1 00:01:32,592 --> 00:01:37,179 NARRATOR: Planet Earth, four and a half billion years ago. 2 00:01:44,187 --> 00:01:50,067 A blazing sphere formed by colliding cosmic matter... 3 00:01:50,110 --> 00:01:55,322 a violent world, covered by a sea of molten lava. 4 00:02:19,347 --> 00:02:24,184 Over time, the surface cooled into a rocky crust. 5 00:02:29,566 --> 00:02:32,943 Great clouds of watervapor rose... 6 00:02:32,986 --> 00:02:36,572 then rained down, forming a vast ocean. 7 00:03:01,973 --> 00:03:04,600 The crust fractured into huge, moving plates 8 00:03:04,642 --> 00:03:06,894 that shifted the emerging continents... 9 00:03:06,936 --> 00:03:10,856 producing the face of the planet we know. 10 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,616 But the forces that created Earth still rule it. 11 00:03:20,658 --> 00:03:24,411 Around the globe sweeps a volatile atmosphere... 12 00:03:27,707 --> 00:03:32,669 and within, a fiery world still burns. 13 00:03:32,712 --> 00:03:35,714 Floating on this semi-molten interior, 14 00:03:35,757 --> 00:03:39,843 the plates of the crust are forever in motion. 15 00:03:39,886 --> 00:03:43,055 Only in a thin layer between the inner heat and the atmosphere 16 00:03:43,097 --> 00:03:47,059 could life arise and thrive... 17 00:03:47,101 --> 00:03:51,063 yet always at the mercy of these colossal forces... 18 00:03:56,194 --> 00:03:59,988 erupting from the depths... 19 00:04:00,031 --> 00:04:02,449 shaking the solid ground... 20 00:04:05,828 --> 00:04:08,622 descending from the sky. 21 00:04:18,341 --> 00:04:20,759 We cannot control such power. 22 00:04:20,802 --> 00:04:23,971 But we can use our human powers of invention and discovery-- 23 00:04:24,013 --> 00:04:26,848 to learn, to understand... 24 00:04:26,891 --> 00:04:29,059 and to survive. 25 00:04:53,376 --> 00:04:57,546 There are places where primal forces are still on display, 26 00:04:57,588 --> 00:05:02,592 where lava streams freely from the earth's interior. 27 00:05:02,635 --> 00:05:08,974 Yet these same forces can also erupt suddenly, unpredictably... 28 00:05:09,017 --> 00:05:11,601 with terrible consequences. 29 00:05:23,990 --> 00:05:26,992 For hundreds of years, a volcano called Souf riere Hills 30 00:05:27,035 --> 00:05:31,121 on the Caribbean island of Montserrat was dormant. 31 00:05:31,164 --> 00:05:38,003 But in 1995, some 12,000 islanders discovered they were living on a time bomb. 32 00:05:45,803 --> 00:05:48,513 RADlO ANNOUNCERS: The situation has escalated. 33 00:05:48,556 --> 00:05:53,268 This followed a major ash fall at just after 8:00 this morning. 34 00:05:53,311 --> 00:05:59,232 The scientists have told us that they can no longer guarantee six hours notice. 35 00:05:59,275 --> 00:06:03,695 All incoming data are being processed on a near real-time basis 36 00:06:03,738 --> 00:06:08,575 because the volcano can just go off with litle or no warning. 37 00:06:12,622 --> 00:06:16,833 [siren] 38 00:06:17,502 --> 00:06:22,047 [rumbling] 39 00:06:55,748 --> 00:07:01,586 NARRATOR: Deadly cascades of ash, gas, and lava rocks called pyroclastic flows 40 00:07:01,629 --> 00:07:06,591 raced down the mountain at temperatures as hot as 1,000 degrees. 41 00:07:47,633 --> 00:07:53,054 The eruptions continued, burying the capital of Plymouth under ash, 42 00:07:53,097 --> 00:07:56,933 but there was time to evacuate the population of about 4,000... 43 00:07:56,976 --> 00:07:59,728 and no lives were lost here. 44 00:08:02,899 --> 00:08:04,608 Yet outside the city, 45 00:08:04,650 --> 00:08:10,280 pyroclastic flows killed 19 people who had ignored the warnings. 46 00:08:22,543 --> 00:08:27,339 For scientists, this place has become a kind of living laboratory. 47 00:08:29,675 --> 00:08:32,219 At the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, 48 00:08:32,261 --> 00:08:39,184 Dr. Marie Edmonds is part of a team from the British Geological Survey. 49 00:08:39,227 --> 00:08:40,685 EDMONDS: I became a volcanologist 50 00:08:40,728 --> 00:08:44,189 because we know so litle about these dangerous mountains... 51 00:08:44,232 --> 00:08:48,443 and I saw that studying them could mean better forecasts of eruptions, 52 00:08:48,486 --> 00:08:51,279 which could save many lives. 53 00:08:53,115 --> 00:08:56,868 l sometimes feel like the volcano is almost a living thing. 54 00:08:56,911 --> 00:09:01,331 lt grows, it breathes, it even has a kind of pulse. 55 00:09:04,710 --> 00:09:08,255 l grew up wanting to be an astronaut or a spy-- 56 00:09:08,297 --> 00:09:12,717 but living alongside an active volcano is just as exciting. 57 00:09:15,680 --> 00:09:20,225 Right now, there are signs the mountain is building towards another big event . 58 00:09:23,980 --> 00:09:27,691 We feel a great weight of responsibility on ourshoulders. 59 00:09:27,733 --> 00:09:29,693 But it's difficult trying to figure out 60 00:09:29,735 --> 00:09:33,655 what might be happening miles below in the crust of the earth. 61 00:09:38,828 --> 00:09:42,247 Montserrat is actually the peak of an undersea volcano 62 00:09:42,290 --> 00:09:48,003 which was built up by a collision between two plates of the earth's crust. 63 00:09:48,045 --> 00:09:51,840 As the heavier plate plunges beneath the other, 64 00:09:51,882 --> 00:09:56,553 intense heat and pressures melt the leading edge into magma. 65 00:10:08,899 --> 00:10:15,488 The magma rises into a chamber and then heads towards the surface. 66 00:10:15,531 --> 00:10:21,328 lf it reaches the surface quickly, it can generate enough gas to explode. 67 00:10:27,043 --> 00:10:29,669 Smaller explosions continued here, 68 00:10:29,712 --> 00:10:31,504 and during the last couple of years 69 00:10:31,547 --> 00:10:36,134 thick magma has built a 500-megaton mountain above the vent-- 70 00:10:36,177 --> 00:10:39,679 a huge lava dome. 71 00:10:39,722 --> 00:10:41,306 We believe it will collapse, 72 00:10:41,349 --> 00:10:47,562 and that it will trigger more explosions and potentially dangerous pyroclastic flows. 73 00:11:10,628 --> 00:11:12,003 NARRATOR The first hint of danger comes 74 00:11:12,046 --> 00:11:15,548 when seismic instruments show increasing swarms of earthquakes-- 75 00:11:15,591 --> 00:11:20,679 a sign that magma is rising, causing tremors within the volcano. 76 00:11:33,818 --> 00:11:37,570 Routine monitoring takes on a new urgency. 77 00:11:40,241 --> 00:11:42,659 They need to check the instruments designed by Marie 78 00:11:42,702 --> 00:11:46,538 that constantly monitor gases rising from the volcano. 79 00:11:53,629 --> 00:11:57,424 EDMONDS: We've discovered that if the volcano suddenly exhales more gas, 80 00:11:57,466 --> 00:12:01,469 it can mean that the activity is ramping up to an eruption. 81 00:12:01,512 --> 00:12:06,641 So today the volume is up, and that's a worrisome sign. 82 00:12:12,189 --> 00:12:16,609 Next we have to fly as close as possible to the crater of the volcano 83 00:12:16,652 --> 00:12:21,406 to get more data and to evaluate the situation. 84 00:12:35,296 --> 00:12:40,300 This is one of those times when the research we conduct is a bit risky... 85 00:12:40,342 --> 00:12:44,095 especially for my partner Richard Herd. 86 00:12:44,138 --> 00:12:47,891 One of his jobs is to install a laser reflector, 87 00:12:47,933 --> 00:12:51,770 which can measure even a few millimeters of ground deformation. 88 00:12:51,812 --> 00:12:55,064 That can tell us if magma is filling the chamber below 89 00:12:55,107 --> 00:12:58,193 and causing the ground to swell. 90 00:13:09,789 --> 00:13:15,084 We avoid dangerous situations unless it's absolutely necessary. 91 00:13:15,127 --> 00:13:20,924 Too many researchers have died in recent years because eruptions surprised them. 92 00:13:35,773 --> 00:13:40,652 NARRATOR: All of the evidence suggests that the dome is increasingly unstable. 93 00:14:15,020 --> 00:14:18,314 The collapse seems imminent. 94 00:14:28,284 --> 00:14:34,873 Warnings from the scientists convince the government to begin evacuations. 95 00:14:34,915 --> 00:14:38,042 On a July night, it happens. 96 00:14:38,627 --> 00:14:43,256 [rumbling] 97 00:15:05,279 --> 00:15:10,366 Violent eruptions send ash clouds rocketing ten miles high. 98 00:15:21,879 --> 00:15:27,550 [people singing Amazing Grace] 99 00:15:27,593 --> 00:15:31,721 Because of the warnings, not a single life is lost. 100 00:15:40,940 --> 00:15:46,194 Ash still falls occasionally, but most have learned to live with it. 101 00:15:55,329 --> 00:15:58,331 EDMONDS: Most likely the eruptions will pause for a while, 102 00:15:58,374 --> 00:16:01,292 then begin a new eruptive cycle. 103 00:16:01,335 --> 00:16:04,545 But as long as we continue to monitor the volcano, 104 00:16:04,588 --> 00:16:08,174 as long as we continue to unravel its secrets, 105 00:16:08,217 --> 00:16:13,930 there's no reason for anyone else on Montserrat to be harmed or to lose their life... 106 00:16:13,973 --> 00:16:17,767 and that in itself is reason for celebration. 107 00:16:27,569 --> 00:16:29,529 NARRATOR: What scientists learn in Montserrat 108 00:16:29,571 --> 00:16:36,661 could help reduce risk for millions of people living near volcanoes around the world... 109 00:16:36,704 --> 00:16:40,540 but there is another kind of event caused by forces below 110 00:16:40,582 --> 00:16:45,670 that is even harder to predict, and far more dangerous. 111 00:16:51,927 --> 00:16:56,514 Among the places at greatest risk is a heavily populated part of Turkey, 112 00:16:56,557 --> 00:17:01,936 where shifting plates of Earth's crust meet along a 1,000-mile seam. 113 00:17:01,979 --> 00:17:07,150 lt's called the North Anatolian Fault, and it can produce a sudden catastrophe-- 114 00:17:07,192 --> 00:17:10,486 one of the deadliest of all natural disasters-- 115 00:17:10,529 --> 00:17:14,198 an earthquake. 116 00:17:14,241 --> 00:17:19,287 lf we could pull the plates apart... 117 00:17:19,329 --> 00:17:22,832 and descend within... 118 00:17:22,875 --> 00:17:25,209 we'd see that 10 or 15 miles down 119 00:17:25,252 --> 00:17:28,796 they begin turning into extremely hot, putty-like rock, 120 00:17:28,839 --> 00:17:30,673 sliding in opposite directions 121 00:17:30,716 --> 00:17:34,635 atop the semi-molten interior farther below. 122 00:17:38,223 --> 00:17:41,726 Somewhere along the fault, the plates lock together, 123 00:17:41,769 --> 00:17:46,147 and over long periods of time, enormous pressure builds. 124 00:17:52,738 --> 00:17:55,823 Eventually they break loose and rip past one another, 125 00:17:55,866 --> 00:17:59,327 unleashing powerful waves of energy that race through the crust, 126 00:17:59,369 --> 00:18:01,788 shaking the surface above. 127 00:18:13,050 --> 00:18:19,806 [man chanting] 128 00:18:19,848 --> 00:18:21,599 Nearly atop the fault 129 00:18:21,642 --> 00:18:25,853 lies one of the world's great cities-- lstanbul, Turkey-- 130 00:18:25,896 --> 00:18:30,316 which has been jolted by earthquakes across recorded history. 131 00:18:40,953 --> 00:18:43,538 ln the heart of the city, one remarkable structure 132 00:18:43,580 --> 00:18:48,334 has remained standing through 14 centuries of quakes... 133 00:18:53,841 --> 00:18:59,178 The Hagia Sophia is an enduring marvel of art and architecture. 134 00:18:59,221 --> 00:19:04,600 But for one man, it's also a treasure-house of geologic history. 135 00:19:06,228 --> 00:19:10,106 Geophysicist Dr. Ross Stein has spent more than a decade 136 00:19:10,149 --> 00:19:12,108 studying earthquakes in Turkey, 137 00:19:12,151 --> 00:19:17,488 trying to find ways of forecasting when and where they will strike. 138 00:19:19,700 --> 00:19:24,620 Here, he found a critical piece of the puzzle. 139 00:19:24,663 --> 00:19:27,248 STElN: When l first learned that since ancient times, 140 00:19:27,291 --> 00:19:31,627 the clerics of Hagia Sophia kept records of their earthquake repairs, 141 00:19:31,670 --> 00:19:33,921 l was tremendously excited. 142 00:19:33,964 --> 00:19:37,800 Because with such a chronology of quake dates and damage-- 143 00:19:37,843 --> 00:19:39,468 combined with other data-- 144 00:19:39,511 --> 00:19:44,432 we might discover a pattern that could help us forecast quakes. 145 00:19:47,144 --> 00:19:50,479 Such a discovery is every scientist's dream. 146 00:19:50,522 --> 00:19:53,900 And in some ways it came true. 147 00:19:56,320 --> 00:20:00,448 lt turned out that 11 major quakes in the last 60 years 148 00:20:00,490 --> 00:20:03,826 had occurred in a largely westward progression. 149 00:20:03,869 --> 00:20:07,413 And l kept asking myself why. 150 00:20:07,456 --> 00:20:09,790 We went out to take a look at each quake site, 151 00:20:09,833 --> 00:20:11,834 and we began to form an idea 152 00:20:11,877 --> 00:20:15,463 about how built-up stress where the plates are locked 153 00:20:15,505 --> 00:20:19,258 suddenly gets moved during an earthquake. 154 00:20:19,301 --> 00:20:25,097 We turned our data into a computer model of stress being transferred by a quake... 155 00:20:25,140 --> 00:20:27,975 with red showing where stress increased along the fault , 156 00:20:28,018 --> 00:20:31,103 and blue where stress was relieved. 157 00:20:34,816 --> 00:20:38,027 Suddenly, the puzzle pieces fit together. 158 00:20:38,070 --> 00:20:40,947 With each quake, stress didn't just dissipate... 159 00:20:40,989 --> 00:20:45,284 but moved down the fault , where it concent rated again. 160 00:20:51,333 --> 00:20:57,213 And in most cases, a major quake struck in the red zone where stress had increased. 161 00:21:06,932 --> 00:21:09,600 Our model suggested the next great quake 162 00:21:09,643 --> 00:21:14,355 might strike lzmit, a city of more than 200,000 people. 163 00:21:22,614 --> 00:21:28,953 NARRATOR: And on August 17, 1999, disaster did strike. 164 00:22:07,826 --> 00:22:14,498 The lzmit earthquake was a magnitude 7.4 and lasted 45 seconds-- 165 00:22:14,541 --> 00:22:18,377 an eternity to those who suffered through it. 166 00:22:18,420 --> 00:22:20,713 [sirens] 167 00:22:20,756 --> 00:22:23,299 Local news crews captured the aftermath, 168 00:22:23,342 --> 00:22:28,137 as rescuers searched for thousands of people trapped under the rubble. 169 00:22:48,992 --> 00:22:51,619 20,000 buildings were destroyed... 170 00:22:51,661 --> 00:22:54,914 half a million people left homeless. 171 00:23:20,482 --> 00:23:25,820 Some believe the death toll reached as high as 25,000. 172 00:23:25,862 --> 00:23:29,865 The real toll may never be known. 173 00:23:29,908 --> 00:23:34,578 The loss of life was caused in large part by substandard construction. 174 00:23:36,415 --> 00:23:39,333 ln many places, cheaply built modern structures 175 00:23:39,376 --> 00:23:43,712 lay in ruins next to undamaged ancient mosques. 176 00:23:59,563 --> 00:24:01,564 STElN: Almost immediately after the quake hit, 177 00:24:01,606 --> 00:24:07,194 the international community arrived with food, medicine and shelters. 178 00:24:17,706 --> 00:24:22,001 Most of the residents are choosing to rebuild in lzmit, 179 00:24:22,043 --> 00:24:24,962 but if the lessons we've learned here aren't acted upon, 180 00:24:25,005 --> 00:24:27,923 their future is not bright. 181 00:24:34,055 --> 00:24:38,476 The most important thing we can do is to build safer structures-- 182 00:24:38,518 --> 00:24:42,938 and we know how-- we just have to make it a priority. 183 00:24:51,698 --> 00:24:54,325 What l want to do is to improve our ability 184 00:24:54,367 --> 00:25:00,289 to forecast when and where an earthquake will strike. 185 00:25:00,332 --> 00:25:03,751 We calculate that stress has now reached a segment of the fault 186 00:25:03,793 --> 00:25:07,463 beneath the Sea of Marmara. 187 00:25:07,506 --> 00:25:11,800 Sadly, this area where the next major quake is most likely... 188 00:25:11,843 --> 00:25:17,806 is just ten miles south of lstanbul, a vibrant city of some 10 million people. 189 00:25:33,698 --> 00:25:37,952 To give these millions of people a warning just before a major quake hits, 190 00:25:37,994 --> 00:25:39,703 seismometers have been placed 191 00:25:39,746 --> 00:25:43,916 near the fault segment we think is most likely to rupture. 192 00:25:52,884 --> 00:25:54,635 Warnings could reach lstanbul 193 00:25:54,678 --> 00:26:00,599 a mere 10 to 20 seconds before the violent shaking waves arrive... 194 00:26:00,642 --> 00:26:03,602 and the hope is that people will have a few moments 195 00:26:03,645 --> 00:26:08,023 to get themselves and their families to a safe spot. 196 00:26:17,826 --> 00:26:20,369 lt's almost impossible to convince people 197 00:26:20,412 --> 00:26:23,497 that they have a serious earthquake problem to contend with 198 00:26:23,540 --> 00:26:28,794 unless they get some kind of dramatic warning sign... 199 00:26:28,837 --> 00:26:33,674 and for lstanbul, lzmit was that warning. 200 00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:57,615 NARRATOR: The earthshaking forces beneath us interrupt life only occasionally, 201 00:26:57,657 --> 00:26:59,658 but unfolding constantly above us 202 00:26:59,701 --> 00:27:04,622 is the clash of great forces we know as weather. 203 00:27:10,170 --> 00:27:15,591 The fluid gases of the atmosphere can unleash devastating power. 204 00:27:26,144 --> 00:27:30,481 This is home of some of the most severe storms on Earth, 205 00:27:30,523 --> 00:27:35,527 a Midwestern region of the United States known as Tornado Alley. 206 00:27:43,203 --> 00:27:45,871 ANNOUNCER: Conditions are pretty favorable for some explosive thunderstorm development, 207 00:27:45,914 --> 00:27:47,623 in fact some of that' s going on right now. 208 00:27:47,666 --> 00:27:53,087 There's going to be a threat of severe thunderstorm s, large hail. 209 00:27:53,129 --> 00:27:55,047 The storms continuing to intensify. 210 00:27:55,090 --> 00:27:56,799 Take your tornado precautions. 211 00:27:56,841 --> 00:27:58,509 Do it now. 212 00:28:15,985 --> 00:28:18,654 [glass breaking] 213 00:28:23,868 --> 00:28:27,162 [sirens] 214 00:29:03,616 --> 00:29:05,743 NARRATOR: On May 3, 1999, 215 00:29:05,785 --> 00:29:09,747 an extraordinary series of tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma 216 00:29:09,789 --> 00:29:13,417 and left behind almost unimaginable destruction. 217 00:29:15,962 --> 00:29:17,796 MAN: As l remember 2x4s snapping. 218 00:29:17,839 --> 00:29:21,717 They just snapped like toothpicks, you know? 219 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:23,635 MAN: Everybody says what do they sound like? 220 00:29:23,678 --> 00:29:25,679 lt sounded pretty much like a freight train. 221 00:29:25,722 --> 00:29:27,848 But you are underneath the train. 222 00:29:27,891 --> 00:29:29,224 MAN: The house was gone. 223 00:29:29,267 --> 00:29:32,644 And l haven't found the refrigerator yet. 224 00:29:37,317 --> 00:29:39,067 MAN: l looked out across the street. 225 00:29:39,110 --> 00:29:41,195 And l said, there's no houses across the street. 226 00:29:41,237 --> 00:29:44,364 l can see until Fourth Street. 227 00:29:56,544 --> 00:29:58,504 NARRATOR: Many survivors were warned in time 228 00:29:58,546 --> 00:30:02,674 thanks in part to an unconventional team of scientists. 229 00:30:06,554 --> 00:30:11,558 lt was these Doppler-radar trucks, venturing close to the 1999 storms, 230 00:30:11,601 --> 00:30:15,562 that clocked the fastest wind speed ever recorded near the ground-- 231 00:30:15,605 --> 00:30:18,690 301 miles per hour. 232 00:30:20,777 --> 00:30:26,198 Dr. Joshua Wurman and his team spend months each year chasing tornadoes, 233 00:30:26,241 --> 00:30:30,202 hoping to get a radar's-eye view inside them. 234 00:30:40,171 --> 00:30:41,880 WURMAN: For a long time, l've dreamed of solving 235 00:30:41,923 --> 00:30:44,174 the biggest mystery about tornados-- 236 00:30:44,217 --> 00:30:46,134 how they're born. 237 00:30:59,315 --> 00:31:01,775 My goal is to get a three-dimensional picture 238 00:31:01,818 --> 00:31:06,446 of the wind speed and wind direction within the storm. 239 00:31:06,489 --> 00:31:08,448 But first, we have to position our two trucks 240 00:31:08,491 --> 00:31:11,785 on different sides of a storm at roughly a 90-degree angle 241 00:31:11,828 --> 00:31:15,789 and be in just the right place as the tornado begins. 242 00:31:18,793 --> 00:31:21,461 We don't know exactly how a tornado starts... 243 00:31:21,504 --> 00:31:23,422 but we do know what precedes it. 244 00:31:23,464 --> 00:31:26,049 Here, warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico 245 00:31:26,092 --> 00:31:29,928 rushes upwards through cooler air, forming a thunderstorm. 246 00:31:32,682 --> 00:31:38,812 Some of the rising air cools and sinks, or is dragged down by rain and hail. 247 00:31:40,732 --> 00:31:45,611 The warm air racing in at the bottom can actually push on the higher winds aloft, 248 00:31:45,653 --> 00:31:50,449 sort of tilting them and forming a large spinning column. 249 00:31:50,491 --> 00:31:52,284 Somehow, down near the ground 250 00:31:52,327 --> 00:31:54,953 between the air rushing up and the air rushing down, 251 00:31:54,996 --> 00:31:58,749 the spinning dramatically intensifies. 252 00:31:58,791 --> 00:32:00,292 The thing that fascinates me 253 00:32:00,335 --> 00:32:05,213 is that only some storms spawn tornadoes. 254 00:32:05,256 --> 00:32:09,801 lf we could figure out which ones, we could warn people earlier. 255 00:32:13,556 --> 00:32:17,935 That's why we drive about 10,000 miles every spring. 256 00:32:24,025 --> 00:32:26,985 Most of the time we miss the tornadoes. 257 00:32:27,028 --> 00:32:31,573 lt's incredibly difficult. l've been trying for years. 258 00:32:36,496 --> 00:32:38,163 MAN: Apparently the weather service is saying this storm 259 00:32:38,206 --> 00:32:40,499 is capable of producing softballs-- 260 00:32:40,541 --> 00:32:42,250 that's 4.5-inch hail. 261 00:32:42,293 --> 00:32:46,213 l don't know if l buy it, but l thought l'd pass that along. 262 00:33:18,663 --> 00:33:20,414 NARRATOR: Near the end of one recent season, 263 00:33:20,456 --> 00:33:23,583 the team received word that a violent storm was developing-- 264 00:33:23,626 --> 00:33:27,754 one that might spawn an outbreak of tornadoes. 265 00:33:27,797 --> 00:33:30,632 The challenge would be getting there in time. 266 00:33:30,675 --> 00:33:34,428 MAN: OK, both cells look pretty good. Both have hooks on them. 267 00:33:34,470 --> 00:33:37,514 The western one looks like it has a better hook on it now. 268 00:33:37,557 --> 00:33:39,891 NARRATOR: lt's a drill the y've been through many times... 269 00:33:39,934 --> 00:33:42,728 one fraught with frustrations. 270 00:33:45,773 --> 00:33:47,941 An empty gas tank... 271 00:33:51,487 --> 00:33:53,238 empty stomachs... 272 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,368 inevitable indigestion.... 273 00:34:00,163 --> 00:34:01,830 and unpredictable delays. 274 00:34:01,873 --> 00:34:04,666 [train horn blows] 275 00:34:11,049 --> 00:34:13,675 This day would prove even more eventful than usual. 276 00:34:13,718 --> 00:34:18,138 MAN: The shoulders are a bit muddier than l expected. 277 00:34:18,181 --> 00:34:21,641 l tried to rock it back and forth and when it went backwards... 278 00:34:21,684 --> 00:34:24,936 and is quite stuck. 279 00:34:24,979 --> 00:34:29,066 NARRATOR: The storm was coming right at them. 280 00:34:29,108 --> 00:34:33,028 All they had to do was get unstuck. 281 00:34:35,948 --> 00:34:37,991 WURMAN: Rotation is just about due west of us. 282 00:34:38,034 --> 00:34:42,454 Still about, l would say, 5 kilometers, maybe 4 1/2. 283 00:34:48,586 --> 00:34:50,670 Where is the rotation relative to you? 284 00:34:50,713 --> 00:34:53,215 MAN: lt's moving directly toward us. 285 00:34:53,257 --> 00:34:55,092 There's no reason to panic on this, right? 286 00:34:55,134 --> 00:34:58,804 WURMAN: Uh, not yet. 287 00:35:01,766 --> 00:35:03,058 [cheering] 288 00:35:03,101 --> 00:35:04,518 Are you unstuck? 289 00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:06,978 MAN: Yes, yes, yes, unstuck. 290 00:35:10,483 --> 00:35:14,402 WURMAN: OK, we're seeing increasing rotation at lower levels. 291 00:35:14,445 --> 00:35:17,030 Would you concur with this? 292 00:35:18,574 --> 00:35:20,367 NARRATOR: Afteryears of near misses, 293 00:35:20,409 --> 00:35:24,663 Josh Wurman's team was in perfect position-- 294 00:35:24,705 --> 00:35:27,499 and this storm was cooperating. 295 00:35:30,878 --> 00:35:32,129 WURMAN: Curtis. 296 00:35:32,171 --> 00:35:34,214 CURTlS: Stand By. 297 00:35:34,257 --> 00:35:35,799 WURMAN: Curtis. 298 00:35:35,842 --> 00:35:38,385 CURTlS: l'm looking at it. 299 00:35:38,427 --> 00:35:41,221 We got one now. We're geting it right now. 300 00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:22,971 NARRATOR: For the first time ever, the team succeeded 301 00:36:23,014 --> 00:36:25,265 in recording with two Doppler radars 302 00:36:25,308 --> 00:36:31,354 the conditions within a storm at the moment the tornado formed. 303 00:36:31,397 --> 00:36:33,815 The data will take years to analyze, 304 00:36:33,858 --> 00:36:40,655 but it promises to help unravel the secret of how this tornado was born. 305 00:36:44,327 --> 00:36:49,039 lt was a victory for science, for Josh Wurman and his crew, 306 00:36:49,081 --> 00:36:54,336 and for those whose lives will one day be safer because of their efforts. 307 00:37:03,638 --> 00:37:07,224 WURMAN: As scientists we yearn to witness the unknown... 308 00:37:07,266 --> 00:37:10,602 to see things that have never been seen before. 309 00:37:10,645 --> 00:37:16,358 Hundreds of years ago that would have been new rivers or new islands. 310 00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:20,904 For me that unknown is the inside of a tornado. 311 00:37:35,419 --> 00:37:39,297 EDMONDS: Working to decipher powerful events like a volcanic eruption 312 00:37:39,340 --> 00:37:42,217 is really searching for patterns that will alert us 313 00:37:42,260 --> 00:37:44,386 when something terrible is imminent, 314 00:37:44,428 --> 00:37:48,515 so that every human life at risk can be saved. 315 00:37:48,557 --> 00:37:55,063 Only 19 people died here on Montserrat, but that's 19 too many. 316 00:37:57,483 --> 00:37:59,401 STElN: Several hundred million people 317 00:37:59,443 --> 00:38:03,697 live along the world's most active earthquake fault zones. 318 00:38:03,739 --> 00:38:08,368 So it's critical we get better at forecasting quakes. 319 00:38:11,956 --> 00:38:16,918 NARRATOR: lf these and other scientists can add a litle bit to our understanding, 320 00:38:16,961 --> 00:38:20,755 then one day the pieces will fit together. 321 00:38:20,798 --> 00:38:22,590 And we have that power-- 322 00:38:22,633 --> 00:38:27,053 to explore, to learn, to find ways ofsurviving-- 323 00:38:27,096 --> 00:38:31,599 no matter how powerful the forces that confront us. 324 00:39:29,241 --> 00:39:32,952 ALEX: Seems to be going northeast now. 325 00:39:32,995 --> 00:39:34,329 SEAN: Hey, get me a wide lens-- 326 00:39:34,372 --> 00:39:39,042 get me the 40 or something. 327 00:39:39,085 --> 00:39:41,252 ALEX: Going increasingly north, continues at present path, 328 00:39:41,295 --> 00:39:45,507 it will be rounding over towards us. 329 00:39:45,549 --> 00:39:46,800 GREG: 40-millimeter? 330 00:39:46,842 --> 00:39:49,260 SEAN: Yeah. 331 00:39:51,180 --> 00:39:53,223 [jiggling door handle] 332 00:39:53,265 --> 00:39:56,643 SEAN: Unlock, unlock, unlock. 333 00:39:59,188 --> 00:40:00,814 Open it. 334 00:40:03,692 --> 00:40:06,945 Unlock it! Unlock! 335 00:40:06,987 --> 00:40:08,279 GREG: Locked out? 336 00:40:08,322 --> 00:40:09,989 SEAN: Yeah.