More Tsnuami Footage

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

I've not seen this footage before, so I thought I would share.
I can't believe how black that water was. All the muck from the bottom of the ocean, churned up. I'm in total awe of the power of nature.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?...3Bmostpopvideo

[iceman (Mike)]

Yeh I've seen that one - incredibly powerful!

[iceman (Mike)]

This is one I hadn't seen until the other day.

How scary would this be!??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxWNl7Qc2_A

[iceman (Mike)]

Another new one I hadn't seen! Wow!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTsMRyLlMcY

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

I feel terrible about the whole human tragedy of it all but feel a little guilty about how I'm drawn to watch these videos of the event.
But it's the incredible power, amazes me.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

There are now over one thousand videos about the Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami/Nuclear disaster on You Tube and other video hosting sites!

And the number is growing as people in Japan add more, and Tourists arrive back in their home countries and upload videos.

It is probably the most well documented event in history.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

JJ, in the video you linked to, the camera pans left to show the town, and at 32 seconds you can see cars driving along the road in the top left corner, probably not knowing they are about to be washed away.

Eerie knowing that they might not have made it

[PCH (Paul)]

Awesome power. Don't you just feel for those poor people that got caught up in that total disaster

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Here's footage that an american fellow took while walking through the park.
No tsunamis in this one though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK--S...embedded#at=67

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

This one seems new too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSbDDZEHgZQ
Make sure you watch it to the end, it's amazing how the water keeps rising all the time. And it also clearly illustrates that the first wave may indeed not be the largest!

[Octane (Humayun)]

Incredible footage, Rolf.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRDpTEjumdo

H

[iceman (Mike)]

Originally Posted by SkyViking

This one seems new too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSbDDZEHgZQ
Make sure you watch it to the end, it's amazing how the water keeps rising all the time. And it also clearly illustrates that the first wave may indeed not be the largest!

Holy cow! That last 30 seconds is the most spectacular!

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

Here's footage that an american fellow took while walking through the park.
No tsunamis in this one though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK--S...embedded#at=67

Amazing footage! It's alive. Crazy!!

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Yeah, no way! The ground can just open up and swallow you.
run away!!! Run away faster!!!

[casstony]

I saw a segment on ABC tonight about a town destroyed by the tsunami, but most of the children survived since the school was built on higher ground to protect against tsunamis - nice to see a little good news amongst the devastation. Had it not been a school day I guess most of those kids would be gone as well.

[gary]

So many sad stories have emerged.

On SBS News last night, there was a poignant interview of a Fire Chief in one of
the sea-side towns. The large sea walls meant to stop a tsunami had huge steel gates
that were meant to be closed by powered systems in an emergency. The system
had failed and so the Fire Chief commanded his forty men to go down and close them
manually. They were unable to do so before the wave arrived and they were all swept
away. His entire crew. It was a decision the ashen looking Fire Chief said he regretted
making and would now have to live with for the rest of his life.

[Jen]

wow that would be so scary to witness something like that i couldnt stop watching all this on the TV for days but it was just getting all too much for me i had to stop watching it but there is more and more videos coming in every day

[Ric]

I've watched a lot of the footage being released.

The first thing that comes to mind is the overwhelming magnitude and speed of the Tsunami.

I think a lot of people under estimated what was approaching.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Originally Posted by gary

So many sad stories have emerged.

On SBS News last night, there was a poignant interview of a Fire Chief in one of
the sea-side towns. The large sea walls meant to stop a tsunami had huge steel gates
that were meant to be closed by powered systems in an emergency. The system
had failed and so the Fire Chief commanded his forty men to go down and close them
manually. They were unable to do so before the wave arrived and they were all swept
away. His entire crew. It was a decision the ashen looking Fire Chief said he regretted
making and would now have to live with for the rest of his life.

Damn!

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Originally Posted by iceman

Holy cow! That last 30 seconds is the most spectacular!

Yeah, I just couldn't believe he stayed put there for so long, it's obvious from the video how unpredictable the water behaves!

Apart from the sadness of it all, I must say it's very fascinating to see these videos. Must be the first time a tsunami has been filmed to such an extent.
It hopefully also gives people a better understanding of what to expect from a tsunami and perhaps create better awareness. I think many tend to underestimate it and regard it as merely a normal, albeit large, wave and then not take proper precautions.

It doesn't help though when the official warnings we had for the arrival of the tsunami in NZ mentioned something like a probable 15 cms to 1 meter raise in sea level. With our surf beaches on Auckland's west coast regularly pumping with 5-6+ meter swells most people will just ignore such a warning (as they indeed did). But even a tsunami that has travelled far is still notoriously unpredictable and can be quite treacherous if you're caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.