All language subtitles for Violent Earth with Liev Schreiber S01E03 1080p WEB h264-BAE_track3_[eng]

[audio logo]

[chaos]

Narrator: Imagine
a huge wall, many,

Many feet high coming at you
with such speed and such force

That you cannot outswim this.

You cannot outrun it.

You've got to be up high enough
and pray it doesn't hit you.

That is your only escape.

[whooshing sound]

[audio logo]

Welcome to violent earth.

I'm liev schreiber.

Tsunamis are one of the
deadliest forces of nature.

They're most often
triggered by earthquakes

Below or near the ocean.

Unlike weather phenomena like
tornadoes and hurricanes,

No one can predict
when an earthquake

And tsunami might happen.

There is no season, no
specific time of year.

But when an undersea earthquake
strikes at a magnitude of 7.5

Or larger, a dangerous tsunami
might be set in motion,

And unsuspecting people
on shore might have only

Minutes to get to high ground.

[music playing]

[music playing]

A tsunami is a very
powerful set of waves.

Man: Get in, get in, get in!

It's caused by
this large disruption

Under the surface
of the ocean that

Moves the water for many hours
all across the ocean basin.

Kyung lah: The amount of power
and the amount of destruction

Is really mind blowing.

To feel a tsunami is to
understand the fury of nature.

It's incomparable to
anything I've ever seen.

[music playing]

Dave and I were in
the phang-nga province.

We could look out
and see the beach,

And the water was like glass.

I remember saying
to dave, my god.

It looks like a postcard.

It was shallow, which
was good because I

Don't know how to swim.

Stefan kuhn: [speaking german]

We went 2004 with our two
little kids to thailand.

Nele was three-year-old,
and lasse was one-year-old.

We stayed in bungalow
resort directly

At the beach of khao lak.

The beaches are so
calm and so nice.

[eerie music]

There are different mechanisms
that can create a tsunami.

You can have
undersea landslides.

You can have landslide that
splash down into the water.

You can have volcanic activity.

But the ones that produce
the biggest tsunamis

Are earthquakes.

Ken moore: We felt the
earthquake sitting on the bed.

It could have been 10,
15 seconds, maybe 30.

Sandi thompson: I
just remember going,

Oh, that was an earthquake.

And then I forgot about it.

I'm from san francisco.

It really didn't faze me.

Stefan kuhn: We
didn't felt anything.

The only thing we noticed was
an animal who was screaming.

[speaking german]

We were all together
at the beach.

I was laying down, and read a
book, and my kids and my wife

Were playing at the shoreline.

The water was normal.

And five minutes later, I looked
back, and the water was gone.

And what's happened there?

[stefan and wife speaking in
german]

If the water recedes
rapidly, sort of

Suddenly out of the blue, that
is one sign that a tsunami

Wave could be coming.

Stuart weinstein:
If you see that,

Then you may have a few
minutes, but don't wait.

Christine lang: I
had just met rubina.

We were going to do
some yoga on the beach.

From where we were, we
could not see the water.

We were on the sandbar.

It's a very narrow strip
with restaurants and shops.

Stefan kuhn: [speaking german]

I was grown up on an
island in the north sea.

I've grown up with water.

I did not recognize that.

[stefan and wife speaking in
german]

We felt safe.

It was so far away.

[speaking german]

We saw a wake.

It was all across the horizon.

And dave and I were looking
at it going, what in the world

Is that?

The wave came
nearer and nearer,

And then I turned the
camera to another spot.

[speaking german]

Sandi thompson: We should have
started running at that point,

But we didn't.

It didn't look that high.

Plus, we just didn't know
what we were watching.

The closer it got,
the louder it got.

It sounded like jet engines.

The owner of the resort
started screaming in thai.

We could tell by the fear in
his voice that it was serious.

I just cut the camera,
and I started running.

At the very last point, I don't
know why I turned, but I did.

That's when I saw the wave hit.

It hit the bank, and
it just went like that.

That wave was not
10 feet anymore.

It was 40 feet.

I just thought,
that's it, I'm dead.

I was running behind dave.

He ran into this building, and
I just made a split decision

To not go in the building.

I just saw off in the
distance, this pickup truck.

So I just ran as
fast as I could.

Rubina said, we
have got to run.

This water, very shallow
water, was coming in.

Maybe a foot deep, but
it was very, very strong.

I could no longer
lift up my feet.

And I looked up, and I
saw a black wall of water

Approximately five
to six stories

High coming right for me.

And then I was
blasted off my feet.

We had just finished packing.

And my wife goes, grab
your camera, look.

We're leaving.
Oh, my god.

Look at the waves coming.

Clear out, people!

[kid screaming]

Clear out!

I hope no one was out there.

Oh, my god.

Look out.
Get in the room.

Get in the room.

Get in the room.

I knew it was a tsunami.

No doubt in my mind.

Woman: Look, look, look.

Ken moore: I was
pretty much in a panic.

It completely flooded
the first floor at a time

When people were still
sleeping in their rooms.

When the fisher boat capsized,
it became a horrible situation.

[speaking german]

Ah, tsunami!

It's a tsunami.

It's a tsunami.

I never heard before.

And we ran for our lives.

[kid cries in german]

[speaking german]

Tsunamis are incredibly deadly
because not only are they walls

Of water, but they
are also carrying

A tremendous amount
of debris, and they're

Moving at incredible speeds.

[people screaming]

Yumei wang: The tsunami can
pick up so much sediment,

So it's very heavy.

If you're caught up in even
a foot of tsunami water,

You can likely die.

It's not a cresting wave.

Just think of the entire
ocean being pushed forward,

And so it's a giant wall
of water coming at you.

[women screams]

Cindi preller: If you
feel an earthquake,

The first thing to do is
to get cover and hold.

Anybody that's next to the ocean
should start counting to 20.

Man 1: Oh, my god.

Cindi preller: And
if you can get to 20

And it's still shaking,
then you have to evacuate.

Because at 20 seconds, it's
roughly a magnitude seven.

You just got to go to
high ground right then.

The epicenter
of the earthquake

That caused the indian ocean
tsunami was a 9.1 magnitude,

Among the most powerful
earthquakes and tsunamis

That have occurred since 1900.

That earthquake
was about 600 miles

Long a very long fault rupture.

The aceh province
of indonesia was

The first area struck by
the indian ocean tsunami

Within 15 to 30 minutes.

And then within 60
to 90 minutes later,

It struck the shoreline
of phuket, thailand.

Corina allen: And then traveling
to sri lanka and africa hours

After that.

And so it took some time, but
not an incredible amount of time

For those waves to travel
across the indian ocean.

Rocky lopes: It reached
18 countries in total.

The trouble is, no one
knew it was coming.

There was no tsunami warning
system in place in that region.

[birds chirping, waves crashing]

December 26, 2004, the
plan was just going to have

A nice time by the pool.

Me and my fiancee, sarah.

About 10 in the morning,
we heard people screaming.

[men screaming]

And then we saw a lot of people
just running into the hotel.

So we ran up, I
think, two floors.

And in the stairwell, we could
see a lot of water coming in.

But just after that,
I realized that there

Were people downstairs on the
ground floor, elderly people,

Disabled people.

Because this hotel
didn't have elevators.

And I realized that there might
be people who needed help.

So I just told sarah to stay
on our floor, the third floor,

And I ran down.

And when I came down,
the water was very calm.

What you have happening
is the wave is drawn back,

And it's amassing into
better formed wave

Before it comes rushing in.

Oftentimes, the biggest
wave is not the first wave.

Fredrik bornesand:
A lot of people

Went down to look for family.

And I saw an older couple.

And when I was about
just a couple of meters

From them to help them,
I heard terrible screams.

It's coming again.

Man 2: It's coming again?

Yeah, it's coming again.

And then the second wave came.

[people screaming]

[suspenseful music]

The force of the
water was tremendous.

This elderly couple was
hanging onto a railing.

And I tried to reach them.

And then just suddenly, the
very foundation that railing

Was attached to just slided
away, and they just disappeared.

And then I was stuck in
a corner of the hotel

With a lot of furniture just
coming towards me in high speed.

Inside was almost filled
up to my head with water.

I was quite sure that
this was the end of it.

I got to the pickup truck.

And there were a
few people on it.

And right at that
point, the water hit.

The water picked up the truck,
and we just floated away like we

Were on a gigantic river.

And we slammed up against one of
those huge earthmoving trucks.

We climbed up on top of
that, and we just watched

Everything just float by.

Off in the distance, I just saw
the building that dave ran into.

It was just a little tiny tip
of the roof, and then water.

That was it.

I had tremendous guilt
for not following him.

I was trapped between
debris, and I'm underwater.

And I'm thinking, I'm
going to die here.

And I thought that was it until
another wave came and blasted

Me out of that death trap.

I was being tumbled.

Random things were hitting
my head, my face, my legs.

I woke up underwater,
and it was pitch black.

And the water had stilled again.

And there was a circle
of light in the distance.

I just started swimming
to that circle of light.

[woman panting]

Any coast can be
affected by a tsunami,

But some coasts are at much
higher peril than others.

The ones right next to a
subduction zone, that's where

You need to be most worried.

Subduction zones are the
longest faults in the world,

And so they are capable
of producing the largest

Earthquakes in the world.

Magnitude eights,
magnitude nines.

When I'm talking
about a subduction zone,

I'm talking about two
plates coming together.

You have typically an oceanic
plate, a heavier plate that

Is being pushed down
beneath a continental plate,

A lighter, massive plate.

And it will push, and push,
and push for tens or hundreds,

In some cases even
1,000 years before

It's released as an earthquake.

There's probably
a couple of dozen

Or so named subduction zones,
most along the pacific rim.

Yumei wang: The ring of fire is
an area around the pacific rim,

Where you have a concentration
of active earthquakes

And active volcanoes.

The atlantic is mostly
lacking subduction zones.

So the big, mega,
great earthquakes,

They don't occur there.

[tense music]

[heavy waves crashing]

Fredrik bornesand:
I was just trapped.

And I thought, ok, I'm going
to die, but I'm going to fight.

And then I started climbing and
got loose from some furniture.

Then I was just pushed
through this wall of glass

Into the lobby.

And after a few minutes,
the water receded.

And then I saw two
thai guys, and they

Were trying hard to help a man
that was floating unconscious.

So me and the guy
went down in the water

And just dragged this man up.

And this was the same man that
was hung on the railing before.

We didn't know if
he was alive or not.

Frederick gave me one
task, just try to calm him

And talk to him.

He told me that his
name was malcolm

And that he was from England.

Fredrik bornesand: We
made bandages of sheets.

We didn't give it any big
chances that he made it.

[woman yelling]

You're hearing people yelling
and screaming because they're

Looking for their family.

At that point, the
water had receded enough

That I was walking with
all of the survivors

To get to the highest
point of the island.

And dave came running
up, and he was ok.

I was grateful to see her.

I just, what happened?

Where did you go?

My brain, the entire time,
assumed she was right behind me.

I ran into a two-story
concrete building.

My first thought was,
this is the closest

And strongest building.

Let me go upstairs.

But unfortunately, I spent too
much time looking for a stair,

So I had to keep running.

Christine lang: I barely got
to the surface, but I did.

It was a miracle.

I was able to hoist myself
up onto a floating door.

I could see that there was
a hotel in front of me.

When I finally made
it to the hotel,

There were people
dying all around me.

And it just seemed
so unbelievable

That this was happening.

And from the rooftop, we
could see the entire island

Had been completely wiped out.

I thought oh, my god, what
has happened to rubina?

It wasn't until
a few weeks later

That she had been found
and properly identified.

[people screaming]

Kid: [speaking german]

We crossed this road, and
then we climbed up the hill.

When we look down,
it was so unreal.

Fredrik bornesand: Me and
sara went to some hospitals

To find this man,
malcolm, again.

We really wanted to know
if he survived or not.

And there, on a list,
we saw this name,

Malcolm boyd, England.

Both me and sara was very
happy to find malcolm alive.

So I just hugged malcolm,
and sara took the picture.

His partner was identified
several months later.

We had the luck to
get into first plane,

Which was flown directly
to germany from phuket.

And I remember still the
words of the captain.

He only said, I want to
say, welcome on board.

We bring you home.

We are so lucky, and we
know that many people

Did not survive.

Cindi preller: It
shocked the world.

It put tsunami into
the global language.

That was one of the first
events where people had cameras

To be able to capture what it
looks like, what it sounds like,

What the experience was.

[man screaming]

The indian ocean
tsunami was so deadly

Because it was a surprise
to many, many people.

It was a huge wake up call
for the need for advanced

Tsunami warning systems.

It resulted in a significant
improvement of global detection

Equipment and
global coordination

Of tsunami warning systems.

I don't think we'll
ever see anything

Like that again of that
magnitude of loss of life.

Stuart weinstein: The
earliest recorded tsunami

Dates back to 2000 bc, and it
occurred off the coast of syria.

Over the past 100
years, there have

Been five earthquakes with
magnitudes of nine and above.

All of them generated
devastating tsunamis.

Tsunami waves travel very
fast in the deep ocean,

As fast as a jet plane
at 500 miles an hour.

They slow down as they reach
shallow water to about 20

Or 30 miles an hour.

These are very long waves.

If you're out in the open ocean,
you wouldn't even notice it.

It's not until the tsunami
comes close to the shore

That the water begins
to pile up and creates

This dangerous storm surge.

[heavy waves crashing]

Tsunami is a japanese word.

Tsu means port or harbor,
and nami means wave.

And it's a word you
hear all the time.

One of the world's best
and most robust tsunami

Warning systems is in japan.

Because japan has had the most
experience with tsunamis than

Any other country of the world.

They've occurred there
for thousands of years.

Kyung lah: Because japan is
an island, because it sits

On the pacific ring
of fire, earthquakes

And natural disasters
are something

That japan grows up with.

The idea of a tsunami
is embedded and enmeshed

In japanese culture.

They invest
heavily in science.

They invest heavily
in infrastructure,

Build seawalls, build
early warning systems.

Kyung lah: A devastating impact
along the northeast coastline.

[suspenseful music]

I was the cnn
international-based

Correspondent in tokyo.

That day, I happened
to be in the subway.

I could feel it.

It started off slightly shaking,
and then the force came.

What's unusual about being
underground during an earthquake

Is you don't feel
the buildings shake.

I somehow couldn't comprehend
that I was in the middle

Of a massive earthquake.

The train stop.

Japanese trains run with
incredible precision

Down to the very second,
and they weren't moving.

So the first thing I did was
I picked up my cell phone,

And I called cnn.

We are getting word
of a powerful earthquake

That has hit japan.

We want to go to kyung lah.

Kyung lah (on phone):
Everything was shaking.

The signs were moving.

People became very alarmed.

The japanese meteorological
agency is so hyper advanced

In warning and in bulletins.

And it comes across
your cell phone.

People are just basically
waiting here, waiting to see

What's going to happen next.

The early reports.

We're getting word
it was a seven--

Seven, five, maybe an eight.

Reporter: This is a
historic earthquake.

And then the number just
kept climbing and climbing.

An incredible upgrade of
an earthquake from a 7.9,

Which is what we initially
thought this was.

And when it hit 9.0,
I could not believe it.

[clattering]

Its energy release
was about equivalent

To 1,500 hiroshima bombs.

There were places where
the fault moved 200 feet.

Almost 2/3 of
a football field.

That's a lot.

Corina allen: The magnitude of
that motion was more than had

Ever been measured before.

Japan is actually sitting a
little closer to north america

Than it used to
before the earthquake.

Kyung lah: This was long.

[sirens wailing]

I'm talking to cnn.

I was focusing on this
huge earthquake I had just

Experienced and not really
comprehending that an epic

Disaster was on its way.

[people screaming]

Kyung lah: First there
is the earthquake.

And you feel as if you will die.

[sirens wailing]

And then comes a tsunami.

The tsunami came
ashore in japan

In as little as 15 minutes.

Man 3: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

[people screaming]

Japan may have
been hit by waves,

As in some places,
over 100 feet, perhaps

A maximum of 120 feet.

Pretty scary.

Corina allen: There
was nothing to stop it.

And so it continued to pick up
homes, debris, equipment, cars.

You see this black mass
of water full of debris.

It was devastating.

[people screaming in japanese]

Satoshi ito was
working at a hotel

And scrambled up the hillside.

He could see his boss scrambling
up, trying to make it.

The water came right up to her.

[people screaming]

It's terrifying,
watching somebody

You know just disappear.

He thought she was gone.

[man screaming]

The good fortune is that
she managed to survive.

I was caught in the whirlpool.

The bus cars and houses
were over my head.

I felt pain, but
I kept swimming.

I just wanted to live.

Broadcaster: The city of sendai
was hardest hit by today's quake

And by the tsunami
that followed.

Mao takahashi:
[speaking japanese]

16-year-old mao takahashi,
standing on his balcony,

Described to us how, like
so many people that day,

He ran out and tried to capture
the images that he was seeing.

Mao takahashi:
[speaking japanese]

The water was raging.

And he saw a man.

He didn't know him.

Mao takahashi:
[speaking japanese]

Man 4: [speaking japanese]

And this 16-year-old
kid risked his own life,

Got into the water, and saved
someone he doesn't even know.

Cindi preller: We
never want people

To evacuate in their cars.

Cars are quite
dangerous, actually.

Cars are a lot of ways
that people drown.

You can see the tsunami
coming up behind very quickly.

This guy, he goes back
to close the door.

And really within
seconds, he is surrounded

By tsunami on both sides.

A lot of people
break the windows,

Climb out, and get
on top of their cars.

Breaking news, japan reeling
from a monumental natural

Disaster, the most powerful
earthquake in its history,

Followed by a killer tsunami.

It destroyed coastal
towns for about 300 miles.

In one town that I went to, it
looked like the whole city had

Been put into a mud blender.

Another town, there was
a massive fire that had

Burned through the entire town.

Man 5: [speaking japanese]

Entire towns vanished,
disappeared, just

Mountains of rubble everywhere.

People lost everything.

The March 11, 2011 tsunami in
japan is reported to have caused

Approximately 20,000 deaths.

Man 6: [speaking japanese]

The seawall had been
built to withstand

A tsunami of a certain level.

They had done their
planning up to an 8.0.

A magnitude nine
earthquake releases

About 32 times the
amount of energy

As a magnitude eight earthquake.

But because
japan had warnings,

And they prepared for
this, only about 10%

Of the people in the
tsunami inundation zone

Perished in that event,
which is in stark contrast

To the 90% in the 2004
indian ocean event.

They saved so
many lives that day.

It happened in faraway
lands, and it's easy to think

It can't happen here.

In the pacific
northwest at least,

There is a major threat from the
cascadia subduction zone, where

We could have a magnitude
nine earthquake followed

By a destructive tsunami.

If a big earthquake happened
in the pacific northwest right

Now, bits and pieces of
what happened in indonesia

And what happened in japan,
we could put them together,

And that would be a pretty
accurate picture of what

It's going to look like here.

Corina allen: The
cascadia subduction zone

Stretches from
northern california,

From mendocino, california,
all the way up off the shore

Of vancouver island in canada.

It's about 100 miles offshore.

So you can't see it,
but it's there looming.

In a geologic sense, the
earthquakes occur like they're

On a conveyor belt.

Scientists, sedimentologists,
seismologists,

They've been looking
at trying to uncover

The history of cascadia.

There's a famous scientist,
dr. Brian atwater,

From the united states
geological survey.

And he and his
colleagues from japan

And from across
the united states

Started to discover what
they call ghost forests.

Hmm, what killed
all those trees?

And then right next
to those dead trees,

We would find sand deposits
that look a lot like what

Tsunamis leave behind.

Corina allen: They're
able to figure

Out how old those
different layers

Were when they were deposited.

And then they're also able
to date the trees that died.

Yumei wang: So the
last earthquake

Occurred 323 years ago.

The japanese looked at
their harbor records

And saw that there was a
tsunami that they didn't

Know where the source was.

The actual source was from
the cascadia subduction zone.

A megathrust earthquake
happened in the cascadia region

On January 26, 1700 at 9:00 pm.

I mean, they know
it that accurately.

The geologic record in
cascadia along the pacific

Northwest tells us that
these earthquakes happen

About every 200 to 600 years.

What I think is important
is to know that we're

Due for a major earthquake.

So northern
california, oregon,

Washington, and then
british columbia

Can all be majorly affected.

The buildings and
our built environment

Haven't been designed to
withstand earthquakes.

Corina allen: We expect the
roads, the infrastructure, those

Are all going to be
buckled, compromised.

The bridges will not perform,
will likely be collapsed.

The tsunami that ensues would
reach the washington coastline

At some places in just about
10 minutes after the

Earthquake starts.

I would say that it's
hundreds of thousands

Of people that could be
on the beach in the summer

Along just california,
oregon, and washington.

Yes, it is scary, but there's
something we can do about it.

We are not powerless.

Right now, everybody
in oregon, california,

And washington will
get an earthquake

Early warning through a
system called shake alert.

And those come on
your cell phone.

Maybe about 10 to
30 seconds notice.

So it's very, very fast.

But it's only notification that
earthquake shaking is coming.

From the time the
earthquake starts

In cascadia, we expect
the shaking to last

For three to six minutes.

But the tsunami has
already been generated

The second the earth moves.

Diego melgar: If you're by
the water, you need to move.

There's no ifs, ands, or buts.

You should know exactly
what the best route

Is to get you to higher ground.

Diego melgar: 100 feet above sea
level is a really safe place.

If you can get to 100
feet, you're good.

So there's places where
that's just not feasible.

In 2011, in japan, one of
the big lessons that we learned

Is the importance of vertical
evacuation structures.

That's within
the tsunami zone,

A well-built building that
can tolerate the tsunami,

And debris hitting
it, and people can

Be up above at a high level.

Right now, there are three in
existence in the united states.

That's a great start.

But in washington alone,
we need at least 50 more

To be able to evacuate the
people that just live there.

Diego melgar: It
doesn't matter if you

Move really quickly if there's
nowhere to go that is safe.

If we don't take the steps
that we need to take to protect

Ourselves, then it will
likely be the worst disaster

That we face in the us.

But what I fear most is that
if the earthquake happens now,

Today, we're not ready.

We're very far from being ready.

It will happen.

It's just a matter of when.

The united states
has two tsunami warning

Centers that operate 24/7.

One is in hawaii, and
the other in alaska.

December 2024 will mark
the 20th anniversary

Of the indian ocean tsunami.

Stefan kuhn's video
of that historic event

Has been studied by educators
and experts the world over.

Stefan says it was
a while before he

And his wife could
relax at the beach.

But over time,
their fear subsided.

In fact, years later, his
family returned to khao lak

And stayed on the shoreline.

Even after all
they'd been through,

Stefan said it was
wonderful to be back.

For more information on
what you can do in a tsunami

And what you can do to
combat the climate crisis,

Go to cnn.Com/violentearth.

I'm liev schreiber.

Thanks for watching.

Good night.