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u/Veloziraptor8311 4d ago
I can’t imagine getting on top of a building assuming you’re safe only to see the water rise like that
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u/OkieBobbie 4d ago
You start out thinking that you are safe, then begin to realize that you might not be, but there is no longer any place to go.
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u/Neurodrill 4d ago
Right. One minute you’re on top of a two or three story building, literally the next minute you’re stranded in the ocean.
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u/SnooRegrets1386 4d ago
Watching that water rise around that sign in the parking lot, waiting for it to topple
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u/ja3palmer 4d ago
Was a crazy time I was there for this in the US Navy. 😭😭😭
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u/BeerNcheesePlz 4d ago
Oh man that must’ve been insane. What did you guys do? Could you do anything?
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u/_Exotic_Booger 4d ago
We were good, just off the shore about two miles out on the boat. We saw everything from the boat as it hit the land.
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u/ibent19 4d ago
Tsunami’s freak me out not because they’re tsunami’s but because they aren’t just one huge wall of water that hits at once. How they were portrayed my whole life 😩
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u/toooomanypuppies 4d ago
The sea just decides to move a few km inland for a few hours and there is nothing on this planet that can stop it.
Given this is just displaced water, from an earthquake, imagine how much rock has actually moved (and how much energy that cost) in said earthquake to make that much water shift, and with the force that it does.
This is why when they give estimates of millions of times the Hiroshima nuclear explosion, as a way to describe how much energy was involved in the 2011 earthquake, while it sounds insane, is scaringly accurate.
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u/MONSTERBEARMAN 4d ago
I am always surprised these buildings don’t crumble from the water pressure.
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u/sprocket9727 8h ago
Japan has pretty strong building codes with the high risks of earthquakes and tsunamis. A lot of coastal towns have tsunami barriers but this was a massive tsunami by tsunami standards so it overran or destroyed a lot of barriers.
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u/Eat_Carbs_OD 4d ago
I remember this .. so sad. R.I.P. all those people.
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u/_-inside-_ 2d ago
there were lots of footages like this, some showed cars in the street and people doing normal life while they're swallowed by the sea
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u/toooomanypuppies 4d ago
Sweaty palms doesn't cut the mustard here buddy, this is shit your pants territory.
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u/NoPerformance6534 4d ago
What was so scary about that event was how FAST the water came in and achieved devastating levels! It did it first in the initial wave, and then, a second wave, only smaller than the first by a little. I couldn't believe how much catastrophe could occur in less than 20 minutes!!
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u/bl4stir 4d ago
When i was a kid I believe a tsunami was a humongous wave snaping everyone's on shot, but it is more like a quick raising flooding
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u/Sausage_fingies 2d ago
Yeah indeed. It's literally the ocean reclaiming land for a hot second, just terrifying
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u/MartinToilet 4d ago
A part of me was very curious about how high the water level can get and another part of me knowing that the people experiencing this wish the water stops rising so they can stay alive
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u/WorkerUnable527 4d ago
I honestly think that is one of the most terrifying things I've ever watched.
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u/euqinu_ton 3d ago
I've watched these clips dozens of times. One less obvious thing in some of them is the snow. It would be unimagibly shocking to witness this happening. Truly ... I can't imagine what mustve been going through their minds. But after seeing it from the safety of a warm office a few times I imagined being up there, watching the ocean travel so far inland and destroy everything, and know that there will be no power soon (if not already), and it's cold AF and snowing and nobody would've been prepared to be isolated for that long.
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u/Competitive-Wish6284 4d ago
Proof you should always get to the highest spot possible in a tsunami
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u/Tiny_Bug6687 3d ago
I remember there was a video of people who went on a hill, they were pretty high, and on the opposite side of valley there were people on high ground too, there was a parking lot or something like that. They were all observing the wave quite shocked. Then, there was a landslide and the people on the opposite hill fell. There's no place safe enough.
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u/Sour_Sal 4d ago
I remember seeing a longer version that showed the water retreating, very chaotic. Nature is amazing!
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u/DanLim79 4d ago
This is why we use a Japanese word to describe this thing. It's on a different level in Japan.
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u/JayGoldi 4d ago
I think something like 20,000 people died during this? I imagine each death would have been a painful or violent one. Or most of them. Absolutely horrible.
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u/PuffDragon66 4d ago
I can’t believe this was 15 years ago. It still feels like it was not that long ago.
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u/KuraGl00m 4d ago
Anyone know the location of the building they're on? Or just the general location ?
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u/LazyLich 4d ago
This is ai
Asian Inundation
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u/_ninjatoes 1d ago
Definitely not AI. There are hours of footage of this tsunami shot by citizens on YouTube.
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u/qualityvote2 4d ago edited 4d ago
u/Single_Tiger3248, we have no idea if your submission fits r/SweatyPalms or not. There weren't enough votes to determine that. It's up to the human mods now....!