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Monday, March 28, 2011

Tsunami's terrifying power is revealed in new clip as fresh 6.5-magnitude quake hits Japan

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Leading edge: As alarm sirens blare over the city, the initial surge spills over barriers around Kesennuma Bay and begins running through the streets


As news emerged today of yet another earthquake striking Japan, terrifying new footage from the original March 11 earthquake and tsunami shows the brutal and deadly power of the water that has claimed thousands of lives.

Filmed from the top of a building in Kesennuma, around 300 miles north-east of Tokyo, the footage shows the surge of water cascading over coastline barriers around Kesennuma Bay as a tsunami alarm sounds.

It quickly turns into a furious torrent of water, sweeping everything away - including cars, ships and buildings - as it forces itself inland.


Gone in seconds: Within a minute the carpark in the previous shot has been completely erased by the fast-flowing water - giving residents no time to react


Panning right: The amateur cameraman points his handheld camera to capture water pouring through the streets beyond - destroying everything in its path


The sheer power of the water has to be seen to be believed. More unnerving is the sound of the tsunami crushing and grinding everything in its path.

The 5min 45sec clip begins as the leading edge of the tsunami has already struck, with cars being pushed over the bay's surge barriers and being swept into a nearby car park.

The amateur cameraman pans the handheld camera to the left to capture the fast-flowing water as it rushes into the bay. A siren begins and a recorded voice in Japanese gives tsunami advice to Kesennuma residents.


Disaster zone: The tsunami's devastation is now complete - what was once a thriving city no longer exists


Soon the wall of water is moving with incredible speed and rising fast - the barrier that had once looked like a mini waterfall is now now merely a ripple as the tide flows over it.

A storage building with a green roof in the middle distance of the shot begins to disintegrate under the immense force.

The camera pans to the right and focusses on another part of the city. Water can be seen flooding surrounding streets and buildings in the distance are being washed away as smoke rises from the ravaged city.


An injured man, using two sticks to support himself, walks underneath a ferry that came to rest on the roof of a two-storey building in Otsuchi, in the north-east of the country


Reiko Kikuta, right, and her husband Takeshi Kikuta watch as workers attempt to attach ropes to their submerged home to try to pull it ashore with construction equipment on Oshima Island in north-eastern Japan


Daunting task: Police officers in protective suits search among the wreckage left by the natural disaster for missing people in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture





source: dailymail