Wave Turning Everything News Today

The scale of the devastation that has occurred. you see there cars tossed in amongst -- it looks like one big trash heap. but this is an area devastated by the force of nature. everything that stood in the path of the tsunami, of the results -- was the result of the quake and essentially battered and left in pieces. japan is prone to earthquakes because of its unique geological position. it sits on top of three major tectonic plates. one scientist is warning despite what happened, japan is still...

Anderson cooper. just ahead, the latest on the nuclear emergency that danny witnessed first hand. what went wrong, what more could go wrong? and also what it looked like as the tsunami rolled ashore destroying everything in its path. >> the tsunami has already engulfed some cities. fires are breaking out due to the earthquake. in northeastern japan, tsunami waves of over four meters were observed. impressive resume. thank you.

Said it makes you feel like youre -- how small you are on this earth when that powerful -- something that powerful goes by. he said it was pushing anything and everything out of its way like it was nothing into the ocean. >> and the little town that he was in is basically destroyed? >> basically the way he explained, it is -- its not a little town anymore. what they were -- you know, thats where they were headed, the little town they were staying in. the hotel, thats where they were all going to...

Them changed suitings and they werent totally in their dress attire to go out yet. he said they were just running out as fast as they could. >> so people were running out not even fully clothed. >> grabbing who they could to go with them. he went through glass. he told me he cut his feet. it kind of slowed them down. thats when he told me thats a good thing, because with him slowing down like that, a little bit of time it took, it kept him from getting the time frame for being right in the path ...

Station reactors with serious cooling problems, pressure building, reports of radiation venting at two of them. well stalk to a woman whose husband was in the plant. all the result of the fifth largest recorded quake in history, followed by this wave turning everything in its path into rubble. this is what it looked like. you can see its not just seawater. theres debris, cars, trucks, houses being swept alone, battering everything in its path. the tsunami reaching the west coast where several pe...

If you stop and start talking to people, theyll tell you we lost a friend. so the death toll will grow as people figure out who is missing, and what the answers to those questions are. >> has there been a lot of traffic on that small road youre on? have you seen relief vehicles going up, military vehicles? >> reporter: we have seen surprisingly few military vehicles on the ground. and actually traffic right now is barely anything. we have been in bumper-to-bumper traffic for much of the way up h...

The building. they knew this was different. its something theyve never experienced before, even the local people who work and live there were getting scared, starting to panic. they called to evacuate. when the buildings were shaking, the lights were falling from the ceiling. he said glass was going everywhere. they had the insulation, the duct work, everything was falling and coming down. very dangerous. they had the big cranes were starting to sway. they knew it was a dangerous situation. they...

1,000 the tho,000 people and co. >> still feeling after shocks? >> yes, definitely. last night when i was trying to sleep after everything happened, we felt two to three large after shocks, waking us both up, my wife and i up. it was very difficult to sleep. right now i can feel a very small tremor again. theyre telling us its going to continue another month. >> what does that feel like? >> it feels like the entire room is shifting. have you ever seen like an ant farm and shaken it, thats what i...

Something that powerful goes by. he said it was pushing anything and everything out of its way like it was nothing into the ocean. >> and the little town that he was in is basically destroyed? >> basically the way he explained, it is -- its not a little town anymore. what they were -- you know, thats where they were headed, the little town they were staying in. the hotel, thats where they were all going together for the safe place. and they didnt know what had happened till they got there, and h...

Airport almost completely flooded. >> oil refineries erupt in flames. >> it just blew up! this is crazy! [ explosion ] >> it happened again. >> two nuclear power plants just 150 miles from tokyo, declare a state of emergency after they lack power to cool their reactors. >> everything was shaking and next thing they were told is get out, leave, evacuate. >> thousands are feared dead. many more are trapped. as the death toll rises along with the numbers of missing, an