University students film tsunami striking Nakatsugawa City

[DeSwiss]

Run time: 05:29 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at7KgXEkRrs   Posted on YouTube: April 11, 2011 By YouTube Member: CHMiniGPwns Views on YouTube: 17866   Posted on DU: April 12, 2011 By DU Member: DeSwiss Views on DU: 8763

 

[shanti]

1. omg....

that was horrific! :cry:

[Lost-in-FL]

2. Just don't watch the last few seconds. nt

Some sad video.

[lurky]

3. Yes, horrible.

That one guy went back to help someone and was swept away. There were other people running who could not possibly have made it.

[FourScore]

5. I had seen that from another vantage point a few weeks ago

and had hoped that man had made it, but he did not. :cry:

[JI7]

55. is there any chance they could have still made it ?

it cuts off soon after.

i saw that same video and had assumed they did make it .

i feel so bad for all of those people.

[FourScore]

4. It's so sad. n/t

[AsahinaKimi]

6. totemo kowai!!

scary :scared: To hear people yelling "hayaku!!" (Hurry!!) :cry:

[Art_from_Ark]

36. Agare! Agare! Agare! Hayaku!

Get to higher ground! Hurry!

Saiaku da
This is horrible!

Ano hito yabai!... Isoide!
That person's in big danger!... Hurry!

Agatta hou ga ii
(He) should be getting to higher ground

Dareka iru ka
Is there someone (back there)?

:cry:

[AsahinaKimi]

50. Ark san

watashi wa Ark san no kyouryoku ni kansha shimasu!

[Art_from_Ark]

52. Arigato

:)

[vanbean]

53. Speak in Espanish Cabrone!

:hi:

[AsahinaKimi]

54. ¿sabía usted sonidos español como japonés?

:hi:

btw, did you know that Japanese pronunciation is very much like Spanish?

[Poll_Blind]

7. Caution advised for viewing anything after the 4 minute mark.

From that point on, I don't think you have to look hard to clearly see people getting killed in that...in that...goddamnit, I don't even have a word for what a city does when you liquefy it.

Before. Before, I would have dismissed the thought as absurd, as a an abstraction incapable of expression outside of a conceptual one. A liquefied city, a liquefied town.

But I have apparently lived long enough to see a liquefied city and I am shaking my head and I am numb for it. It becomes something that makes a herd of charging elephants look like a joke. It makes the collapse of the World Trade Centers seem like a throat-clearing.

It exists outside of my frame of reference- I can see this horrific thing happen but I cannot begin to approach what it must have been like that day. I cannot fathom the toll. I am so sorry for those poor people.

I really never expected I would be alive at a time during which something legendary happened. As long as the people of Japan exist, that black tsunami will forever haunt their memories- and all of our memories. With enough time it may become a legend and a few hundred years from now, possibly even trivialized with the distance of time. But oh my god there are a few things no human on Earth should ever have to run from- and that black tsunami- that's one of them.

PB

[Avant Guardian]

9. And that was just one section of one town along the coast

Gives you a bit of perspective on the magnitude of it all

[Poll_Blind]

11. That too- it's just outside of my scope of understand to be honest.

I can easily understand in a real way 100sq yards being destroyed. Maybe 1000sq yards. Anything bigger and I lose the ability to really imagine it. It's horrible.

PB

[emmadoggy]

21. What you said.

I saw this video from another angle a few weeks ago (as another poster here said) and those people in the last few moments of this video drove me to... well, I don't know the right word, but I was intensely afraid for them as I watched it. They came out of the house a few at a time, but a couple of them stall at the bottom. It looks like they are trying to get something, drag something, I don't know. I can't tell what it is. My dread is that it is a child. Then the one man runs back and ..... it's just agonizing.

The sounds of the voices on the video are awful to hear. The agony, terror and horror in their voices is heart-rending.

The entire event is mind-numbingly incomprehensible. :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[MadMaddie]

35. The mind can't even comprehend the devastation

the fear and death.

May they RIP!

[CoffeeCat]

27. Thank you so much Poll Blind...

...for so eloquently and sentively expressing the horror and sorrow of this tragedy.

I just watched the video and I am at a loss for words. I was so frustrated to watch
those people run and not make it. I felt so helpess watching those people and it's
frustating to be a bystander when you can't help. I actually felt my 'fight or flight'
response kick in. My body wanted to run in and help...those pictures are just that
horrific.

Thank you for expressing those emotions. I don't feel so alone in my sorrow now.

[Maraya1969]

31. Did you ever think that this is what happened to the Lost city of Atlantis?

It was just swept away one day.

[Poll_Blind]

56. It's funny you should metion that. I think, somewhere in the back of my mind...

...the suddenness of it. Jogged memories. Little memories, half-heard things researching. From Lemuria all the way to natural disasters...the suddenness.

You see, like a fool I had always read about the suddenness and could simply not imagine that the sea could move so quickly, a wall like that.

I have seen spaceshuttles fly, seen pictures from the surface of mars, the deepest trenches of the sea and had seen more marvelous things by the age of 10 that every king of antiquity, put together.

But I could not imagine that suddenness. That is the kind of substance of which millenia-old legends are made of. Truly.

PB

[Warpy]

8. There were no sirens there that I could hear.

The university students were probably notified by the school. Nobody in the town seemed to have much of a chance unless their power was working and maybe their TVs were on.

The one that made my heart sink was the guy in the car in the first part of the video, going under that underpass and having no idea what he was heading into.

[Art_from_Ark]

38. I noticed that as well

I think the power to this city may have been totally cut off by the earthquake-- hence no alarms, and no TVs were on, perhaps?

I have been trying to find more information about this video on Japanese web sites, but there appears to be no such city as Nakatsugawa in the stricken area. I have checked my Japanese atlases and city web sites for each of the 3 prefectures that were hit the hardest, and cannot find any such city. The only reference to Nakatsugawa City 中津川市 is of a city by that name in Gifu Prefecture, far, far to the southwest, which sent teams of specialists to the stricken areas. The closest in name is Shitsukawa 志津川市, in Miyagi Prefecture, which was hit hard. A search for this video in Google Japan invariably leads to Japanese web sites of very questionable repute.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. This is the first video I have seen where you can hear the people's voices.

Makes it all the more heartrending.

[msongs]

12. some knew it was coming early on got on the hill while many had no knowledge of it nt

[Art_from_Ark]

47. A lot of the people on the hill were already there

That is, high school students and teachers. The earthquake caused a power outage, which might have shut down the town's alarm system (as Warpy previously mentioned, it was curious that there were no sirens heard in the video), as well as most communications with the outside world. Also, the traffic light system probably failed as well, meaning that traffic was tied up at intersections and elsewhere. To make matters worse, the railroad tracks that ran between the high school and the bay would have created additional bottlenecks. A lot of people probably knew they had to get the hell out of there, but were trapped.

It's also conceivable that the people in the houses down the hill from the school might have thought they were safe from a tsunami (since they were more than a half-mile away from the bay and on slightly higher ground).

Miraculously, many people in the town did escape from the tsunami. The town reports that there are currently 7,286 refugees.

http://www.town.minamisanriku.miyagi.jp/modules/news/article.php?storyid=546

[Chris_Texas]

13. Incredible. Just incredible.

[grahamhgreen]

14. Terrible terrible terrible. Please give.

[democracy1st]

15. Incredible footage K & R!

[marions ghost]

16. This is the worst

I've seen a number of the videos but this one is the most awful, probably because you can hear the voices of the students registering their extreme fear, their incredulous distress at what they are witnessing. And then they literally watch people being caught...:cry:

PTSD will be a problem, definitely. It can be overcome with time, but they will never forget what they saw. It's bad enough on the video but when it's direct experience, it can shatter nervous systems.

thanks for posting DeSwiss

[barbtries]

17. oh my gawd

that was wrenching. i can't help crying.

[Botany]

18. too sad

:cry:

[proud patriot]

19. +1

[Hubert Flottz]

20. It is very sad.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wxgeek7]

23. Difficult to watch

That was very difficult to watch :(

Hearing people react to their town, their homes, being destroyed before their eyes.

[SoulSearcher]

24. @ 4:38 there is a person at screen bottom

I just hope they made it.
Extremely tough to watch.

[progressoid]

25. And at the end.

Those two looked like they got washed away.

Awful.

[AsahinaKimi]

26. please give

http://www.globalgiving.org

ONEGAISHIMASU....

[Art_from_Ark]

46. Here is what they currently need (Minami Sanriku Town)

Minami Sanriku is the actual site of this video

From the town's web site (updated yesterday), here are the goods the town especially needs:

Foods:

Fruits & vegetables (only if sent from within Japan), bottled water, rice (short-grain, unpolished if possible),
Spices, etc. (soy sauce, miso, sugar, salt, dashi salt, vinegar, mayonnaise, sauces, dressings, etc.)
Cup ramen/instant noodles
Canned goods (that can be eaten as is)
Food in retort (=silvery plastic) pouches (curry, deli items, etc.)
Instant coffee (powdered)

Daily necessities:

Throwaway dishes, cups, cutlery, chopsticks, etc.
Plastic foodworkers’ gloves (throwaway type)
Bug spray (for toilets, etc)
Trash bags
Backpacks
Pump-type quick-drying hand disinfectant
Office goods (notebooks, memo pads, ball point pens, cloth tape, packing tape, cellophane tape, etc.)
Trousers (sweat pants, work pants, etc.)
Plastic wrap and aluminum foil
Rubber gloves
Hospital workers’ gloves (throwaway type)
Men’s and women’s underwear (especially bras)-- New items only, please
Shoes and boots

Mailing address:
Minami Sanriku Choyakuba (Town Hall)
Shizugawa Shioire 77
Minami Sanriku-cho,
Miyagi-ken 986-0792 Japan

[reggie the dog]

28. the video is posted as comedy

the video gives a feeling of what it was like and the asshole that posted it on youtube has it listed as comedy.

[SoulSearcher]

30. Checked youtube, found this too

The comments are asking the same questions - why
the "comedy" category??? But found this comment also:

"Original video is here watch?v=8vZR0Rq1Rfw
Uploader is not University students and this is not Nakatsugawa City, but Minami-sanriku."

Above is from youtube comments, i don't know it to be fact...

[Art_from_Ark]

39. "this is not Nakatsugawa City, but Minami-sanriku"

I believe that is correct. There is no Nakatsugawa City in the stricken area-- it is a city in faraway Gifu Prefecture. Minami-sanriku sounds more likely. I will check Japanese web sites about this.

[Art_from_Ark]

41. There are a bunch of tsunami videos on You Tube Japan

uploaded by someone calling him/herself "tunamidaisuki"-- "I love tsunamis" :puke:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tunamidaisuki&aq=f

[AsahinaKimi]

49. I don't know how anyone could name themselves that..

Its horrible. However, the footage of scenes taken by the Japanese people, do show the power of these things, something that has not been previously seen in the pre cellphone, video cam era. I seriously doubt there are any tsunami footage other then the aftermath of one. In this amazing new world of instant video, we are now seeing for the first time disasters as they happen, be it tornado, flood, volcano or tsunami.

For those of us living on the coastlines of our country, we now know what to expect. Eventually such events will happen to the United States, and we should prepare for the worst, even if it means just having a siren going off, and people knowing that it means to retreat to higher ground, if possible. California is especially susceptible with its unstable faults both on and off shore.

There was a time I could not imagine what a series of 50 foot waves could do to a town like San Francisco, but after seeing the tsunami footage in Japan, I can pretty well guess, that many people of the city would probably be killed very quickly as the wave came ashore.

We do need to be prepared and not just for Earthquakes.

[Art_from_Ark]

51. Your post is very eloquent

Very eloquent. :)

[Renew Deal]

33. Could be a language issue

[reggie the dog]

44. the video is put up by an american

[RevStPatrick]

29. That was one of the most horrific things I have ever seen.

And I watched the Twin Towers fall with my own two eyes.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

32. shocking!!!

I'm shaking after seeing it

[Liberal_in_LA]

34. Oh my gosh. Hope those people made it...the last bit.

[SoulSearcher]

37. Original YT-vid post names city as Minamisanriku

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vZR0Rq1Rfw
posted by saitoart ; uploaded on April 10

Google Translation of Descritption (Japanese chars)

Japanese to English translation
The earthquake east, taken with digital cameras we saw how the tsunami from the south Sanriku Shidugawa school. Towards the end, those who are fleeing the field has helped us all.

Append
9.11 when the terrorism, the flow of news footage he seems more PTSD symptoms appeared. Can continue to see these shocking images to positive mental health should not be. Please - please note.
The tsunami washed away in my own house, had been lost pet cats. Watch this video and think so much, and will eventually upload terrible lost.
Lead to understanding the feelings of victims not think that's it, I want to expose someone to want to know what it was or what was happening.

Category: People & Blogs

Tags:
* Tsunami
* Shidugawa
* South Sanriku
* Minamisanriku

[Art_from_Ark]

40. It is Minami Sanriku Town

The high ground from where the video was taken is Shizugawa High School. I found the high school on Google Map Japan-- it is about a half mile from Shizukawa Bay.

[SoulSearcher]

42. Hard to imagine that much water, so fast.

and still moving houses after a half-mile inland.

[Art_from_Ark]

43. The underpass in the opening shot

is under the Kessennuma train line. The bay is just a couple hundred yards on the other side.

It really is hard to imagine the force of that water. I feel so sorry for all the victims of this disaster.

[vroomvroom]

45. Noticed the Camera Purposely turned away When it was About to Wash People Away

[Art_from_Ark]

48. Google Earth has a post-tsunami view of this town

It is, without a doubt, Minami Sanriku Town in Miyagi Prefecture. Everything lines up from the perspective of the person doing the filming, who was on the grounds of Shizugawa High School. I can see approximately where he was standing at the beginning of the video, and where he ran over to film the cluster of houses below the high school. Google Map, Google Earth, and information from Japanese sources all indicate that this was Minami Sanriku Town.