Vanderbilt Television News Archive

(Studio: Katie Couric) The earthquake and tsunami in Japan introduced; scenes shown of the moving water, rubble, the injured and flooding; map shown; estimates on the dead, injured and cost cited.

(Tokyo: Lucy Craft) The disaster in Japan reviewed; scenes shown of the wall of water pushing everything in its path, a massive whirlpool, the wave reaching the Sendai airport, rubble, shaking buildings, collapsed roads, people dodging falling debris in Yokohama, swaying skyscrapers in Tokyo, fires, a burning oil refinery; details given of the shutdown of nuclear plants and the impact on transportation. [MAN {thru translator} – reacts.] What can be seen today and the difficulty in making contact with people in Sendai, including the reporter’s son, discussed.

(Studio: Katie Couric) Tsunami warning for countries across the Pacific Ocean noted; map shown.

(San Francisco: John Blackstone) The anxiety on the West Coast of the US featured; scenes shown of boats being tossed about in Santa Cruz, California, a canal flowing backward in Orange County; animation shown of the plates shifting on the sea floor off Japan and the waves; photos shown of waves and wrecked boats in Crescent City, California. [Washington University in St. Louis Michael WYSESSION†- explains what happened on the ocean floor.] [Voice of Crescent City councilman Rich ENEA†- says it looks like a tornado hit.] [Santa Cruz resident Karen SOMMERS†- reacts.] The Indonesian tsunami of 2004 recalled.

(Studio: Katie Couric) Report introduced.

(Washington: Nancy Cordes) The state of emergency at the Fukushima nuclear plant featured; animation shown of what happened when a generator failed. [Voice of plant worker’s wife Janie EUDY†- recounts what her husband told her.] The 1979 accident at Three Mile Island in the US recalled. [Nuclear Energy Institute J. Scott PETERSON†- comments on humans’ ability to withstand a certain amount of radioactive vapor.] [MIT professor Richard Lester†- says a dozen reactors have shut down.]

(Studio: Katie Couric) Statistics on the magnitude of the earthquake cited. Live interview held with USGS seismologist Lucy Jones about the disaster. [From Pasadena, California, JONES – comments on the size of the quake; compares this tsunami to the Indonesian tsunami; names the 2 places in the US where there is a similar fault; describes what scientists can learn from this.]