The clock in Arahama Elementary School in Sendai stopped at 3:55 pm on March 11, 2011, the exact moment when the tsunami struck the school, freezing in time that terrible moment. From that moment on, everything changed for the people of the popular beach area in Northern Japan. Just over an hour earlier an extremely powerful magnitude 9.0 earthquake the strongest ever recorded in the country and fourth strongest known in human history had occurred 130 km east of the city, and now the dreaded wave it unleashed had arrived.
Located just 700 meters from Arahama Beach, the school and its 71 students, as well as teachers and many evacuated local residents, were in an incredibly vulnerable position. However, good disaster planning, geography and some luck were working in their favor. When the black waters from the tsunami retreated, all 320 people sheltering there had survived. This is what the locals now call the ‘Miracle of Arahama Elementary School.’