MOSCOW, Russian Federation. When a massive earthquake hit Japan five years ago today, on March 11, 2011, few realized the subsequent tsunami would cause the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl and leave 18,000 people dead or missing.
News crews, CCTV footage, and people on the ground caught dramatic footage of the day.
Here are the ten must-view videos that shocked us all as the day unfolded.
1. Friday March 11, 2011:
An earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale occurs 370 kms miles northeast of Tokyo at a depth of 25 kms
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2. Tremors felt around the country:
It is the fifth largest earthquake on record and the largest ever to hit Japan
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3. Out at sea giant waves begin to form:
A tsunami alert is issued in over 50 countries in the Pacific region including the west US coast
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4. Japanese coast guard encounter giant wave
Footage shows the coast guard being tossed around by giant waves produced by the quake
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5. Tsunami hits land
Less than an hour after the quake, 9 meter (30 ft) waves destroy towns along the country’s east coast
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6. Sea walls fail
The waves easily pour over sea walls, taking boats and debris with them
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7. Those who can get to safety
Horrified on-lookers rush to higher ground to escape the water
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8. Sendai airport captures moment tsunami hits runway
Just before 4pm, the water reaches the runway at Sendai airport, easily destroying objects in its path
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9. Tsunami travels inland
The waves reached as far as 10 km inland
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10. Disaster becomes nuclear
The wave of water easily overwhelmed the seawall protecting the Fukushima nuclear plant, cutting off power to the main control room which operated the coolant systems of six separate boiling water reactors
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Credit: RT
