The day the Earth moved.0:10
On the 11th of March, 2011, At 14:46 local time, an undersea earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan.0:27
The force of the earthquake, the most powerful in Japan's history, triggered a devastating tsunami.0:39
Many thousands of people lost their lives, and roads, buildings, and entire villages were swept away.0:47
The world faced a partial nuclear meltdown,, and the planet moved on its axis, shortening the length of every day by 1.8 milliseconds.0:54
It was a terrible national tragedy that the country will need a great deal of time to recover from.1:05
In the days before the main earthquake, Japan had experienced quite a few foreshocks, some of which exceeded magnitude 7, but nothing could prepare the nation for the main shock, —a magnitude 9 quake.1:12
It was strong enough to be felt hundreds of kilometres away in Tokyo, where buildings shook violently and many office workers ran out onto the streets terrified.1:28
Closer to the epicentre, buildings collapsed, roads and railways were ripped apart, and fires blazed.1:39
Much worse was yet to come, as the authorities issued a tsunami warning.1:47
Frantic residents headed for high ground, rooftops, or upper floors of buildings.1:53
Soon after, a wall of water, 10 metres high in some places, rolled across the Pacific Ocean and crashed into the coast.1:58
It washed away houses and cars and hurled ships far inland, carrying them along and slamming them into whatever lay in their path.2:08
One giant wave even crashed through an airport in Sendai, leaving 1,300 people stranded on the upper floors.2:18
The waters reached up to 10 kilometers inland before heading back out to sea, now loaded with debris and leaving a swamp-like landscape of landslides and mud.2:28
TV viewers couldn't believe their eyes as these scenes were broadcast around the world.2:40
By this time, many areas were without electricity as pylons had crumbled, which caused a major disaster at Japan's nuclear power stations.2:46
Without power, the cooling system at the Fukushima No.2:57
The government immediately ordered an evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents.3:03
Explosions rocked the plant, as courageous technicians struggled to control the damage and prevent a nuclear meltdown.3:09
Over the next few days, a large number of aftershocks continued to shake Japan, causing plenty of problems for rescue teams as they raced to find survivors.3:18
Several countries sent relief workers, and the world held its breath while it waited to see how the tragedy would end.3:29
Sadly, there were hardly any survivors.3:36
Over 15,000 people died that day, and thousands more were missing.3:40
Several amazing tales of survival came to the attention of the world's press, though.3:45
A 4-month-old baby girl was pulled alive from the rubble 4 days after the earthquake.3:50
A man was found clinging to his rooftop as it was floating 14 kilometers out at sea 2 days after the tsunami.3:57
And there was the Japanese student in California, desperate for news of her lost family, who found them on a YouTube news clip.4:05
It showed her sister holding up a sign and sending a desperately needed message of hope across the world: "We all survived."4:13
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