Dark History - 172: Earthquakes: From Human Sacrifice to Nuclear Disaster… Is the Big One Coming??

Episode Date: June 11, 2025

Hi friends, happy Wednesday!  Do you guys remember earthquake drills? I grew up in California… So earthquake drills were just part of my life growing up. It seemed like we did earthquake drills nonstop. And despite that, I can never seem to remember what to do during an earthquake. Like, do I go to a doorway? Do I hide under a desk?  Do I stop, drop, and roll? Oh right, that’s for fires. Some earthquakes are so big they have literally changed the size and rotation of the earth. The whole thing terrifies me because I learned that sometimes, an earthquake is just the *beginning* of a disaster.  Earthquakes can trigger *other* events - like tsunamis, fires, and even… human sacrifice. And once upon a time, an earthquake almost caused a nuclear disaster. So let’s get into it.  I appreciate you for coming by, and tune in next week for more Dark History. I sometimes talk about my Good Reads in the show. So here's the link if you want to check it out. IDK. lol: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/139701263-bailey ________ FOLLOW ME AROUND Tik Tok: https://bit.ly/3e3jL9v Instagram: http://bit.ly/2nbO4PR Facebook: http://bit.ly/2mdZtK6 Twitter: http://bit.ly/2yT4BLV Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2mVpXnY Youtube: http://bit.ly/1HGw3Og Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3cC0V9d Discord: https://discord.gg/BaileySarian* RECOMMEND A STORY HERE: [e-mail] Business Related Emails: [e-mail] Business Related Mail: Bailey Sarian 4400 W. Riverside Dr., Ste 110-300 Burbank, CA 91505 ________ This podcast is Executive Produced by: Bailey Sarian & Kevin Grosch and Joey Scavuzzo from Made In Network Head Writer: Allyson Philobos Writer: Katie Burris Additional Writing: Jessica Charles Research provided by: Arelí Rocha Special thank you to our Historical Consultant: James Carter, PhD - Author of “Champion's Day: The End of Old Shanghai” Director: Brian Jaggers Additional Editing: Julien Perez and Maria Norris Post Supervisor: Kelly Hardin  Production Management: Ross Woodruff Hair: Angel Gonzalez Makeup: Nikki La Rose ________ Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to https://www.zocdoc.com/DARKHISTORY to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.  Want to subtly inspire more delicious meals cooked for you this summer? For a very limited time only, shop the HexClad Father’s Day Sale for the best deals on the best gifts for Dad! Just head to https://www.hexclad.com/DARKHISTORY. Calm the chaos of order fulfillment with the shipping software that delivers. Switch to ShipStation today. Go to https://www.shipstation.com/darkhistory to sign up for your FREE trial. Right now, you can get a 30-day free trial PLUS 25% off your annual subscription when you go to https://www.dipseastories.com/DARKHISTORY. 

Do you guys remember earthquake drills? Well, I grew up in California, so earthquake drills were just part of Growing up. I don't know. It was normal. Do they do it everywhere? I don't know. But look, it seems like we did earthquake drills all of the time Okay, and despite that honestly when an earthquake does happen I go blank. I don't remember what to do when it's happening It's like do I go to a doorway? Do I hide under a desk? Do I stop drop and roll? Oh, yeah, that's for fire. Sorry, wrong emergency. I do confuse them though. When that last time there was an earthquake, I did roll. I stopped, dropped, and rolled. It did nothing. Anyways, some earthquakes are so big they have literally changed the size and

rotation of the earth. The whole thing terrifies me because I learned that sometimes an earthquake is only the beginning of a major disaster. Earthquakes, scary, but they can trigger other events like tsunamis, fires, and even human sacrifice. I'm not kidding. And once upon a time, an earthquake almost caused a nuclear disaster.

So let's talk about it. Welcome to the dark history of earthquakes. Oh no, I'm shaking. Oh, earthquake. I call them booby bouncers. Earthquakes? Yeah, they're booby bouncers. Earthquakes? Yeah, they're booby bouncers. Oh no!

Hi friends, I hope you're having a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian and I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. Look here, we believe history does not have to be boring. It might be tragic, sometimes it's happy, but either way, it's our dark history. Now, before we get into it, don't forget to like and subscribe because I'm always here for you posting new content.

And also let me know what you think in the comment section down below because I do read comments at the end. You might miss it, I respond to you. Anyhow, earthquakes. First of all, what's an earthquake? If you don't live in a place that gets earthquakes, they might kind of seem harmless, silly, you know, but earthquakes can be terrifying. Personally, whenever an earthquake hits California and it's been happening a lot lately, I just freeze. I completely freeze. But earthquakes can be terrifying. Personally, whenever an earthquake hits California, and it's been happening a lot lately, I just freeze.

I completely freeze. You don't wanna be near me during some kind of like, emergency because I'm one of those people who freezes. It sucks. Anyhow, like I know I'm supposed to do something like get under a table or what, yep. But literally, I just go blank and I go, good luck, I just accept it. it. Anyway so what's an earthquake? Imagine Earth's surface okay it's like a

giant puzzle made of pieces called tectonic plates. These plates they're constantly moving but they don't move smoothly okay they kind of grind and they push up against each other. It's like a middle school dance, you know? What was that about? It wasn't even dancing, it was just, you know, that's what those plates are doing. These plates have a lot of friction between them,

and sometimes it leads to the plates getting stuck. And when this happens, it causes pressure to build up over time. So with these tectonic plates, when the pressure becomes too much, they slip. And then an earthquake happens. And it's kind of like Earth's way of, you know, letting off that built up steam. It's like a fart, you know? It's just pressure. It's building up. It's in your tummy.

And eventually you can't take it anymore. And it's just like... Pfffff. So the fart is kind of like an earthquake. Yeah, it's Earth's fart. And farting is good, you know? Otherwise you would explode. And so would Earth.

So it has to release the tension. Now you always hear about earthquakes being measured with a number. And this is because of something called the Richter scale. Now the scale was invented in 1935 by a guy whose name was Charles Richter. He was an American seismologist, which essentially means he's an earthquake scientist.

So in the 1930s and the 1940s, it was kind of like the golden age of nudists. I know, that's random. What does nudists have to do with earthquakes? Well, let me tell you. Charles Richter and his wife Lillian, they were nudists. They loved this little movement. They loved it. They loved the nudist communities. They were popping up all over the United States and Charles and Lillian, they were always traveling to like up-and-coming nudist spots. So Charles and his wife were on a vacation, they're at a nudist camp,

and they're all just out like, yay, we're nude, and nothing to be ashamed of, love that. But then a major earthquake happened. Yep, the booby bouncer struck again. Could you imagine all the bits and pieces? They were just all getting slapped in the face with your boobs. But anyway, so they're all naked and now things are shaking.

So this happens and most people, they get scared, but not Charles. Charles was like, oh, hell yeah, like it's happening. He was really excited. So he rushed over. Well, first the earthquake happens and then after that he rushed over to his lab to like gather the data and legend has it,

he didn't even bother to put clothes on. He needed to get that information like ASAP, leaving a snail trail wherever he went. The Richter scale though is essentially a ruler for earthquakes. It gives us a number to see how much energy an earthquake released. The higher the number, the stronger the earthquake. When an earthquake happens scientists, they use machine called a seismograph that picks up on the shaking.

You've seen it. There's that thing that shakes, you know, it's like, well, yeah, I can feel it. But the Richter scale then takes that data from those seismographs and it turns it into a number. Math, science, it's all coming together. Each number on the scale means the earthquake is 10 times stronger than the number before it. So a magnitude five earthquake shakes 10 times more

than a magnitude four. Something we really don't think about, but like that's how it breaks down. Earthquakes have been happening for a really long time. They're not new, but nowadays I feel like we hear about them more because of like social media and how easy it is to access information, right? So it does feel like they seem to be happening more,

but just to calm you down, like calm your tits. Like they have been happening for a long time. Here's the thing, thousands of years ago, people didn't have the Richter scale and they definitely did not have the technology that we have now. You know, they have like these apps and stuff that can give you a warning when an earthquake is happening.

I don't know if you've tried these apps, I have. I get a notification after the earthquake happened. So I'm like, yeah, thanks. I felt that, you know? And like not to be a dick or anything. Like I know like it's hard to predict an earthquake and all like, whatever. But you think we would have like,

we'd have it maybe figured out. I'm getting ahead of myself. I was just disappointed the last time it was a scary big earthquake. And then my phone was like, an earthquake is coming. He already came bitch. Anyhow, so look, back then they didn't have like earthquake resistant buildings. They didn't have any of the advantages that we do have today. So when an earthquake did hit back then, truly it was like the world was ending. You're living on God's etchy sketch. He's like, no, I'm done with this one.

And then there goes your whole life. Remember in the 90s, there was like this movement of like etchysketch art and like people would do like the Mona Lisa and stuff and you'd be like, whoa. You don't really see that that often. A prime example of this is the Shaanxi earthquake of 1556, which is named for the place in China where it was centered. Now to this day, it is the deadliest earthquake that has ever happened. There have been so many

times when I knew I needed to see a doctor for something dumb, you know, like a sore throat or like, I don't know, my back hurts, whatever. But I tell myself it's too much work. You know, like it'll, it'll go away. And plus like what's my insurance? I don't know. But you know, it doesn't have to be like that because with this app ZocDoc, it makes all of this a lot easier. I love ZocDoc. I love ZocDoc, geez. If you don't know, ZocDoc is a free app and website where you can search and compare high quality in-network doctors,

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Back in 1556, China was having a golden age. They were living the dream. The country was expanding, the economy was good, people were, seemed to be doing okay, but they had no idea a big disaster was headed their way. So in this area, a lot of people lived in these places called like house caves. So these homes are essentially like carved

into the sides of hills, and then your house would like go into the hill. Honestly, I was like, oh, I kind of love that idea. It might sound a little spooky, but it made sense with the cold climate that they were experiencing. So it kind of also helped with insulation. You know, and at this time,

they're not thinking that the house caves, are they earthquake resistant? You know, they're not thinking that because it wasn't a concern. And then on January 23rd, 1556, people they're in their homes and they're sleeping, sleeping sound. And then out of nowhere, suddenly, you know, there was this terrifying noise, like the loudest thunder you've ever heard. Which side note,

no one ever tells you how loud earthquakes are. They're so loud. Thank you. Then the ground started to shake. Now, before people could even react, the walls of the house caves started to crack and crumble and just fall apart. Apparently the soil in this area was very loose. So with that in mind, listen,

everything that was built on it just started to fall apart and like turn into liquid. Okay? Think mudslide. The earthquake itself only lasted for a few seconds but it started this chain reaction of disaster to come. Basically all these homes that were built into the hills collapsed, they fell in on themselves, and anyone who was inside got like crushed to death. Now listen, this earthquake, it only lasted for a few seconds,

but it set off like a chain reaction that couldn't be stopped. Houses are getting crushed, the mountains start collapsing. I know. How do mountains collapse? Well essentially it kind of it was a big massive landslide okay. Now the landslide just crashing down the hills burying entire villages and it buried everyone alive. So mountains you know the landslide just falling into the rivers and it was everyone alive. So mountains, you know, the landslide, all that just fallen into the rivers. And it was rerouting the water, essentially leading to now the water coming into like

where all the people are. These villages were flooded in minutes, minutes. Like there was not a lot of time to react whatsoever. And for the few villages that weren't flooded out or didn't have a mountain like bearing them, fires broke out. Oh yeah, remember back then it's 15 whatever. They didn't have electricity, so fire was like how they had light. These fires ended up burning for days. It didn't just affect like the everyday person either. I mean city walls, government buildings, and temples collapsed instantly during the

quake, burying thousands of people alive. There was a member of the royal family and over a hundred officers who were all crushed to death. I mean, to them, it felt like the world was ending. And honestly, I can't blame them for feeling that way. Again, it's the 1550s. People did not know what an earthquake was or like why it was happening. There was no scientific explanation. There was no like let me look this up you know. All they knew it was terrifying and unstoppable. Now technically this isn't the strongest earthquake on record

but it turned out to be the most deadly in history that we know of as of right now. Okay, because maybe tomorrow. We don't know. Stay tuned. Historians estimate that the Shaanxi earthquake killed around 830,000 people. Yeah, get this. This wiped out over 60% of village populations in China.

That's insane. Imagine more than half of the population of your hometown or like your city, wherever you live just like disappearing, just by. And even if you were one of the lucky ones who made it out of the earthquake, listen, listen, the aftershocks lasted until the following year. So people were living in constant fear that, uh-oh, like is it gonna happen again? How could you not, you know?

Some serious PTSD, I wouldn't be able to sleep either. This was one of those disasters that completely reshaped life for the survivors and changed the history of China forever. Now, back then they didn't have a way to actually measure how big this earthquake was, but experts who have looked, studied this earthquake, they believe that the Shaanxi earthquake

had a magnitude of between eight and 8.3 on the Richter scale. And for a long time, this earthquake was seen as like the worst case scenario when it came to natural disaster. But mama earthquake was like, I'm gonna one up you. So it's 1960, we're in Chile. Everyone's living their life minding their own business. And then they would make history in a very, very awful way.

A 9.5 magnitude earthquake hit Chile and this is the most powerful earthquake on record to this very day. It all started with those famous tectonic plates. Yep I guess these tectonic plates they were moving and grooving just off the coast of southern Chile. Nobody knew, right? No one knows what's going on with plates, not those plates. Then on Sunday, May 22nd, 1960, those plates slipped. Now when this happens, it releases an insane amount of energy leading to an earthquake. Now this earthquake shook the ground

for a solid 10 minutes. That's too long. That's way too long. If you've experienced an earthquake, you know usually it feels like they last forever, but usually it's only like 30 seconds or something. You know, it's not really that long, but 10 minutes? Oh, hell no. I don't know what I would do. I don't know what I would do. I'd be stop dropping and rolling for 10 minutes. Carmen Palante, a survivor, remembers the streets

in her town turning into waves like the sea. People couldn't even stand up. The area that got hit the hardest was Valdivia, which is a city in southern Chile. People there were running for their lives just trying to get away from the buildings because the buildings started to just crumble. Sadly, many weren't able to escape.

Most of Valdivia was destroyed during the earthquake and nothing was really left except crumbled buildings. But again, the earthquake was just the beginning. The earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that traveled across the Pacific Ocean. So, you know, the shaking happens, you think you're in the clear, nope. 15 minutes later, the water in the ocean

started to pull back. So it pulls away from the beach. And this is a classic sign that a tsunami is about to happen. Kind of think of it like you're pulling back a slingshot, right, and it's like all the way back and then it gets released. Ooh, that is a good analogy, I like that. Cause listen, just a few minutes later,

the water came back with vengeance. The Chilean coast was hit with waves that were bigger than anyone could have ever imagined. When I say big, I mean the waves were between 82 and 262 feet tall. Oh yeah, imagine a wave the size of a 26 story building coming straight at you. What are you gonna do? Nothing. Man. Now there were reports that there were three major waves that hit. Now these waves completely ate up, you know, ships, houses, cars, of course people, anything,

which is swallowed by the water. When this happens, it's tragic. You either drown immediately or you're swept away, you know, you're swept away in the water. And they say the most dangerous part about it, like a tsunami and when it comes in, is the debris in the water. A lot of people die because of what's in the water.

There's cables, there's sharp objects. The water is filled with everything and that's what will get you. After all this, the slingshot, the earthquake, all this, half of the town was swept away. The tsunami sent massive waves all over the world. 15 hours after the earthquake, Hawaii was hit with massive 35 foot waves out of nowhere.

These waves wiped out an area called Hilo Bay where 61 people died as a result. Now listen, Hawaii is 7,000 miles away from Chile. So it had a big effect. Almost a full day later, you know, the earthquake happens to the waves, so the waves make its way all the way to Japan. 10,000 miles away from the original earthquake. It's like when you throw a rock into the river and you know the waves spread out. It was just doing that on a massive scale. So these massive waves like surged into the cities destroying about 1600 homes and 139 people ended up dying. So the waves weren't done yet. They made their way all the way to the Philippines.

way all the way to the Philippines. Philippines were hit too. Massive waves. And as a result, 32 people were missing or dead. In total, around 1,655 people had died. And the aftermath was awful. Lakes were overfilled with water causing flooding everywhere, which led to whole neighborhoods disappearing. Everything was in chaos. I mean, a lot of the people who lived in these areas just packed up and left. They had to rebuild their lives somewhere else. After the earthquake, a lot of people in Chile

were desperate for answers. Some of the local indigenous people like the Mapuche were trying to understand why such a catastrophe could happen. So, you know, they turned to their beliefs and traditions to try and make sense of it. In one community, there was a belief that when the earth and ocean were angry, there was only one way to stop further destruction. Offering a sacrifice. Here, I sacrifice this bird. I don't know her. Sorry, Joan. But if I had to sacrifice someone, it would be you.

Not Paul. Sorry. I won't miss you that much. In their tradition and their belief, if, you know, Earth is mad, they're like, we have to offer a sacrifice, right? So they come up with a solution. They're like, look, the gods here are obviously really upset and I'm gonna let you guys know, if we do a sacrifice of like a cat or whatever, it's not gonna please the gods.

We got to come up with a better solution. So we got to sacrifice a child. Yeah. If you know me, you know I don't like cooking. I try to love it. I do, but I just, it's hard. You know, I like snacks. Snacks are great. But lately I've kind of been like romanticizing cooking. Like the idea of lighting some candles, putting on an apron, pretending I'm in a movie and like sauteing onions. I like the idea of it, you know? And I swear it all changed when I got my hands on this cookware that actually makes me want to cook. It's called Hexclad. Have you heard of it? Well, Hexclad is premium kitchen gear

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Yeah, I could offer her as a sacrifice, but she could just fly away. So there goes that idea. The spiritual communities of Chile were desperate for answers. You know, they didn't understand how or why this could have happened. Their belief was that the gods were angry with them. One shaman named Juana interpreted the earthquake

as punishment by mother nature for humanity's sins. This shaman believed that a sacrifice was necessary and not just any kind of sacrifice, an animal wasn't gonna cut it, you know? What they really needed to call mother nature was a pure human sacrifice. In other words, a child. Jose Luis Pinacor, who was around five years old.

All eyes were looking at him. Poor kid, he's like, what? What, I just lost my tooth. And everyone was like, uh-huh. So I guess the shaman, Juana, visited the child's grandpa. And the shaman, very well respected, so it wasn't weird. And explained the situation.

Was like, look, gods are upset. We need a pure kid, blah, blah, blah. We're choosing to eat your kid. We can all judge, which we are. But the grandfather was like, okay, I understand. Here you go. And like gave the child up. Jose's mother worked in another city, so she wasn't around at the time

so she didn't know what was going on. Yep. And his father was also not around. Now the choice to sacrifice little Jose was an act of desperation and everyone involved did it with the full belief that it would restore peace and balance to Chile. So the shaman, Juana, apparently took Jose from his grandfather's house, took the young child to the beach, and sacrificed him. So a ceremony was done. Now to be fair, there's not a lot of information as to like what, how the whole ceremony played

out and like if they said certain prayer, we don't know. But what we do know is that little Jose, so sorry, his arms and his legs were removed. I know it's like that TikTok. His arms are gone, I don't know. It's seriously that. And they removed all of them. So it's just like his body.

And then they like stuck him into the sand and this was their offering. Eventually you know the waves came up and the Pacific Ocean carried his body out to sea. Then they brought in the horses. I feel like they could have sacrificed the horses but you know what they didn't but they did kill the horses and then they ate them and that was the ceremony. I wonder how did they use I hope they like use the horse hair for something because like you you can make so much out of horse hair um earthquakes all of this happened in 1960 it's not ancient times you know and listen what listen, what they did technically, it wasn't legal. It was not legal.

And they were not going to get away with that. A few months after the sacrifice, two anthropologists were studying the spiritual practices of this Chilean community. And so they started to like, you know, put some pieces together and they're like starting to suspect that a human sacrifice had taken place. Now locals, they knew about it, but it wasn't an open secret. It's not clear how they suspected it, but what we do know is that they suspected it and then they ended up going to the police and they're like, hey, his arms were cut off, his legs were cut off. You might want to check that out. So the police, they go out and they investigate the situation, which led them to Juana and Jose's grandpa and their suspicions were confirmed.

Juana, Jose's grandpa, and there was a third person who they were all put on trial. They eventually confessed and were sentenced to jail. But two years later, Juana, Jose's grandpa, and the other man recanted their confession. They're like, yeah, everything I said, yeah, I was just kidding, LOL. I didn't do, nothing didn't happen.

The judge ends up feeling bad for them and he lets them out of prison. He said these people, quote, "'Acted without free will, "'driven by an irresistible natural force "'of ancestral tradition,' end quote. Look, I guess there's a law in Chile that says, quote, "'Those acting out of an insuperable fear

"'are exempt from penal responsibility." So I guess they did serve two years in prison. Sadly, Jose's story isn't talked about at all because it happened right after one of the worst natural disasters ever. And also, it's kind of easy to maybe just, you know, there's other things to focus on too, you know, there's other things to focus on too, you know? But it goes to show the impact the earthquake had on every level, culturally, emotionally, and spiritually.

There was one positive thing that came out of the Valdivia earthquake. Trying to find a positive here, okay? This awful tragedy helped seismologists understand the nature of earthquakes a lot better. So, you know, with the goal of being more prepared. So scientists are learning something new with every major earthquake disaster. It's awful, but like something is, they're learning from it. And yes, but then like a whole wrench got thrown into the mix because in 2011

scientists are figuring out earthquakes and all this stuff but then they were faced with a disaster that they didn't even take into account at all. A nuclear disaster. So the other day I was filming a dark history episode for you guys you know and then out of nowhere, Joan just like, she just took off, took off flying. Apparently she had to like send a letter or something. I don't know. She'd knocked over everything.

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And up to 90% off FedEx. Sounds like they're ripping us off, huh? Yeah, that's real money back in your pocket. What I love most is that ShipStation grows with you. You don't need to upgrade or switch platforms once things, you know, take off. It's built to scale. So whether you're just starting out or you're packing orders with your friend every night, you know, take off, it's built to scale. So whether you're just starting out

or you're packing orders with your friend every night, you know, it works. Calm the chaos of order fulfillment with the shipping software that delivers. Switch to ShipStation today. Go to shipstation.com slash dark history to sign up for your free trial. That's shipstation.com slash dark history. So it's 2011. Scientists,

they're facing a crisis they never saw coming. That's because this crisis involved a nuclear power plant. Now a nuclear power plant, does anyone really know what's going on over there? Truly. You know, they, I, you just, you don't ever hear about it. They're around. You know, you just never hear about it. They're around. No one knows what's going on. They're complicated. They're confusing. But essentially, this is where the government produces electricity to power homes, businesses, anything. If you watch The Simpsons, I mean, that's the only introduction and understanding I have of a power plant. Nuclear power is considered a clean energy source because it produces electricity without greenhouse gas emissions or air pollution. But the downside, there's a lot of risk when it comes to nuclear energy.

When something goes wrong, it's game over. Okay, it's over. Oh, you know what was good? Did you guys ever watch the HBO show? Chernobyl! Do you remember when they won an award and Tiffany Haddish was like, Chernobyl! And it was like, girl, did you watch that? I thought it was really good.

It was all about the nuclear power plant disaster that happened in Ukraine. There was an explosion and it released an insane amount of lethal radiation. The radiation that came out of Chernobyl was no joke. It caused horrible lifelong illnesses. Literally look at pictures of people who were exposed to it. It's awful, it's terrifying, it's sad.

If you were even just in the area, you were affected. And it affected generations to come. They would be struggling with thyroid cancer, radiation poisoning, birth defects, and then depending on how close you were to the radiation and all that, girl, you're gonna die. You are gonna die.

And still to this very day, the power plant still exists. It's abandoned and it's not safe for anyone to be near. And according to science and math and all of that, no one will be able to live there and it won't be considered safe to live there for 20,000 years. So not anytime soon. All right.

So it'll be available in the year 21,986. Maybe invest in some property now. I'm just kidding. Chernobyl had nothing to do with earthquakes though, to be clear. It's just an example of like what happens, what can happen if a power plant were to like explode or whatever, you know?

So the scientists and stuff, they're focusing on earthquakes, not thinking like there are power plants all over the world. Like what if there was a major earthquake near a power plant? No one was thinking about that yet. That is until 2011 at 2.46 p.m. On March 11th 2011 a 9.1 magnitude earthquake hit the Tohoku region of Japan

This earthquake also like the Valdivia earthquake, it started deep under the ocean. Apparently it was caused by something called a mega thrust fault. I know it sounds like a porn hub search or something. But a mega thrust fault is what happens when one tectonic plate is forced, like the rub and write, but then it's forced

under like another one in simple terms, okay? So this happens. 9.1, bitch, that's huge. Buildings in Tokyo, which were like hundreds of miles away from like the center of the earthquake, were shaking for six minutes straight. I hate that, I hate the thought of that.

Again, the earthquake is, it does damage, but it's not the worst part. The real damage happened after the earthquake. The Tohoku earthquake triggered a ginormous tsunami. I mean, waves, they were reaching up to 130 feet, 130 feet high in some places. Entire coastal towns were swept away in minutes. People, homes, cars, building, everything just swallowed by the water, okay? Now, this is where the nuclear power plant situation

comes into play because listen, along the coast was the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. So when the earthquake hit, the nuclear power plant, they have protocol. So they automatically shut, shut down the whole system, turn it all off so nothing would explode, which was exactly what you're supposed to do. Right? Great. But then the tsunami came.

Okay. They weren't ready for that. what you're supposed to do, right? Great. But then the tsunami came, okay? They weren't ready for that. So the water comes rushing in and it crashed over the island's protective walls. Yeah, the tsunami was like cute walls. Now it goes into the power plant area. It's flooding the entire facility, knocking out the backup generators

that powered the cooling systems. Now listen, without the cooling systems, the nuclear power plant began to melt down, okay? This was not good. Toxic radiation started leaking from the reactors and then there was just a full blown evacuation put in place in that area. They needed to get out of there ASAP.

Thousands of people had to just get out of there, run for their lives and leave behind their homes, abandoning everything, not knowing if they're even gonna be able to return. So everyone gets out. But 50 engineers stayed behind to stabilize the nuclear power plant. Now this was very brave of them because there was a very slim chance that these engineers were going to make it out alive. Now there was 50 of them so

they would take turns working in shifts to try and limit the exposure. But they were still dealing with high radiation levels, heat and constant risk of explosion. Firefighters and plant workers were frantically pouring in seawater to try and like cool down the power plant. Again, they just didn't want this thing to explode. The whole thing was risky. It was chaotic. They were trying their best. They didn't know really what was gonna happen.

But thankfully, it paid off. I mean, kind of. I mean, it didn't explode, but shit still got real fucked up. These engineers who stayed behind became like local heroes. They were even given the nickname, the Fukushima 50. Because of them, I mean, you know, the thing didn't explode and make everything worse. And their bravery is still highly respected in Japan. They sacrificed their safety to protect

as many people and lives as possible, knowing the risk that they were putting themselves in. That's beautiful and sad and beautiful at the same time, you know? This was the second worst nuclear accident after the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. Even though there wasn't a giant explosion, the power plant did leak radiation. Because of this, it created like a long-term environmental and public health crisis. To this very day, entire towns are completely abandoned. It's like the city was frozen in time because when all of this was going on,

all the people just had to pick up and leave. So it's like nothing changed since that moment. You could see videos and stuff, it's crazy. And again, still to this very day, the radiation levels are so high, it's very unsafe for anyone to go back. You see, radiation, it just doesn't just like float in the air. It gets into the soil, the water, the food, the trees, the plants. everything is contaminated. Now, little side note here, because I'm fascinated with the Fukushima situation and Chernobyl too, I don't know what it is. It's just such a, it has such an eerie feeling to it.

So I've gone down rabbit holes of like, cause you look, people pay tons of money to actually go and tour the area, even though it's highly radioactive, okay? But you can sign up to go on a tour. You have to pretty much agree to like, hey yeah, I'm putting myself in danger, whatever. But you hop on a tour bus and then they take you on a drive and they're like, look, here it is, you're here.

And then they have these radiation monitors and they'll start going off the charts and the guy's like, yeah, well, you know, okay, you're here though. There was a show on Netflix, it was called Dark Tourist. I really liked that show. And they had an episode about like touring the Fukushima, like a power plant area.

So he goes with like a group of people and it's just insane and it's really cool and interesting because you actually get to see like everything is just frozen in time and it's just so eerie and creepy and like why do you I understand wanting to go there but like you guys the fucking radiation like are you okay whatever you know it's kind of whatever but people do that they tour it plus there's tons of I understand wanting to go there, but like you guys, the fucking radiation, like are you, okay, whatever. You know, it's kind of whatever, but people do that, they tour it. Plus there's tons of YouTuber,

like YouTube people who like go to the area and bring a camera. I'm like, you guys are kind of dumb, but whatever, I'm on YouTube too, so I can't hate on it, I'm dumb too. I mean, off track. If you do tour it, let me know, send me pictures. Have you been?

The earthquake not only killed thousands and destroyed countless homes, but it also made people realize that even our most advanced technology doesn't hold up against the forces of nature. The disaster even changed Japan's energy policy basically like overnight. At this time, everyone kind of thought nuclear power plants were safe, but after the tsunami and also like Chernobyl, people were like, I don't know about this. Like, you know, it's kind of doing a lot of harm. Between the earthquake and the tsunami, the Fukushima disaster led to thousands of deaths.

The earthquake destroyed 123,000 houses and damaged almost a million more. Now I don't know about you, but I think a lot of us are afraid of earthquakes. Maybe not, but okay, how about me? I know I'm afraid of earthquakes, but when I was reading this story, like doing a story,

I realized I'm not actually afraid of the earthquake. It's what comes after it. That's the part that is dangerous and actually really scary. I've always hated earthquakes because growing up in California, there's this constant fear they love to throw our way. The big one.

Oh yes, they've been talking about it all my life. The big one. Oh, yes. They've been talking about it all my life The big one is coming. Are you prepared? No Not actually like I'm over here. Stop dropping and rolling. I'm not prepared. Okay. I need a little like outline What am I supposed to whatever but in 1994? There was a really big earthquake and I was young but I remember it. I remember it so much and after that personally like I've always been really afraid of earthquakes and they've been telling us the big one's coming, the big one's coming and it's like okay great but like give me solutions here.

Give me advice. What should I be doing? Well I have some some hot tips for you when we come back. You know that feeling when you're so locked in on a good podcast that the real world just kind of fades away? Like this one time? Paul? Paul? Paul? Paul? Paul, listen, I- Paul, I have to tell you something. This is what I'm talking about. He is locked in and loaded.

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DipsyStories.com slash dark history. Ooh. So lately here in California, we have been experiencing some earthquakes. I'm like, uh oh, is this leading up to something? I don't know, I don't know. Growing up, the big one was described as like, it's gonna be this insane earthquake that's gonna like split California in half, Pangea, you know, a new continent's gonna start, like it's gonna be chaos, the Golden Gate Bridge is gonna freaking, like everything is just gonna be over. And again, I'm like, okay, great.

So do I need a flashlight? Running shoes, like what do I need here? So there is like some facts behind this, okay? Scientists believe that this big one will happen along the San Andreas Faults in California. The San Andreas is one of the longest faults in the whole world.

Not a great movie though, San Andreas. Did you like it? I don't like it, I thought it was kind of lame, but whatever. Now here's the fun part that I think just keeps us on our toes. They keep telling us, you know, it's the big one's coming, the big one's coming.

We're like, when? They're like, sometime soon? Or not. And it's like, okay, cool. Faults. What's a fault? Sometimes it's his fault. Sometimes it's her fault. Sometimes, I mean, it's California's fault. The San Andreas Fault is the place in California where two tectonic plates meet. Remember, plates. So two of them are meeting. The Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. And the plates all have names too, but we don't need to get too much into that.

So they meet here. But instead of fitting perfectly together, they slide past each other. Now sometimes when they're slipp in, they're sliding, they get stuck. And when they finally unstick, the ground shakes. And that's when the earthquake happens. So the San Andreas Fault is like a crack in the earth where big pieces are just trying to move and groove, but they don't always get along nicely. Over the last 1,000 years, there has been at least one major earthquake

on the San Andreas Fault about every 150 years. And by major earthquake, meaning it's bigger than 7.0, but the scientists have been doing the math and they're realizing that a big earthquake hasn't hit the area in over 160 years. Great, I'm gonna sleep so well tonight. Thanks, you know, thanks Bailey for ruining my day. So technically, according to scientists

and everyone who studies earthquakes, they're like, yeah, we're overdue. It's gonna happen. We just don't know when. Look, maybe it won't happen in our lifetime and then I'll be dead and so it won't matter. But good luck to everyone else in the future, you know? So the big one's coming. They know what's coming.

They just can't tell us when. It's kind of like taxes. You see, taxes. They're like, hey, you owe us a bunch of money, but we don't know how much. You gotta figure it out, and then if you don't, you're gonna pay the price. It's kind of like that.

It's like, I think they know, and it'll be just a way to kind of like, get rid of some people. But listen, stop panicking, because I have some good news. First of all, the St. Andreas Fault is one of the longest faults, but it's not the deepest. Nay, nay, she's not that deep.

So it's believed that it's unlikely that an earthquake bigger than an 8.3 would happen along this fault. That's still big, but it's not, you know, it could be worse. Now the earthquake in Chile was along a much deeper fault, which is, it's believed that's why it reached like a 9.5. And nowadays experts say that we have gotten more prepared, especially in areas like California, where everyone is aware of the fault lines. So now, at least in California, I'm sorry,

I didn't in fact check in anywhere else because I know like Kentucky's been experiencing a lot of earthquakes too. Super random, huh? We should do an episode on fracking because that's what that's about. But that's a topic for another day. Anyway, so today in California, listen,

they now have laws in place where buildings are created with earthquakes in mind. Other states have like codes and laws in place where buildings are created with earthquakes in mind. Other states have like codes and stuff in place to help with like earthquakes on buildings or whatever, but California is like pretty aggressive with it. They have something called seismic codes, which require new buildings to follow seismic resistance standards. In other words, they should be built in a way where if an earthquake happens, the building won't crumble.

Well, in California, they have grants available for homeowners who are living in older buildings. So you can essentially like retrofit your building and like make it stronger if an earthquake hits. If you're interested in this, it's called the Earthquake Brace and Bolt Program. It's believed that in the event of this big earthquake, less than one in 30,000 buildings would completely collapse. And that's kind of nice to hear, but what about the mountains and stuff?

Because I feel like that shit's just gonna come down and I don't... you know? Okay. Scientists even say that the Golden Gate Bridge would survive a massive earthquake. So if you live in California, listen. Good luck, you know? Well, I'm gonna tell you what I learned. So listen. I'm Miss Paranoid Queen. Hi. And my name is Bailey Sarian. So when I'm paranoid or something, I like to equip myself with knowledge. So earthquakes terrify me, right? So I have watched a ton, a ton of YouTube videos from like, you know, actual experts and scientists who explain what you should do

in the moment of an earthquake, because I don't know about you, but a lot of us, our natural instinct is to like get up and fricking run. And what I learned is that is actually not the right thing you're supposed to do. Scientists and like specialists actually advise not to run because with the shaking and whatnot,

your ankles are gonna break. Yeah, so don't run. If you live in an old house, you can get under a doorframe. That's because back in the olden days, doorframes were considered to be one of the strongest parts of the home. So that's where that rumor comes from. Now newer build homes, they're not as strong as they used to be, the door frame.

So the whole door frame thing only works if you live in an older home, which kind of sucks because usually those older homes aren't like earthquake safe or whatever. What I also learned was that if you are near a table, get under the table. If you have to crawl there, crawl, but get under a table and it doesn't matter how how expensive this table is or or or cheap

this table is because I watched tons of videos on this and this is how ridiculous I am. I watched this whole video where they recreated like big earthquakes and they showed someone getting under a table, an expensive table, roof collapse, whatever, and it falls, when your roof collapsed, it falls straight onto the table and you're safe. And then they did it with like a cheap $20 table.

Same thing, they got under it, they recreated a huge earthquake, the roof collapsed and boom it landed flat. Moral of the story is no matter how cheap the table, that is your best bet. As long as it's not a glass table. Okay? Alright. So what did you learn here? Don't run. You're gonna break your ankles. I know you're still gonna do it, but like just know like it's not the best idea. And if you have kids and stuff, I get it. You wanna like run to them or maybe you don't.

But either way, like just know, get under a table. That is your best bet. The door frame thing, table, table, okay? Also get away from windows because they can shatter and then that's, it's a whole mess. I did the research for it, you're welcome. I loved the example with the tables though,

because I was like, they literally got a $10 desk to get under and it still protected them from when everything collapsed in. Gave me like some hope, like, okay, if there is a big one, I'm going for a table. If you're in bed, I was reading, your best bet is to just stay there. Don't you love it, the advice?

Literally, there really is like, it's like either get under a table or just like, good luck, wait it out. According to the official U.S. government emergency preparedness site, you're just supposed to drop, cover, and hold on. Drop to your hands and knees, take cover under a table or a sturdy piece of furniture, or against a wall away from the windows, and you just stay put until the shaking stops. Now listen, a lot of us actually want to run outside and outside's not

safe either, okay? When you're outside, now you're next to buildings, trees, power lines. So if you do run outside or if you are outside, you need to get away from the buildings, trees, and power lines. I know in a moment of panic you're not like, oh building, tree, power, like you're just freaking running, but you know, trying to help a little bit. At the end of the day, try not to run. You're gonna break your ankles.

Think of your weak ankles, Martha. Not the weak ankles. If you live in a big earthquake area like California, maybe don't keep a bookshelf right next to your bed. You know? Hey, remember when we were filming Dark History that one day and an earthquake happened? Wasn't that funny?

I didn't do shit. I just sat here. You saw it live, a Dark History episode. Did we catch an earthquake on camera? We caught an earthquake on camera, everyone. That was so cool. That means we're gonna have a bigger one and we're all gonna die.

Joan here. Luckily for her, she's not afraid. She's a bird. She can just fly in the air. She doesn't even know an earthquake's happening because earthquakes don't happen in the air. You know, last time I was flying, I had a thought. I had an edible too,

because I get nervous when I fly, but I had a thought. I was like, if an earthquake happens, will I feel it in the airplane? No, right? But it was a thought. And that's my earthquake story. Okay, look, don't be scared. It's not all doom and gloom. We really do have like a lot of tools to handle the situation. And look at it like this. like a lot of tools to handle the situation. And look at it like this. Earthquakes are healthy.

It's like gas, you know? Earth needs to let out those farts and have those little quakes let it out so we don't get a huge fart. Those deadly farts that are like, holy shit, you know? So the nice little, little farts, you know, they're good. Think of it like that. But in the meantime, I mean, all you can do is just be prepared. Be prepared! Oh, you know what was so funny? Literally this happened the other night. I was laying in bed.

I was having a hard time falling asleep. It was one of those days where I couldn't get my brain to shut up. So I'm laying in bed in the dark. I'm finally like dozing off. And if you've ever been in an earthquake, you know you can hear the earthquake coming. So I'm laying in bed and I hear something. And mind you, this is like within seconds.

I hear something, the adrenaline hits. I'm wide awake. I'm like earthquake It's coming. Yeah, and I just full-blown just like well well Turns out it was my air conditioning starting up. Hey, I mean look at least I'm like I'm paying attention And that was my story. I know exciting. It was just the air conditioning. It wasn't an earthquake. But yeah, I'm paranoid. I won't lie.

Anywho, our next episode is one you won't want to miss. I'm going to be talking about a phenomenon called Chippendales. An empire built on naked, oiled up bodies and bachelorette parties. But what was really going on behind the scenes? You'd be surprised. This is a story of greed, betrayal, and even murder. How exactly did a strip show become a multi-million dollar sensation? And what deadly secrets brought it all crashing down?

Ooh, the real story is so much darker than you can even imagine. So tune in next time when we talk about the dark history of Chippendales. Now, I'd love to hear your reaction to today's story. Make sure to leave a comment below so I can see what you guys are saying, and your comment might even be featured in a future episode.

But my favorite part, let's read a couple of comments you guys left me. Hope McElligot4313 left me a comment saying, Random things you say. My office nicknamed me Random Chick because of all the random stuff I say. We would have the best conversations Bailey. Hope. I love that. I got a lot of random knowledge that really doesn't fit any type of conversation. So I love when I like sit down with someone

and I could be like, oh my God, yeah, let me tell you something. Did you know Graham crackers was all about like masturbation? And then the other person was like, what, that's crazy. Well, here's what I learned, blah, blah, blah. Like, yes, Hope, yes.

This is why I love doing this show. Like, yes, Hope, yes. This is why I love doing this show and I do it for people like you who just love the randoms out there, you know? It's for you. Thank you so much for watching. And don't take it personally, just start dropping some hot knowledge on them,

some hot history gas. Mackenzie McCormack2317 left me a comment saying, girl, keep doing what you are doing. I'm an Amazon driver and listen to you faithfully every day even if I've watched them already. You get me through my shift and I legit laugh out loud because you are so funny. Mackenzie, thank you so much. Thank you for everything you do. I'm sure being an Amazon driver these days is rough. I appreciate like your freaking hard work. But most of all, I appreciate you like telling me this.

It's so nice. Thank you so much. I'm so glad I could hang out with you, you know, at work. I love that. Melts my heart. Thank you so much for listening and for watching and I just really appreciate you. Be safe out there.

I know everyone's ordering everything from Amazon. You guys must be like so busy. Hey should I do an Amazon episode? Let me know. I won't tell anyone if you want to feed me some information. I can keep you uh you know anonymous if you want. AngelWuldridge7583 left us an episode suggestion. Please do a dark history on, please do a dark history on Swarovski. Listen, I see your comment and I appreciate it. I'm having a really hard time saying Swarovski, the jewelry company, and I apologize for that.

Now, right off the bat, I would love to do this episode, but the fact that I'm having a hard time saying Swarovski, Swarovski. It's not coming out. Swarovski, Swarovski. I'm sorry. I'm not, I'm really trying. The fact that I can't say this word is making me think that I wanna do it,

but how will I get around that word? Oh no. Okay, let me do some practice pronouncing it, but while I'm doing that, I'll start looking into it. Did you watch the episode we did about weddings? We did a dark history episode about marriage and weddings and whatnot. We kind of lightly talked about the diamonds, the beer,

weird name for a diamond company, first of all. But that in itself was like really interesting. So I definitely think you're onto something here. This could be a really interesting story. I just hope I can deliver. Swararsky, Swararsk, swarsk, swarski. Thank you. I appreciate you.

Swarski, swars, swarski. Well, you guys, I appreciate you so much for hanging out with me today. You know, let me know what you think down below. Keep on commenting. Maybe I'll read your comment if I can. You know, I'm gonna try, I always do. And hey, did you know, let me know what you think down below. Keep on commenting. Maybe I'll read your comment if I can. You know, I'm gonna try. I always do.

And hey, did you know you can join me over on my YouTube where you can actually watch these episodes? Yeah, on Thursday after the podcast airs. Maybe you're a visual person. You like Billy. I want to like see something. Well, I'm here for you. And while you're there, you can also catch my murder mystery and makeup.

Hey, don't forget to subscribe. And if you don't know, dark history is an audio boom original. I wanna give a special thank you to our expert, James Carter, PhD, author of Champions Day, the end of old Shanghai. And I'm your host, Bailey Sarian. I hope you have a good day, you make good choices,

and I'll be talking to you guys really soon. Goodbye!