Tsunami - Caught on Camera (A Documentary)

Tsunami - Caught on Camera is a documentary featuring a few different families of tourists that experienced the Indonesian Tsunami firsthand on Boxing Day in 2004. This tsunami killed over 200,000 people in over 14 different countries.



Wikipedia: Indonesian Tsunami

It is interesting to me how many major disasters like this have happened over the past 10-12 years. This documentary shows the innocent lives of the tourists in the days before the tsunami, and then presumably during the tsunami (although I have not gotten that far) through their own amateur filmography.



Promotional Video



Tsunami - Caught on Camera

reply to post by darkbake

I am going to watch that documentary in the morning as I was just heading to bed when you posted this, but wanted to s&f it so I can find it tomorrow. I did watch the short promo video...
it was a sad day. I remember it well.

Made me grateful not to be on a coastline at that point.

Anyways, will watch in the AM.

Peace!

reply to post by darkbake

Thanks for bringing this. I watch a lot of Nova, Nature, and Nat Geo Earth sciences shows. Before Indonesia, I had no idea a Tsunami wave system could be so devastating. Sure we heard about big waves, but our experiences with the real thing was lacking. The waves are not that high but stretch back a long ways and keep coming ashore churning everything into confetti. Then another wave, and another. By the time its all done the coast line is wiped clean as a slate.

So much footage that day showed people remaining close to shore line as the water receded. So many had no idea the wave would keep coming. Your picture of the people on the beach when it actually breaks on the shore tells that they had no idea either. They knew there had been an earthquake, they could see the Tsunami coming in the distance, they watched it as it swept them off their feet and dragged them away to mix with the big debris blender. It only takes a foot or so of rushing water to sweep your feet out from under you. Swimming won't save you either, because the debris is jagged and the water is swirling and churning. You get pulled under and battered to death.

Survivors of the first wave came down to the beach to wander around and where caught again in even bigger waves. I think this is what contributed to the huge death toll that day. Not that there was no warning, the earthquake warned everyone. Not that there was no evacuation warning, people saw it coming on the horizon.

Just that before that day, humanity had never actually recorded such an event in the modern world and we had no idea of the real danger.

reply to post by Darkblade71


Thanks! Yeah I have been watching it, it looks very interesting... and suspenseful as well. The documentary makers did a very good job using real footage.

I wanted to add something new to ATS for the day. It is still interesting, even though it isn't technically a conspiracy.

reply to post by intrptr


Before the 2000's, I didn't know that tsunamis could be that devastating - I thought they were localized events, and somewhat rare.

As a parent of three young ones, the interviews with the parents was absolutely gut wrenching. We always take disasters like these for granted when they are somewhere on the other side of the globe. Then you see and hear testimony from the people that were there, and it all becomes real. Makes me wonder if I would be able to get me and my family to safety in that situation. I hope that none of us ever have to find out.