Scenes of the Noto Peninsula earthquake and the ensuing tsunami captured by dashboard cameras (Provided by Choju-kai)

Photo/Illutration This screenshot from the dashboard camera footage shows the tsunami flowing with tremendous force into a residential area in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 1. (Provided by Choju-kai)

Horrifying scenes of the ground rolling, clouds of dust engulfing collapsing homes and cars being swept away by dark water were captured by dashboard cameras during the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake and tsunami.

The dashcams were installed aboard a shuttle van belonging to Choju-en, an intensive care home for the elderly, located in the Horyu-machi Kasugano district of Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture.

The van, containing six elderly passengers, was parked in a residential area some 200 meters from the coast when the quake struck.

The driver was Kumiko Inagawa, a 59-year-old employee. She had set out from Choju-en, which was on higher ground, to drive the six day-service users back to their homes at around 4 p.m. on New Year’s Day.

She had just stepped out of the van and was chatting with a user's family member when the violent tremors hit.

The dashcams recorded the front, rear and interior of the van. The timestamp on the footage was 4:10:14 p.m.

The cameras trained outside the van recorded the ground rolling like Jell-O, as houses and shops crumbled one after another into clouds of brown dust.

A man nearby staggered and fell to the ground, unable to withstand the shocks.

Inside the van, the passengers rocked wildly from side to side--one of the women began shrieking.

The shaking lasted for at least a minute and a half.

“I had never experienced shocks like that,” Inagawa said. “I took it to heart that when you’ve felt a big quake, you should get to higher ground before anything else.”

However, that was easier said than done.

The road in front of the van was blocked by collapsed houses. Behind the van, a large bulge had risen between the road to higher ground and a bridge connecting to it.

Unable to take the van, Inagawa and the passengers decided to flee for safety on foot. They would try to make it back to Choju-en.

The video recordings ended when the van’s engine turned off seven minutes after the quake.

Inagawa supported two of the elderly passengers as they walked, one under each of her arms. She asked a passing minitruck to carry one of the two. Another passenger took flight with her sister, who happened to be nearby. Yet another was carried piggyback by a local resident.

Remarkably, everyone made it safely to Choju-en before the tsunami struck.

Back at the abandoned van, the dashcams suddenly flickered to life and resumed recording at 4:47:37 p.m. The filming was likely triggered automatically by the impact of the tsunami hitting the vehicle.

The 15-second footage recorded dark, muddy water flowing into windows and hallways of houses and washing away cars and rubble.

Choju-en officials said the van was later found close to where it had been left--but rotated back to front.

A contractor who salvaged the van from the site to scrap it discovered the dashcam footage inside and delivered it to the elder care facility on Jan. 30, the officials said.

“The footage is a valuable piece of testimony to what the quake and tsunami were like,” said Yasutaka Kodo, a counselor to Choju-kai, the social welfare corporation that operates Choju-en.

Kodo added: “Help from local residents is extremely important for evacuation in a depopulated community with many elderly people. I hope the footage will be used in efforts to help mitigate future disasters.”

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