you could outrun a tsunami. it is just moving along at human running speed. It just doesn’t stop for anything — till it finds the new beach.
ChrisNH

In all seriousness, where did the person taking this footage go after he stopped filming? Where could he have gone?
Newsjunky

Absolutely stunning.
Quite the Pundint

History shows again and again, how nature points out the folly of men.
Darklady

I so want to know the stories behind these clips we’re seeing. How did they escape? What, exactly, are we seeing?
Paleoconservatarian

They’re on top of a similar 4 or 5 story building (seen, as well as the environs struck herein, early in this vid) and presumably were plucked off roofs by SDF helicopters.