Three days after Friday’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan, photo and video from the ground continue to leak out. Despite the tragedy and devastation in these clips, it’s hard to look away, so fascinating and otherworldly are these images. Metro’s roundup of the most harrowing footage:
The Natorigawa river overflowing its banks:
Similar footage to this was excerpted on many American cable channels, but seeing the tsunami in long shot really drives home the slow-moving, seemingly inescapable terror.
The tsunami overflowing a seawall in Iwate:
In this clip from PBS’s “NewsHour,” waves come crashing over a seawall like something out of a disaster movie.
Tsunami footage:
This footage from Japan’s Asahi TV shows the impact of the tsunami on Kesennuma, in Miyagi prefecture. For our money, the dreadful physicality of the video makes it the most terrifying we’ve seen, with the constant creaking and groaning as the water exerts its force on the physical lansdcape.
Japan’s Mount Shinmoedake erupting:
It’s unclear whether last week’s earthquake caused Japan’s Mount Shinmoedake to erupt, but the volcano spewed ash up to four kilometers in the air this weekend. The volcano had lain dormant for more than 50 years before erupting again in January.
