My mom told me when I was a little kid, "If the ocean suddenly runs away, you run too! The other way, and go up as high as you can! Because it WILL come back, in a HUGE way that can KILL you!" Please repeat my mom's words of wisdom to your kids and friends!

When the water returns back to the ocean, you still have 10-15mins to save your life. Run or move away as far as you could or you can go somewhere higher place. Its a sign that it will waive back

17 years ago after this tragedy tsunami, i just wanna say thanks for 50+ country helping us 😭, may God bless your all 🤲 i cant forget this disaster and still traumatic till now.

Me and my family stayed at the global tower hotel where this was filmed from the week prior. Thank god we were on the hill country at the time tsunami hit.

Who got recommended to watch this in quarantine when this vid was uploaded like 7 years ago

Finally, some videos with RAW quality, all the videos in documentaries, and all other stuff are all pixeled as hell. Don`t understand how we have better videos from 40`s then 2000`s, accidents

Nice video capture by the uploader. Technically video shows the withdrawl of the sea into the ocean due to the sudden shift in the ocean base. though the change in withdrawl is slow, its in the eye of the beholder to note the sensitive changes in the oceanic activity in this video. the poor bystanders cannot judge whats going far far away from their ground in the Indonesian region. probably in the aftermath all of them were washed away or something. 10/10 for the person who captured the video for 20 mins.

This is a sad thing but i hope everyone who survived has got back into their feet and move on with their lives. Stay safe everyone

8-9 min in the water reached it's lowest point. In other words, you have about 10 min to reach safety.

I'm amazed that people who watch this think it's a waste to time. The sea is giving those people in the video a very clear warning that a catastrophic event is only minutes away. As soon as the sea started lapping at the railroad tracks, you knew there was a storm somewhere, then within minutes it reversed to a extremely low point, which confirms that it's a tsunami, and it will hit THAT beach. It's time to get to safety, and you only have minutes to save yourself from drowning

Makes me incredibly sad to think they had no idea what was about to happen. Poor people. One can only hope it was over quick.

People in quarantine : damn so hot today! KZfaq: hey since its hot today have some cool refreshing Tsunami.

Thank you. I'm glad to see someone mention that detail. These people had no idea what was going to hit them. And all those who watch this horrific tragedy should not judge the actions of anyone until they've walked in those same shoes. Even with the generous gift of hindsight, many people would be shocked to know that they would NOT react as the believe they would, if found in the same situation. They better hope it's not on YT if they do. As we know, people's judgments can be quite harsh.

In this video you can see quite beautifully how the sea rises and recedes multiple times before the arrival of the main inundating wave.

Remember where the water line usually is and how deep it was where the ocean floor was exposed. Because when the water recedes is coming back the other way at least that far and that high. You should especially be worried about how deep was exposed because if the land doesn’t slop very high when leaving the beach the water is going very far inland.

I am working in the hospital ship USNS Mercy when this happened we are send to Banda Aceh Indonesia to take care of their casualties. It's my honor to serve specially in this time of need.

Its so loud that i cant hear a thing.

Teacher:how to survive a disaster? Me: be a camera man

From above, its like ants scurrying around panicking. This 04’ disaster was horrible. I remember being a student, and every few hours the death total on the yahoo homepage would rise, for WEEKS. It was such a big disaster, that it took about a week for the media to even wrap their head around what had happened. 04’ Indian Ocean, 11’ Japan......two all-millennial events, so close together, but at the very least, people can SEE how important tsunami detection systems are. Seems like a warning to be better prepared next time. Many of the countries in the Indian Ocean had no warning at all. Japan had the largest sea walls ever made, and it didn’t matter.

It might not be that exciting to watch, as there (luckily I'd say) weren't that big tsunami waves. But, I still find this video interesting, as you can see what it looked like, when the water drew back into the ocean.

In this lovely Seaside Town i was 27 years ago. Town was like a small paradise.

When they knew that it's dangerous but they still go near the shore. Ah, people.

Colombo is on the west facing side of the island so it got a relatively minor event in comparison to the east side of Sri Lanka and the east facing shores of south India where together thousands died.

Water returning to the sea is crazy powerful. Bending over parking meters in some spots of hilo Hawaii. Not enough footage of returning ocean.

If you see the water retreating get the hell out of there, unless you live in a place with low tide.

I have seen "a l o t" of Tsunami videos. This has got to be the most gut wrenching of all.it must have been such a horrendous experience to film.

When the ocean goes away like that, YOU RUN for your life to higher ground!

Woody muchis nos han pasado pero el sentimiento y la Soledad queda aún.. bendiciones infinitas para todos.. gracias amigo

down at the back of the beach to around 3 metres at the water breaking edge. I was about half a mile from the beach and it was really hard to predict what was going to happen until there was around an hour of massive seas slamming into the land so hard I never thought it possible, and after a really terribly bad ten minutes was over there was a drop to rock that was the 10 M from the top of the sea wall which was usually just over a metre down from the sea wall. Amazing nature.

Suddenly why after so many years you are recommending this, the nation wants to know?

As pessoas ficam tudo olhando ninguém espera para Tsunami chegar por que muitas perdem a vida olhando coisa terrível coisa triste que Tsunami corram se protejam pelo amor de Deus 🙌🙌

Without the sound, we cant feel the atmosphere, too bad.

This is a tsunami! Tsunamis don’t look like what you see in movies :)

Has anyone else from childhood been taught to run to higher ground when the tide suddenly goes out like this? I feel like it is just me after watching all of these tsunami videos where everyone is walking towards the beach, out into the exposed sand and just standing there.

Pengen ngumpulin penonton orang indonesia ada kh😁

I am at the hotel where this was filled right now (it's now a quartine center)

colombo is on the western side of sri lanka so the affect was much smaller than the eastern side...

Why this got recommended. it's been 7 years I didn't even watch this type videos

Wow. That was probably the greatest video of a tsunami that I have ever seen

I literally cannot understand how people were still able to stand around like that when they know they're in trouble!!!

Стоят на берегу люди, ждут что бы смыло?

This uploader has wasted my time in this 21st century.

Recorded December 26th, 2004 Uploaded February 3rd, 2013 Recommended May 9th, 2020 🤯🤯

I feel cheated of my internet bundles and precious time, though it's lockdown time. Or where was the tsunami 😂😂😂

Fun fact: you did not search for this.

Thanks for great footage

7:32 damn the waves retreating for a bigger one. That's scary. 🙈

Thanks for this Actually I wasn't born when this happened to my country It was great that I at least got to watch it 😁😁😁😁

i am Sri lankan and i can tell you that was a day you can never forgert

Amazing footage of mother nature!

If you are confused with this video please read the description. If you are dissatisfied with the lack of destruction and death, then there are plenty of other videos in KZfaq. Also get psychiatric help...

I was Drinking 6 cup of coffe :( but they Tsunami still missing 😂😂😂

6:35 water returns back people still dont know what's going on

I was born in 2004 ... I felt this moment from this video 😢

Why those people are simply watching the wave, they should run away for their life..

me parece increible que en este pais donde filmaron esto la gente no sepa que cuando sube la marea y de un momento a otro baja de esa manera es x que algo malo esta pasando ya sea un tsunami o lo que sea,la gente en lugar de ponerse de curiosa debe alejarse lo mas que puedan de ahi, en fin deben capacitar mas a la gente nadie esta listo para algo como esto pero si hay que saber algo

why this video appeared on my homepage, after 7 years of uploading

Un montaje súper,es que se ve como muy real,es genial

Me parece que muchos de los países en que hubo muertos no tenian los más mínimos procedimientos de evacuación y alerta en cuanto se tenía la señal de que se aproximaba un Tsunami y por eso hubo muchos más muertos. La misma gente local que vive ahi se ve que viendo como el mar se alejaba era un indicio de que algo malo se venía y aún así se quedaban ahí a ver que pasaba. Eso demuestra que ni la autoridad hizo nada ni muchos de los mismos ciudadanos fueron precavidos aún teniendo tiempo de correr lo más rápido posible a las alturas.

Well friends this is why I live in Tokyo Town. Wait a second...

I was also there as a spectator in the seashore here in Kerala when this happened. A silent killer. Never knew it was going to hit back really hard

....AMAZING! ..ONE OF THE LAST PLACES I WOULD EVER WANT TO VISIT! ...NOW I KNOW FOR SURE!!

Im sri lanka respect bro😉🇱🇰

I'm not wasted my time because I was watch 😂 comment 1st then....

I think the correct term for this is surge. Not tsunami.

An excellent video. 💙 T.E.N.

Untill 2004 tsunami my country peoples are didnt hear about tsunami😔 Therefore most of peoples are lost for us😣

19:00 Tsunami is till missing I found people chilling in beach till end of the video 😂😢😢

Great....patiently taken video and patiently watched ...saw how innocent people behaved.....in future when we see some strange phenomenon we should back off from....prewarning sign.

So all these people, living by the ocean, completely ignore classic signs of a tsunami. Go figure!

My parents were carrying me on that day on this same spot before the waves came

Ainda bem que no Brasil não tem🙏🏼🙏🏼❤

Actually, it's not necessarily the sea BEHIND a tsunami that gives it its power, but the sea UNDER it. See, water displacement such as what happened in both the 2004 and 2011 tsunamis affects the entire column of water, from the sea floor all the way to the top. The energy of the entire column then travels as a wave. However, most waves are created by winds and other forces above the water. Therefore, they do have a very deep affect. They may LOOK big, but underneath, the energy is very shallow.

That is fascinating.

People are seen running in panick knowing fully well about what is store for them. Water is seen gushing in to the railway tracks as huge waves are batting all around. People living in Colombo city are living in the grip of fear. They are witnessing a Tsunami , which they have never seen before. This video is being captured from one of the top floor of a tall building. People in large numbers are assembled here and there to watch with fear the nature's fury. A fury in which many lost their lives.

And for only 15 cents a month, you too can help Timmy get a microphone for his camera. 🎥😜🎤

Люди живущие на побережье должны же знать какую опасность несут такие волны , ведь , цунами случаются не раз в тысячу лет , но они стоят и не спасаются. Странно .

Colombo was one of the least affected places in SL from this Tsunami , It was hit hard in, Eastern and Southern Sri Lanka

I can't believe you stopped recording right as the big wave was coming

Legends come and see the comment and went out from the video without wasting time

This is not tsunami. People are enjoying the sea waves 🌊. The most important thing is the railway track running along the coastline.

Боже, люди, да что ж они стоят,когда уже бежать, спасаться нужно... Так жаль, сколько погибших😢

Am from a volcanic island and from birth u are taught keep ur eyes on sea and on the mountain top,any slight earthquake we ran for hill because there might be a tidal wave coming. And u are taught don't look back til u reach the top.

Всю жизнь на море прожить и не знать, что нерегулярный отлив - это предвестник цунами, ну я хз. То ли лыжи не едут...

What kind of camera this man used? Like 100Mp ,very good zooming

Это ужасно. Нет чтобы бежать, они стоят и смотрят.

In our place in the Philippines if there's tsunami warning we go to higher grounds for safety and no more people in lowland areas. But in this case people were not afraid of tsunami instead they watched it which is very dangerous. The government should inform te people how danger it is.

is really amazing

What they are running a railway on the coastline?? It will erode every 10 yrs good steady income for politicians.

The thing about tsunamis is how long of a wave they are. In the open ocean a tsunami wave may only be 2-3 meters high but is tens of thousands of meters from the front to the back of the wave. When it hits the coast the wave increases in height but is followed by tens of thousands of meters of water closely behind it. There wouldn't be a huge 100 meter tidal wave, instead, there would be 20 waves 15 meters high all pushing the water further inland.

Some Sri Lankan guy please correct me if I'm wrong. This does not seem to be Colombo Beach as I had visited it in March 2003 almost one and a half years before this deadly incident happened. There is first Galle face road on the beach side of Colombo city and train track is far away from beach side. But here in footage we see train tracks first closer to the beach. Am I right. I'm from Pakistan. 🇵🇰

Game of Nature.No one can stop it.

Yo upload boy, there's something I would like to unload on you

I was checking in Google Maps where exactly this is, and you can note how big was that tsunami that even affected this place located totally opposed (in west coast of Sri Lanka) to where the earthquake that provoked it happened (miles away in front of east coast)

16years before T-Sunami hits Wellawatta Colombo Sri Lanka. Luckly no one lost their lives from that area except damages to house's and belonging. Very sad remember lost their love ones😔😪R.I.P. God bless. So this how the view you see from Global tower.

not what I was hoping to see exactly but I hope the guys recorded here survived what obviously followed this clip

Amazing...... 👍

Let me guess? Ur guys are watching this without full screen

I am in this hotel during tsunami. Luckily Colombo facing to Africa. You should watch Galle city ( southern Sri Lanka )...

This guy is a legend