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The country's 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami killed tens of thousands of people

Yahoo Japan is currently displaying a powerful billboard showing the terrifying impact of the country’s 2011 tsunami.

As reported by Rocket News 24, the billboard shows the height of the tsunami that destroyed 3,500 homes in Iwate’s Prefecture’s Ofunato City on 11 March 2011.

According to Yahoo Japan, the tsunami reached a devastating height of 16.7 meters. To allow people to comprehend just how gargantuan that height is, Yahoo! Japan’s billboard highlights the how high the wave reached. The results are haunting.

The billboard is displayed against the Sony Building in downtown Tokyo’s Ginza District and will remain there until 12 March. According to Rocket News 24, it displays the following translated message:

“Every year, when 3-11 comes, we look back on what happened on that day. Six years have already passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake. We tell ourselves that disasters won’t happen again. But someday, a another disaster will probably, no, definitely occur.

On 3-11, in Iwate Prefecture’s Ofunato City, the maximum height at which the tsunami was observed was 16.7 meters. If the tsunami had happened here, in the middle of Ginza, it would be exactly this [the red section’s] height.

It’s higher than one would imagine. But just by knowing how high it is, the actions we take can change. We can make preparations here and now. We can receive the understanding and knowledge through our memories of the victims.

We won’t forget what happened that day. Yahoo believes that this is the most important part of disaster preparedness.”

Japan’s Kyodo News reports the wave to have been even higher, reaching a height of 23.6 meters, which would move he mark towards the top of the 31-meter Sony Building.

“I feel a twist in my heart when I see this,” said one user on Twitter.

“I cannot forget the fear and shock of that day,” another said.

“If you don’t know about the height [of the tsunami] and saw it on TV it may have impacted you, but being here…this is absolutely unforgettable,” one user added.

The earthquake is regarded as the world’s largest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.