Movies From the Ground: Boy Films Quake in His Home

This footage was taken by a boy when the earthquake hit his home in Sendai.

Note how despite being terrified the boy and his mother are very calm and systematic in evacuating the structure.

0:18
Boy: "Mom! Let's get out!"
Mother:  "Grab your phone and your wallet and get out now!"

1:05
M: "This one's pretty bad."

1:48
B: "I hope Grandma is okay. I'll try calling."
M: "I'm already calling."
B: "My phone.  I dropped it on the way out."
M: "NO! Don't go back inside."

After the shaking subsides, the boy's hands are shaking as he looks in the house for the car keys.

Despite being one of the hardest hit areas of a 9.0 quake, note how the buildings and infrastructure stay intact.  As can be imagined, the overwhelming majority of lives lost were lost to the tsunami, not the quake for which they were extremely well prepared against.