'Terror and panic': The Japanese who outran a tsunami wave

The video: Many of the vivid videos to emerge from Japan's catastrophic tsunami have captured the large-scale destruction of the disaster — entire towns swept up by relentless waves, recorded by an observer on higher ground. But new footage puts the disaster on a more human scale. (See video below.) The 57-second, queasily shot video captures a group of people running across a parking lot in Iwaki City, urged on frantically by people already perched on a tree-lined slope. A fearsome wave suddenly appears, and within seconds, the entire parking lot is deluged with water, as cars and buses swirl in the raging muck. Though it appears that the video's subjects all (barely) reached the slope, it's impossible to say with certainty what happened after the camera stopped rolling.

The reaction: The footage is "quite shaky," says Alex Alvarez at Mediaite, "but it still manages to convey the terror and panic of being caught unawares by a natural disaster." Truly, "this tsunami video will haunt your dreams," says AllahPundit at Hot Air. "It's the universal nightmare about being chased by something you can’t quite outrun brought horribly to life." Watch the frightening clip:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up