Featured Image Credit: @Morbidful/X
Topics: Science, Nature, World News
Rhianna Benson
Social media users have been left traumatized after footage of the devastating tsunami that hit Japan back in 2011 resurfaced online.
It's hard to believe it's been over 12 years since the heart-stopping natural disaster hit the East Asian country after an undersea megathrust earthquake in the Pacific Ocean triggered a ripple effect.
The though the earthquake only lasted a matter of minutes - six, to be precise - it was actually the most powerful ever recorded in Japan.
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It's no surprise, therefore, that Japan are still recovering from the ruinous consequences of the disaster, after the earthquake triggered a subsequent tsunami, which stole the lives of almost 20,000 people.
The fascinating X account @Morbidful - which frequently covers the darkest and most depressing moments and stories from human history - recently shared footage from the tsunami.
The clip - recorded with a surveillance camera - caught the exact moment that the 'Great East Japan' tsunami rolled in.
It sees one car making its way candidly along a road before stopping as a wave carried other destroyed vehicles and demolished houses towards it.
Luckily, the car manages to manoeuvre itself to face the other direction and is seen to be speeding off.
Thousands of viewers of the clip have since reshared the video, expressing their shock horror at the earth-shattering wave of water.
"Whoa that last little car barely made it out of there!" one penned.
"Puts into perspective how enormous and rapid those waves were. People caught in it never stood a chance," another wrote.
A third gushed: "Please everyone! if you are reading this, be thankful for the life that you have. Be really thankful for each moment you live."
The effects of the terrifying earthquake were felt all over the world, as far north as Norway's fjords and as far south as Antarctica's ice sheet.
And debris from the tsunami has continued to sporadically wash up on North America's beaches ever since.
According to Japan's Reconstruction Agency, as of November 2021, a total of around 39,000 evacuees had lost their homes, and 1,000 of these were still living in temporary housing a decade later.
Over 120,000 buildings were reportedly totally destroyed, while 278,000 were half-destroyed and 726,000 were considered to be partially destroyed.
As well as being one of planet Earth's most catastrophic natural disasters, according to the Japanese government, the direct financial damage after it was said to be around $199 billion dollars (about 16.9 trillion yen).
And on top of that, the total economical cost is predicted to reach up to $235 billion in total, making it the world's most costly natural disaster.