I always say I have a “healthy respect” for the ocean. But by that, I mean the raw power of the sea terrifies me, and I’m convinced it should. The 2011 tsunami that devastated Japan is a perfect example of why. Now, you can witness it yourself in a survivor’s dashcam footage (embedded below).

The tragic 2011 earthquake and resulting tsunami claimed 18,000 lives. The good news? This one driver, Mr. Muro, lived through the nightmare that sent his Kei-class van spiraling like a cork in a draining tub. He later helped narrate the footage for a local news channel (quotes here are from YouTube’s auto-English translation). As Muro recalls: “Just before 4pm, about an hour after the earthquake, I was stuck in a traffic jam when I saw several cars being swept away by the tsunami.”

His forward-facing dashcam captures the full terror of the moment. What makes it even more horrifying? The wave you can’t see in the video—the one barreling down on him from behind. Muro explains: “I could see the force of the tsunami approaching, and I could see the way cars were being washed away.”

Then the wave hit. At first, Muro’s car rocked forward, the tires touching the road between waves. Perhaps he hoped the flood might deposit him back on dry ground, safe. But the water rose mercilessly. The news narrator grimly noted: “25 seconds later, the car completely floated up and started to drift out of control.”

In the footage, you see cars bobbing like toys in a flooded bathtub, smashing into one another, denting metal and breaking windshields. Drivers open their windows, attempting escape. Some commenters have asked whether they should’ve stayed inside. But things were moving fast. Offscreen, a riptide had picked up, pulling vehicles toward the sea. The narrator adds: “In the back of the screen, a truck is being swept to the left at a tremendous speed.” Anyone still in their car knew the stakes—escape, or be carried out to sea.

Mr. Muro was stuck in a nightmare choice: attempt to ride it out or dive into the swirling waters. All the while, he recalls hearing a radio broadcast “reporting the damage caused by the tsunami in another place.” As he floated helplessly, reality set in—the devastation was everywhere. “I was thinking about whether or not I could be saved if the water receded,” he said. Muro held on, weighing how long he could endure before things got worse.

And worse they got. The narrator explains what happened next: “Approximately 4 minutes later, the car was caught in a fast-flowing stream of water that seemed to be pulling it in. The car was being shaken up and down.” Finally, the out-of-control vehicle collided with a building, and the camera feed cuts off.

That building may have saved Muro’s life by stopping his car from being pulled into the open sea. His car finally sank, but he managed to escape just before it went under. Later, he allowed the footage to be uploaded so the world could see the sheer power of the tsunami that nearly claimed his life. You can watch it yourself below: