The Tsunami and Fukushima

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.5 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 30 July 2021

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Remembering the earthquake and tsunami which devastated Japan and triggered a nuclear emergency in 2011. Max Pearson, who reported from Japan at the time, presents eyewitness accounts of the disaster which left thousands dead and led to many questioning the future of the country's nuclear industry. Photo: Tsunami smashes into the city of Miyako in Iwate prefecture shortly after an earthquake hit the region of northern Japan, 11th March 2011 (JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. Hello and welcome to the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service with me Max Pearson.
0:46.9	All this week to coincide with the Tokyo Summer Olympics we've been looking at moments in
0:50.8	Japanese history and today an event that still haunts Japan
0:54.8	and something I witnessed myself the aftermath of the massive earthquake and tsunami in
0:59.4	2011 which killed thousands and triggered a nuclear disaster.
1:04.0	One of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded has struck Japan.
1:11.0	The quake struck at 246 local time in the middle of a normal
1:15.2	working day and the quake goes on and on and on.
1:21.6	On Friday the 11th of March 2011 the world news was dominated by the horrors of an
1:26.2	earthquake with magnitude 9.1 that's one of the most powerful tremors ever
1:30.5	recorded. The epicenter was off the Japanese Northeast Coast. Buildings
1:36.0	hundreds of kilometers away shook violently and it generated a devastating
1:40.3	tsunami.
1:41.3	A wall of water more than 20 feet high advances across the ocean at speeds of up to 500 miles
1:48.9	an hour.
1:49.9	Each cubic meter of water weighs a ton. Its momentum sweeps away and smashes almost anything
1:56.1	in its path. There are cars, shipping containers, buildings in the swirl. Trees and houses would just be moned down and I was sure it was going to reach us.
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