Script by Tai Pham

1. Introduction

In just minutes, the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami devastated Japan. Entire towns were swallowed by towering waves. A nuclear crisis loomed at Fukushima. Nearly 20,000 lives were lost in a tragedy that shook the world.

But how did this catastrophic earthquake unfold? And why did it trigger such a massive tsunami, leaving devastation on a scale rarely seen in human history?

2. The Earth Moves

[0:18-0:25, Ring of Fire location] (remove voice and add background music)

Japan, straddling the Pacific Ring of Fire, is no stranger to earthquakes. Four tectonic plates converge beneath the island nation, their constant grinding and shifting a source of seismic activity.

In 869 CE, a massive megathrust earthquake unleashed its fury on the soil of Sendai Plain, sending walls of water crashing inland. Scientists studying the earth's layers of tsunami deposits buried in the plain – and discovered a chilling pattern: three devastating waves in 3,000 years, each separated by 800 to 1,100 years of silence.

[Add animation and number with text overlays]

By 2001, it had been over 1,100 years since the last tsunami. In 2007, seismologists calculated the odds: a 99% chance of a major earthquake, magnitude 8.1 or greater, within three decades. It’s only a matter of time before another megaquake happens.

[Clip: 1:22-1:24, sun rising in Japan]

The afternoon of March 11th started peacefully along Japan’s northeastern coast.

[Clip: 1:27-1:29] Children attended school. [Clip: 4”27-4:30] Fishermen set out to sea. [Clip: 3:29-3:31] And at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, workers conducted routine tasks. None of them knew that deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, a disaster of unimaginable scale was about to be unleashed.

[Text show: 2:46 PM on March 11, 2011]

At 2:46 PM on March 11, 2011. [Clip: 1:39-2:02] The ground begins to shake. At first, it's gentle, almost imperceptible. Then, within seconds, the world erupts into chaos. The violent shaking intensifies, growing stronger with each passing moment.

[Clip: 0:00-0:17, How Earthquake Early-Warning Systems Work]

Japan's advanced Earthquake Early Warning system springs into action. Over 1,000 seismometers detect the initial tremors, and within a minute, warnings blare across the nation. In Tokyo, 373 kilometers from the epicenter, millions receive alerts seconds before the shaking reaches them, potentially saving countless lives.

[Voice over article]

In Sendai, Emma, an English teacher later recounts, “I was heading downstairs to print something off in the classroom when I began to hear alarms going off on teachers’ mobile phones – the early warning signal sent out by the Meteorological Agency to herald an imminent earthquake. From that moment we had just seconds before the shaking began, slowly at first then ramping up to a terrifying violence.