Incredibly rare footage shows the moment ship passes over tsunami wave

Incredibly rare footage shows the moment a ship passes over a tsunami wave caused by the tragic Tohoku earthquake.

March 11, 2011, was the date Japan experienced the strongest and most horrific earthquake in its recorded history.

Watch below:

As shown in the clip above, the Japanese coast guard released an incredibly rare video of the massive tsunami waves heading towards its boat.

The guards reportedly were able to alert authorities of what was to come but it was too late.

More than 15,500 people died as a result of the tsunami - a Japanese term for 'harbour wave' - which occurred 130 kilometres (81 miles) east of Sendai, the largest city in the Tohoku region, a northern part of the island of Honshu.

It produced waves of up to 132 feet high and 450,000 people became homeless in the process.

The tsunami overwhelmed sea walls and washed away buildings, cars and entire neighbourhoods as it swept inland.

It knocked out power at the seaside Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, causing partial meltdowns in three reactors.

YouTube / National Geographic

Commenting on the clip, one person wrote: "The scariest part is that the boat never came crashing back down after climbing each of those waves.

"Which means that by the end of the video the boat was over 20 meters above the sea level in calm waters.

"That goes to show you how huge these waves are."

A second person added: "It's really amazing that these waves sustain energy for so long, being that they had to travel many miles before they made landfall.

"Its crazy that they can hold onto so much of their energy travelling through open water, and then once they hit the seawall or the part when the oceanic shelf begins to shallow out to the bedrock that begins to form landmass and the wave has nowhere to go but up and begins to break."

YouTube / National Geographic

Last year, Japan marked the 10th anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that hit its northeastern region, where many survivors’ lives are still on hold.

Carrying bouquets, many walked to the coast or visited graves to pray for relatives and friends washed away by the tsunami.