All language subtitles for The UnXplained S04E21 1080p WEB h264-KOGi_track3_[eng]

WILLIAM SHATNER: For centuries,
humanity has repeatedly faced

devastating disasters
that have unleashed

destruction,

defied explanation,

and changed
the course of history.

In our modern world,
we tend to think

that scientific knowledge
and technology

can help protect us
from almost anything,

including natural disasters.

But is that really true?

Or are we just
as vulnerable today

in the face of raging fires,

violent earthquakes

and destructive hurricanes

as our ancestors were
in the past?

Well, that is what
we'll try and find out.

♪ ♪

The city is in the midst of an

unprecedented period
of growth and prosperity.

That is,
until a small fire breaks out

in a barn located
at 137 DeKoven Street.

The blaze quickly
grows out of control,

and flames spread north and east

toward the heart of the city,

putting Chicago's
324,000 residents

in grave danger.

NIGEL RAAB:
1871 Chicago had experienced

enormous growth,
and that enormous growth

meant very fast building,

and also very fast
building in wood.

Buildings were made out of wood,

and sidewalks
were made out of wood,

and the important thing

about sidewalks
being made out of wood

is those conduct heat
very easily

from one part
of the city to the other,

and so, that spread the fire
throughout the city.

This was exacerbated by a period

of an extremely dry
summer and fall,

which prepped most
of the city's construction,

which was wood at the time,

as kindling.

The whole thing was basically
waiting to go up in smoke.

Buildings were
clustered together.

So, once one area went up,

the whole thing went up,

and to make matters worse,

the water tower in Chicago,

which was the firefighters'
principal source for water

to fight the fire,
was itself destroyed.

SHATNER:
Since the authorities were
unable to contain the blaze,

nine different fires
broke out across the city,

eventually coalescing
into a single

raging inferno.

McGEE:
The Chicago Fire was

biblically devastating, if you
want to think of it like that.

Try to visualize

what the people in the
mid-19th century were seeing.

An entire city engulfed
in flames, which was so hot

it created the fire equivalent
of dust devils.

Vortices, think of them
like reverse tornadoes

that were sweeping
across the city.

They call them fire devils,
and they themselves,

they have fast enough winds
that they could fling

burning bits of debris

into other parts of the city

that hadn't yet caught on fire.

So, literally, this was

the world coming to an end.
Death by fire.

SHATNER:
For three days,
the fire raged across Chicago,

turning the wooden city
into ash.

One-third of
the city's buildings

were burned to the ground,
and 300 people were killed

before a rainstorm
mercifully put an end

to the disaster.

There were 17,000 buildings
destroyed in that fire,

and more than 100,000 people
lost their homes.

The fire basically destroyed

most of the inner city
of Chicago.

McGEE:
Anyone who experiences

an incomprehensible disaster

on the scale of the Chicago Fire

is gonna be profoundly impacted
by it, and history shows us

the Chicagoans were.

There was intense
citywide grief.

There was so much pride
in the city of Chicago,

in what they'd become
in such a short period of time,

that there was despair.

Everything was gone.

SHATNER:
It's hard to fathom
17,000 buildings

in such a bustling,
prosperous city

burning to the ground
in only a few short days.

And in the wake
of the Great Chicago Fire,

people wanted to know how
the massive inferno got started.

But, at the time,

investigations into fires
were in their infancy,

so authorities had a hard time

collecting evidence.

RAAB:
What caused the fire?

It was the question
that was in everyone's mind.

You know, when people
were trying to figure out

the origin of the fire,

there was the popular story that

it was a cow inside the barn
that kicked over a lantern,

and from there, events unfolded.

Now that's considered
an urban legend.

There are many different
contested ways

in which that could have
started, but it did

start on the property
and spread from there.

SHATNER:
The destruction unleashed
by the Great Chicago Fire

took nearly two years to repair.

And during
the rebuilding process,

engineers were told to ensure

that such a disaster
could never happen again.

In the aftermath
of the Chicago Fire,

fire was principle
on everyone's mind,

and so, almost immediately,

they enacted a brand-new series
of ordinances

requiring things like limestone,

granite in
building construction.

Steel beams instead of
pine beams, which are flammable.

And a new technological
innovation,

which was terra-cotta tiles,

which started
to fireproof Chicago

in a way that the world
basically had never seen before.

STEPHEN PYNE:
After the fire
in Chicago, we got

the origins-- at least for the
U.S.-- of modern architecture.

So, they began using iron

and glass, giving us the basis
for modern buildings.

And these would be, in a sense,
much less combustible.

SHATNER:
While the Great Chicago Fire

inspired innovations
in fire prevention,

it also served
as a reminder that,

even though mankind
first mastered fire

some 400,000 years ago,

it remains a powerful
and unpredictable

force of nature
that can inflict great harm.

TOK THOMPSON:
Fire is a frequent disaster
that comes upon people,

but it's an interesting one.

As far as we know, no other
species on the Earth, uh,

makes fire, uh, to utilize it.

It's one of the things
somewhat unique to our species.

It's both necessary
and yet incredibly

destructive and dangerous.

This has been
a part of the human story

for a long, long time.

Fire is a double-edged sword.

On one edge of the sword,
we're talking about

creating foods and
creating warmth and light

that makes modern
civilization possible.

But the other side of the sword

is if it gets out of control
it could wipe out your cities.

SHATNER:
In modern times, there have been

tremendous advances
in firefighting.

But mankind's ability
to stop fires quickly

has led
to an unintended consequence

that experts refer to as

the fire paradox.

We have generated
a fire paradox.

By this, I mean

we have dramatically
affected fire

in the landscape
around the world.

On the one hand,
we've been fighting fires,

trying to stop wildfires
from consuming the vegetation.

Now, this may sound good,
but, at the same time,

it's actually a problem.

If you reduce natural fire
from the landscape,

if you keep it out of landscape
for too long,

you will have an accumulation
of flammable material,

and when a fire
eventually occurs,

it'll be more destructive.

Wildfires are becoming longer
and more intense.

The data proves this.

For example,
one of the largest megafires

in California so far was called

the August Complex fire,
which happened in 2020.

It was so large that it burned
over a million acres,

which is just
unheard of in history.

Ever since we had
the Great Chicago Fire in 1871,

we had been under the impression
that we shouldn't

ever try to allow fire
to happen on the landscape.

We now know that we should

actually allow some fire
to happen naturally.

And all we can do
is do our best to understand it

because these fires
are gonna keep happening.

It's staggering to think that,
in just three short days,

the Great Chicago Fire
wreaked so much havoc,

it took nearly two years
to repair the damage.

But there have been
other disasters in history

that have inflicted even greater
destruction on civilization.

Like in the year 1755,

when a massive earthquake
nearly wiped out

an entire city.

SHATNER:
Across the city,
a celebration is underway.

Thousands of Christians
are packed into churches

to celebrate a festival
known as All Saints' Day.

But then, at about 10:00 a.m.,

without warning,

disaster strikes.

WYSESSION:
A massive magnitude 8
earthquake occurred in

the Atlantic Ocean seafloor
right along

the tectonic plate boundary
between Eurasia and Africa.

The shaking from this earthquake

knocked down about 85%
of the buildings of Lisbon.

Even worse,
this earthquake occurred

while most people were in mass,

in church or cathedrals

on All Saints' Day.

Lisbonites are in
all these churches,

and many
of the most major churches

in Lisbon were destroyed.

It was one of the most
devastating earthquakes

that Europe
had seen in centuries.

SHATNER:
In a matter of minutes,
the massive earthquake

reduced the buildings
throughout Lisbon to rubble

and opened
a 16-foot-wide crack

in the ground through
the center of the city.

Estimates place the death toll
as high as 50,000 people,

or about 20%
of Lisbon's population.

WYSESSION:
In the early 1700s,

if you had listed the
five great cities of Europe:

London,

Paris,

Rome, you well might have

included Lisbon in that list.

But, after 1755,

Lisbon's glory was reduced,

literally, to ashes.

Lisbon rebuilt,

but never really reached
the same glory that it had.

SHATNER:
In the aftermath
of the horrific quake,

the residents of Lisbon
struggled to understand

why this tragedy
had befallen their city.

Many among
the Christian populace,

who had only heard of such
devastation in the Holy Bible,

believed the earthquake
to be an act of God.

Lisbon was dominated
by the Catholic Church.

A very, very religious city.

So, lots of theologians
started to ponder

the meaning of this event
in religious terms

because the fact was, this
earthquake had struck Lisbon

on one of its holiest days,

the feast of all saints.

It had killed tens of thousands
of Christians

while they were worshipping.

Why did God choose this day

to bring an earthquake
upon the people of Lisbon?

And this was a confrontation
for many theologians,

and they blamed
the people of Lisbon.

They said,
"You must have been sinful."

The only reason this
could have happened to you

is that you are not
living by God's laws.

SHATNER:
While some people
thought the earthquake

was a punishment from God,

others focused on taking
practical steps

to guard against
such a calamity in the future.

One of those people
was Portugal's prime minister,

the Marquis of Pombal.

McNAB:
In the reconstruction
of Lisbon,

the Marquis de Pombal oversaw

really critical innovations.

The first is to build
earthquake-resistant buildings.

These are built around
wooden frames that can actually

sway with an earthquake,
rather than collapse.

And then, he improves the city.

Before, it was these
winding, medieval streets,

which people
could get blocked up in.

So, the Marquis de Pombal,
he redesigns the city

on a gridiron system, so,
all of a sudden, you have now,

really wide, straight streets,

which are ideal
for evacuating people.

And, in fact,
the way that he handled

the reconstruction of the city

is the first instance of modern
disaster response in history,

where someone actually tries
to take a rational response

to the effects
of a natural disaster.

SHATNER:
The varied reactions
to the Lisbon earthquake

have actually been quite common
throughout human history.

For thousands of years,
mankind has tried to make sense

of these violent tremors that
often strike without warning.

Earthquakes have
a really unique place, uh,

in human consciousness
because you can't see it coming.

It's not like a giant storm

that you can see
the clouds approaching,

see the lightning,
hear the thunder.

Earthquakes,
you feel and you hear,

but that happens in the moment.

You can't run out of the way.

There's nowhere to hide.

The problem of earthquakes
and how to deal with them

goes back to antiquity.

The first seismometer
to measure earthquakes

was actually invented
by a scientist named Chang Heng

back in China in the first
century of the common era.

This was a beautiful bronze,

almost a cask,

that had dragons
around the perimeter

with balls in their mouths.

And beneath them were a little
array of-of bronze frogs.

And the way the device worked
is the pendulum

inside would rock just so,

bumping a lever in the direction
where the earthquake occurred,

and a ball would fall out
of the dragon's mouth and land

telling you the orientation
of an earthquake.

And all developments since then
on earthquake detectors--

we call them seismometers--

have been variations
on that theme.

SHATNER:
Today, experts

understand that
earthquakes happen when

massive underground rocks, known

as tectonic plates,
suddenly collide,

causing seismic forces
to be unleashed

beneath our feet.

Scientists can measure
an earthquake's power

and even pinpoint its location.

But, in spite of everything
we've learned,

we still have a hard time
predicting where

and when

the next earthquake will strike.

PHOENIX:
With earthquakes,

there's still a component
of uncertainty.

And we are always
trying to improve

our earthquake knowledge.

We actually have

extensive seismic networks

that go all around the globe,

where you can have an earthquake
in China that we sense

in Virginia on a college campus.

And that helps us
really triangulate

where these events occur,

how deep
in the crust they occur,

and how big they really are.

We've made
huge amounts of progress,

but there is still so much more
we have to learn

that will help us understand
where and when

these quakes might happen,
so that we can save lives.

SHATNER:
While scientists haven't learned
how to predict earthquakes,

a curious theory
about what causes some of them

to occur has emerged.

And it just so happens
that humanity

may, in fact, be to blame.

McGEE:
The idea of
human-induced earthquakes

really comes to the forefront
of the social mind

in construction
of the Hoover Dam

in Nevada in the 1930s.

It actually triggered
a series of earthquakes around

the dam under construction.

We think we can create
gigantic reservoirs

without facing consequences
of these things.

But if your reservoir
is near a fault line, watch out.

There is a theory that a lot
of seismologists believe in

that the earthquake
of 2008 in China

that killed about 70,000 people

was, in fact, created

by this gigantic reservoir

that put enormous pressure

on a fault line,

which then gave way.

What happened in Sichuan in 2008

is a wake-up call.

A wake-up call in that

when you tamper with the Earth

you're tampering
with an earthquake.

Is it possible that some
of the deadliest earthquakes

in modern times were actually
caused by human activity?

It's an unsettling theory,

not only because of
the massive damage they inflict,

but also because of
the devastating forces

that are sometimes
triggered, like

the destructive phenomenon
that scientists refer to

as a megatsunami.

SHATNER:
Deep within the ocean floor,

a massive earthquake
suddenly shakes the ground

for nearly ten minutes.

The energy released
measures an astounding 9.1

on the Richter scale,
which is the equivalent

of 23,000 atomic bombs

exploding all at once,

making this disaster

the most powerful earthquake
of the 21st century.

What happened was
there are two major plates

on the Earth that are
smashing into each other.

And when this happened,
it raised the seafloor there

more than 100 feet

across 900 miles.

And what does this mean?

This means a tsunami's coming.

Tsunamis happen
when something causes

the level of the seafloor
to go up.

And when the seafloor goes up,

it pushes the whole
water column up,

and gravity causes
that water to flow away.

This earthquake in 2004

created a massive tsunami

that spread all throughout
the Indian Ocean.

SHATNER:
The enormous tsunami
traveled across the Indian Ocean

at a speed of more than
500 miles per hour

and smashed into
the western part

of the island of Sumatra.

McGEE:
20 minutes or so
after the quake,

the nearest coastline in Sumatra

suffered a hundred-foot wall
of water that came in.

All but the tallest buildings
were completely submerged.

So, immediate destruction.

Two hours later, that same wave,

traveling at more than
500 miles per hour

hits Thailand.

(people screaming)

MAN:
Get in! Get in! Get in!

SHATNER:
Ten-year-old Riley Sewell
was on vacation

in Thailand with her family

when the giant tsunami struck.

SEWELL:
We are playing on the beach,

and we look towards the shore,

and we see this thin white line
is coming at us,

and it's getting bigger and
bigger and bigger and bigger,

and this was a 75-foot tsunami.

My mom is shouting, "Run! Run!"
at the top of her lungs,

and we start running up
this pathway

up one of the cliffs.

You can just hear,
like, this tsunami is loud

and it's smashing.

And it's, like,
destroying trees,

but you can also hear
the sound of people dying.

Sounds that no person
should ever hear,

and no person
should ever experience.

Had we not found that pathway,

had we not run
as fast as we had,

I wouldn't be talking
and breathing

and speaking as I am right now.

SHATNER:
While Riley Sewell
and her family

were lucky to survive,

230,000 people in 14 different
countries perished,

in what was one of the deadliest
natural disasters in history.

WEYSESSION:
The tsunami killed people
in Africa, in India,

and 70,000 people
died on Sri Lanka.

So, people all across the world

died from the huge tsunami
that hit.

SHATNER:
Frightening images
broadcast around the world

gave billions of people
a first-hand look

of the apocalyptic power
of tsunamis.

And yet this disaster

was only the latest
in a long history

of doomsday tsunamis

that have been recorded
for centuries.

The earliest recorded
tsunami happened

in the year 1630,

before the common era.

When a massive tsunami spread

throughout the eastern
Mediterranean at that time

and hit the island of Santorini,
in the Greek Isles.

Now, interestingly,

1,200 years later,

the Greek philosopher Plato

wrote of the story of Atlantis,

which was a legend that had been
handed down for years orally.

The story involved
the destruction of an island

in a dramatic day and night,

sinking beneath the waves.

And many anthropologists
think that this legend

actually could be referring
back to the tsunami

that hit Santorini.

SHATNER:
A massive tsunami
may have been the inspiration

for Plato's story
of the destruction of Atlantis,

but on the other side
of the globe,

the dangers of tsunamis

were recorded in stone
on the island of Japan.

Japan is based on
three major fault lines

that collide,

making it one of the most
geologically active areas

for tsunamis.

In fact,
tsunami is a Japanese word.

Because tsunamis
are a regular occurrence,

they put up stone monuments
saying in this year

on this day, the water
went up to this level.

SHATNER:
Coastal areas such as Japan
are still quite

vulnerable to the destructive
power of tsunamis.

But, fortunately,

scientists have created
an early warning system

which can alert people before
the next deadly tsunami strikes.

This technology provides people
with a valuable resource

that our ancestors did not have:

the possibility
to get out of harm's way.

There's a network of buoys
called DART buoys,

and these are pressure sensors

that sit on the ocean seafloor

and can actually detect
the pressure

of the tsunami wave
as it goes over.

So, if a candidate earthquake

is identified

and then verified,

it goes into a warning system

that broadcasts a warning

throughout the ocean basin,

setting off sirens along coasts,

and alerting people
by cell phone.

However, there's still
many parts of the world

that don't have
adequate coverage,

and we need a lot more sensors

to make sure that we do
a better job predicting

and forecasting
the arrival of a tsunami.

It's encouraging to know
that there's an early warning

system that can help us
detect when a tsunami

will strike before it happens.

But some natural disasters
are so powerful

and so inexplicable

that it's almost impossible
to prepare for them.

Like in the case
of a massive cataclysm

that took place almost
1,500 years ago

that covered half the planet

in total darkness.

SHATNER:
Spring has arrived
in the capital

of the Byzantine Empire.

But even though
winter has ended,

the temperature
remains cold because

the sky is so dark

that it blocks out the sun.

PHOENIX:
What is really astounding

is the way that people described

this 536 event.

You had writers
explaining what happened

in very precise detail

from what they could observe.

They described the sun
became darkened,

and we felt
a thickening in the air,

and we saw this fog
or this dust veil.

Now, they didn't know
what caused it,

but the descriptions
are extremely thorough.

McCORMICK:
The Byzantine
historian Procopius

wrote that the sun shone
at half its strength,

like it was in eclipse.

This was the start of a period

of colder than average
temperatures.

And the darkness
lasted for 18 months.

SHATNER:
The sun was blocked
by a dark sky

for over a year?

Such an improbable catastrophe

may sound like
it was a fictional story

taken from the pages of
ancient folklore or mythology.

But, curiously,

numerous historical accounts
of this event were written

not just in Constantinople

but all over the world,
during the year

536 A.D.

McCORMICK:
What happened in 536 was a

climate event of considerable
magnitude that was

terrible for the people
who lived through it.

The most detailed record

is in Latin, and it was
written by Cassiodorus,

who was a high
civil servant in Italy.

He wrote that the sun
gave off no warmth

at any time
in the course of the day.

And there are also records
in Chinese

that refer to a terrible cold,

terrible freezing
in the summertime, and so,

we've been able
to piece this story

of this extraordinary
catastrophe together,

combining the evidence
of sources of eyewitnesses

who wrote their reports
in Greek,

in Latin, and in, uh, Chinese.

The Earth became cold.

The crops died.

The result was tremendous
food shortages,

hunger,

famine in places,

migration and upheaval.

SHATNER:
It is clear from
the historical record that,

starting in the spring
of 536 A.D.,

the entire Northern Hemisphere

experienced darkness

and bitter cold for over a year.

In fact, historians
have dubbed 536 A.D.

the worst year
to be alive in history.

But what could have caused
the sun to become blocked

in the first place and for such
a long period of time?

Numerous theories have been
proposed, including the idea

that an asteroid impact
sent dirt into the atmosphere.

But, in recent years,

some scientists
have suggested the darkness

may have been caused
by a volcanic eruption.

KAKU:
When you think of a volcano,
you have an image of lava flows

oozing out of the volcano.

Well, yes, that's what happens,

but that's not
the only thing which happens.

You also have
all the soot and debris,

which blanket the atmosphere

and block out sunlight.

And so, in 536, we think

that there was
a volcanic eruption

and there was so much
soot, ash, debris

launched into the atmosphere
that it created a fog.

A fog that destroyed
agriculture.

A fog that ground
civilization to a halt.

PHOENIX:
This event around 536

has all the markings

of a very large-scale eruption

that had the ability to change
climate conditions

all across
the Northern Hemisphere.

It really does emphasize
just how big the effects

of volcanoes are,
how widespread,

and how damaging they can be
to human civilization.

SHATNER:
But if a volcano caused
the year of darkness,

then which of the nearly
1,500 active volcanoes on Earth

was the one that erupted?

McCORMICK:
A team working
on the ice levels for 536

from the Swiss-Italian border,
found microscopic

morsels of volcanic particles

that matches
what one would expect

in a volcano in Iceland.

And so, the top suspect
right now

in the eruption
behind the 536 event

is one of the many
volcanoes in Iceland.

SHATNER:
Scientists are still working
to definitively prove

whether a volcanic eruption
in Iceland

blocked the sun in 536 A.D.

But perhaps the even
more pressing question is

could the Earth ever be
blanketed in darkness again?

Could this happen again?

The answer is of course
it could happen again.

It has happened once
in the last 2,000 years,

it has perhaps happened
more frequently over a longer

time span that we have not yet
been able to uncover.

We need to be prepared.

The 2010 eruption
of Eyjafjallajökull,

the Icelandic volcano,

actually disrupted
a lot of people's lives

because volcanic particles

were going up
into the atmosphere.

And it shut down air travel

because those particles

will clog your jet engine
and cause major, major problems.

This planet has a beating heart.
It has life.

It is an ever-evolving,
ever-changing process

every time a volcano erupts.

And we are just
along for the ride.

Given the fact that much
of Europe and the Middle East

and Asia were shrouded
in darkness for an entire year,

it's easy to see why
historians think that 536 A.D.

was the worst year
to be alive in human history.

But...

the disasters that we face today
are no less dangerous.

For instance,
the number of hurricanes

that strike our coasts
have actually been increasing

in recent years.

And what's even more concerning

is that they may also be getting

bigger and more powerful.

SHATNER:
Galveston, Texas. 1900.

At the turn of the century,
this bustling city,

located along
the Gulf of Mexico,

was one of America's
busiest ports.

But that all changed
on September 8th, 1900,

when a massive hurricane
hit Galveston

and leveled
everything in its path.

WYSESSION:
The great Galveston hurricane

of September of 1900

was the deadliest hurricane
in U.S. history,

killing somewhere between
6,000 and 12,000 people.

What did most of the destruction

was the huge increase

in the storm surge
of about 12 feet.

The whole sea level
outside of Galveston,

which is already
right at sea level,

was suddenly 12 feet higher,

totally inundating
the entire coastal area.

This incredible storm surge

raced across the island

and killed about one in six

of all the people who lived
on the island at the time.

At the same time,
these incredible winds

demolished
the properties themselves

just by the force
of the wind power.

SHATNER:
3,600 buildings were destroyed

by the Galveston hurricane,

and 10,000 people

were left homeless.

This storm was so enormous
and caused such

devastation that the majority
of the population had to flee.

And it really affected
the town of Galveston.

It became sort of known

as a dangerous place to live.

SHATNER:
While the destruction
a hurricane can reap

is impossible to control,

over the past century,

it's been advances
in space technology

that have helped to create
long-range forecasting

and to lower the human toll
these massive storms can take.

WYSESSION:
The proliferation of networks of
satellites in space have totally

changed how we view
the hazard of hurricanes.

We're able to track hurricanes

from when they initially begin,

and we can even predict
the exact time

and location of landfall.

SHATNER:
But in spite of our
technological advances,

we're still very much
at the mercy

of the powerful forces
of nature,

as some of the worst hurricanes

in history have taken place
in the last two decades.

WYSESSION:
For Hurricane Katrina,
in the year 2005,

about $125 billion worth

of damage occurred,
and it's quite likely

that future hurricanes
will do the same.

Buildings are
going to be destroyed.

Coastlines will be eroded.

The damage from these hurricanes

is enormous
and will continue to be.

HEYCK-WILLIAMS:
Hurricane Harvey

in Houston in 2017
created such massive flooding

it was what they call
a millennial flood.

A flood that big
is only supposed to happen

once every thousand years or so.

But Hurricane Harvey is becoming

more of a trend
that we're seeing

in terms of the magnitude
of these

megastorms, unfortunately,
in the U.S.

SHATNER:
Is there anything more
we can do to protect coastal

communities against
destructive hurricanes?

Well, many experts feel that
the best way for us to study

and understand hurricanes,

in order to help prevent
further loss of life,

is by flying directly
into the eye of these

powerful storms.

Going out to fly Irma today.

SHATNER:
The National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration

has formed a team
of scientists known as

the Hurricane Hunters

who pilot aircraft fitted

with sophisticated sensors

into hurricanes.

We like to say that
in a hurricane, we're sort of

the first line of defense

because the first thing
you need to know

is the state of the storm.

How strong is it?
Where is it going?

What kind of hazards
does it pose?

We know how important
the measurements are.

And the measurements
we need from a hurricane

we can only get by actually
putting the aircraft

within the storm.

SHATNER:
While gathering
this critical data,

Hurricane Hunter pilots
witness nature's fury

in a way
that few people ever have.

ZAWISLAK:
Sometimes I do stop myself

just for a second,
just to sort of take it in

and appreciate
the scale of it and just

how powerful these storms are.

It's chaos and it's loud,

and it's always
remarkable how loud.

Then, all of a sudden,
you get through that eye wall,

and then, bang,

it just gets calm,
and it's quiet,

typically, in that eye
of the storm.

Sometimes they can just
be absolutely breathtaking,

to see this clear eye
of the hurricane.

Our ultimate goal is when
we see people respond

to the information that led to

the right decisions being made

on the ground to evacuate

and to get out of harm's way.

And that's what motivates us

to go fly in these chaotic,
turbulent hurricanes.

For people who live
in coastal communities,

enduring the destructive power
of hurricanes

is simply
an unfortunate fact of life.

And that's especially true
in regions of the planet

that are rocked
by cataclysms so often,

it seems like they can strike
at any moment.

These areas are referred to

as disaster hot spots.

SHATNER:
In the Pacific Ocean
there is a narrow region

that runs from Australia

up the coast of Asia

over to North America

and down the coast
of South America.

This horseshoe-shaped area
is known for having

some of the worst
natural disasters in the world.

So much so that
scientists refer to it as

the Ring of Fire.

The Ring of Fire
is an active plate boundary

where two plates
of the Earth's crust meet,

and that's where you have
incredible, uh, earthquakes

and volcanic eruptions.

These places become
what I would call hot spots

for future catastrophe.

There's a lot of activity

happening there,
and it's on a scale

that shrugs off humans like

we were bacteria on the surface
of someone's skin.

PHOENIX:
The Ring of Fire

is the most famous
geologically active area

in the world.

And people live in these areas
where we have so many disasters.

These are very real
ongoing hazards,

just by virtue of where
these cities are located,

so it really tests
people's resilience.

SHATNER:
The Ring of Fire is the site

of 75% of the world's volcanoes

and 90% of its earthquakes,

so it's no wonder
that experts refer to it

as a natural disaster hot spot.

But that's not the only place

where humans are overpowered

by the force
of our living planet.

Some of the largest hot spots
for natural disasters

are in the western side
of the Atlantic Ocean.

This is the Dominican Republic,

Antigua and Barbuda.

These also are all
volcanic islands,

they all are at plate boundaries
subject to earthquakes

and they are all in the paths

of many large

tropical hurricanes that cause

massive flooding.

There's almost nothing
we can do to prevent that.

However, what we can do

is evacuate regions
and prevent the loss of life.

PHOENIX:
We see thousands

and thousands
of people evacuated

from all over the globe.

That's the best we've got.

We're never going to stop people
from living in hot spots.

We are never going to keep
people completely safe.

And it's because these disasters

are just part of the true power
of nature.

KAKU:
When we think of
potential catastrophes,

what should be our attitude?

Our attitude should be humble.

You know,
we think we're the ones

that control the destiny
of the planet,

but you realize that,
sometimes, the planet

goes in a direction
that we don't necessarily want.

We have to be humble because
we don't know when the next

big ones are gonna take place.

If history
has taught us anything,

it's that humanity
is often powerless

when faced with the wrath
of Mother Nature.

And what's concerning
is that we don't know

exactly when or where
the next fire

or earthquake
or tsunami will strike.

No matter how much time and
effort we spend trying to study,

predict, and guard ourselves
against natural disasters,

the full extent
of planet Earth's power

will remain unexplained.

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